Singer Model 12 Hand Crank Sewing Machine - c1886

The Singer New Family Model 12 hand crank sewing machine, c1886

serial number 7,132,396

I acquired from Hexham, Northumberland, UK

photographs by Paul

The very popular Singer New Family Model 12 sewing machines were produced for 40 years from 1865 at the close of the American Civil War, until one last batch of 100 machines were manufactured in 1902.  

Isaac Merrit Singer 1811-1875

painted by Edward Harrison May 1869

VISIT ME, WILL YOU?  OCT 27-28!!!

We are celebrating Isaac Singer's 207th birthday at our Halloween Weekend Victorian House Tour and Craft Show October Sat/Sun 27-28, 2018 (10a-5p).  We'll have all the old sewing machines on display--some of them for sale.  

You will enjoy the beautiful homegrown pickles and jellies, homemade bakery and treats, goat milk based lotions, soaps, balms, silver and gemstone handcrafted jewelry, loomed rugs, handmade chocolates--as in yummy chocolate turtles anyone?  Also, vintage patterned aprons, as well as queen size quilts and beaded purses, and much more--all available at our craft show. 

Great food by the Scandinavia Library Group, and tour of my 1893 Queen Anne Victorian home, and sewing studio.  Your $2 pp admission fee at the door goes directly to The Humane Society of Waupaca County.    Come in for a spell!  Plenty of Parking.

Here's a good read about the history of the Singer Sewing Machine Company, 

https://historymuseumsb.org/singer-sewing-machine-company/

Truth or Myth?  The Singer New Family Model 12 had black hand wheels to resist a metal luxury tax?  

At the top: Three Pillars--back to front:

1) presser bar tension,  2) needle bar, 3) upper thread tension

The Singer Model 12 is a Transverse Shuttle; its shuttle moves left to right.  Open left throat plate slide to access the boat shuttle.

Condition of the machine is excellent.  You don't see them often.  Very collectible.

Back side of the machine.  More details photos to show you later.

The gold acanthus leaf decals.

Defiance Hand Crank Sewing Machine - year 1906

Defiance Hand Crank Sewing Machine, manufactured by New Home in Orange, Mass. USA

I purchased it on Ebay.co.uk and received it September 2018, in time to celebrate National Sewing Machine month.  This machine came from Leicester, England.

distributed by W.J. Harris, London.  Defiance Serial Number 2621960, Style A made in 1906

Threading the front end--see photo below.   I don't have a manual for my 1906 Defiance.  Please let me know if you need additional info how to thread your Pan American (that is similar to my Defiance hand crank machine).

On top--is the leaf tension spring (regulates upper thread tension).  The thread travels from the spool through the groove in the leaf tension spring.  Tightening the thumb screw puts pressure on the thread restricting or loosening the upper thread tension.

3/4 Size Machine - bed is 6.75" by 11.5"

When I buy a sewing machine from England through Ebay.co.uk, directly after winning the bid I send message to the seller how I want to have it packaged to ensure it ships without damage.

Most sellers appreciate having the packaging protocol information.  I try, try, try, to put forth this information without hurting the feelings of the seller.  In the end I promise to submit a very nice written review, noting how well they packaged the machine to its safe voyage.

• Put machine and its wood base inside a large plastic bag and securely wrap with packing tape.
• Install hood onto the machine, then wrap the entire unit in bubble wrap and secure with tape.
• Place machine into a sturdy box lined with Styrofoam peanuts or panels (bottom, sides, top of the box), restricting movement of the machine entirely.
• Place first box into a second box and snug with twisted newspaper packing.  Secure box with packing tape.

As you can see--my Defiance machine was packed extremely well by the seller.  Bravo.  I submitted a quality plus review of this seller.  

During the auction bidding process on Ebay, I contact the seller with questions about dimensions, especially about the harp space and I am learning lots of new things about these old hand crank machines.  Definitely I want to know if the machine has its bobbin case or shuttle inside the machine if it is not shown in the seller's auction photos.  

There will always be sellers who don't have a clue regarding my questions, or where to look for dimensions, parts, or bits I want to know more about.   Each time I message back and forth with the seller, I thank them for their patience answering my questions.

Cleaning and oiling takes me several days to complete.

Removing the front end plate is one of the first places I look to clean and oil moving parts.

Frister Rossmann Bronze Lilies Hand Crank Sewing Machine

Mid September 2018, a beautiful hand crank sewing machine arrived from Milton Kenyes Buckinghamshire England.  All the metal bits were quite dirty, and the mechanics dry.

Cleaned, oiled and gleaming . . .

You can't miss the proud and popular brand name Frister and Rossmann with Bronze Lilies decals.  It is a Transverse Shuttle.  The boat shuttle and inserted bobbin removed from the machine during cleaning and oiling. 

There was a rust line centered around the dirty hand wheel.  Using 0000 steel wool and Blue Diamond polish the rust line dissolved along with the dirt.  Fun to see the shine come through-- buffing it with small strips of soft microfiber cloth.  

Before cleaning and oiling

After cleaning and oiling

There is a nickel plated thumb screw located on the bed, in front of the stitch length slide adjuster and serial number.   Removing that thumb screw allowed me to lift the front of the machine upwards and backwards to clean the mechanics underneath.

You can see how very dirty the machine arrived.  The sticky film of dirt and old oil wasn't easy to remove.  From the start, the hand wheel was rotating stiffly and ever so slightly catching at 7 o'clock and 11 o'clock.  So, I was very interested in cleaning and oiling all the moving parts underneath the machine.

These are the seller's photos from the Ebay.co.uk auction (pink background).   You can see how very dirty the machine arrived to me.  The sticky film of dirt and old oil wasn't easy to remove and is a slow process.  

Now then, I'm inserting "after photos" showing progress of cleaning . . . 

But first, I will publish this post--to permanently save what I've completed so far.  You see, I am having a problem with the site.  Previously I was typing along and then everything vanished twice. 

Ok.  Let's continue with the "after photos" . . . 

Dirty presser foot, thumb screw, throat plate

It is no secret Frister and Rossmann and other sewing machine manufacturers copied the very popular and petite Singer Model 12 Family Sewing Machine.  They advertised the Frister and Rossmann as the Silent Cam Action Improved Lockstitch, and in sometimes went on to claim it was the Improved Singer 12.  Cheeky, as Sr. Sewalot puts it.

Clues to dating this machine:  Serial Number 1302239 suggests a manufacturer's date around 1910. 

 Frister and Rossmann featured the Trade-Mark Berlin center medallion until WWI.  After the war started British sewing machine dealers (agents) quietly removed the Trade-Mark Berlin, but ontinued to sell them.  Eventually Vickers and Jones were the preferred brands.

I cleaned the wood base with a bit of Howard's Feed N Wax (beeswax and orange oil).

"Before Cleaning the Bobbin Winder and the Hand Wheel"

I cleaned the wood base with a bit of Howard's Feed N Wax (beeswax and orange oil).

"Before polishing the hand wheel"  

I have a special (safe) surface cleaning product called Zymol, and its companion polishing paste purchased from The Featherweight Shop.  It is expensive, but it is absolutely excellent.  

https://singer-featherweight.com/blogs/schoolhouse/cleaning-and-polishing

Threaded boat shuttle. 

"Before polishing"--I spent a lot of time deep cleaning the mechanics.  

Note: mid-way on the pillar is a thumb screw.  Removing the thumb screw opens up the boomerang shaped Frister & Rossmann panel, to clean and oil inside the machine.  

Guess what?  I haven't tested stitches yet.  I'd like to give it a week, and with the new oil crank it a few minutes each day.  I'll oil it again, and afterwards adjust tension and do some test stitches.  

This is a great machine, in sound condition.  Very proud to add this Frister & Rossmann Bronze Lilies to my herd.  I confess, I am addicted to sewing machines and have no shame.

Thank you for visiting me.  I have more machines to show you.

And  . . . 

I will be posting mid-October 2018 about our

Halloween Weekend Victorian House Tour and Craft Show

Sat/Sun Oct 27-28 from 10 until 5

at my home: 255 Mill St. - Scandinavia, WI

$2 per person admission at the door goes directly to The Humane  Society of Waupaca County.

Come in for a Spell.  Handmade everything: To-Die-For Chocolates, Loomed Rugs, Sterling Silver and Gemstone Jewelry, Fresh Bakery and Treats, Pickles and Jellies, Soaps, Lotions and Balms, Vintage Pattern Aprons, Queen Quilts and Fancy Beaded Wool Purses.

Lunch in the Red Garage by Scandinavia Library Group

Plenty of Parking

I make fresh cookies every morning so you'll have a treat while you browse our Craft Show.

We have about 600 visitors each year!

Queen German Sewing Machine

Queen manufactured by Haid and Neu shipped from Lichfield Staffordshire England to my Victorian home--arriving September 18, 2018. 

It is a very small machine, and features Crown center medallion and crowns around the perimeter of the bed.  It is a Transverse Shuttle--meaning the shuttle slides back and forth, left to right to form stitches.

Researching serial number shows the Queen hand crank was manufactured by Haid and Neu somewhere between 1925 and 1930.

Its beefy hand wheel has a Stop Motion Pin, that slides to release the presser bar when winding a bobbin.  

 Transverse Shuttles--shaped like a boat.  Wound bobbin inserted into the shuttle, thread comes from the botton of the bobbin, and through two long grooves, then passes over to the other side of the boat to another groove/slot.

From here, the thread travels upward through a slot and around to the left and continues through the long tension spring.  Three or four inches are pulled from the boat shuttle and it is inserted into the machine beneath the Transverse throat plate.

The photo above shows a tiny screw, and if you imagine the screw slot as a hand on the face of a clock,  I turned the screw counter clockwise from 12 o'clock to 11 o'clock and pulled on the thread--until the thread broke--the tension was set too tight and was the reason the machine couldn't make good stitches.

Turned the screw to 10 o'clock, then 9 o'clock, and finally settled on 7 o'clock--a firm but unrestricted flow of thread pulling off the wound bobbin.  

I re-wound the bobbin with All Purpose Coats and Clark 50 wt. sewing machine thread.

Thread from spool pin to first guide on the top left of the machine, then downward diagonally to the right, under a wheel, then upward through a slot, then up and over a plate toward the inserted bobbin.  Release the Stop Motion Pin, and begin cranking to wind the bobbin.

Threading pattern for upper thread.  Finishes with thread passing front to back.  Long groove of the needle faces the operator.  

I began the cleaning and oiling process by removing the front end plate.  There are lots of places to clean--rear access panel removed and underneath the machine are BIG areas to clean and oil.

For the big metal gears I use the Featherweight Shop's lubricating grease--its just the best.  Be sure to watch their video comparing their grease to others noting temperature tests and viscosity from thin to sticky.  Good video!

https://singer-featherweight.com/blogs/schoolhouse/motor-lubricant

Photo above with a penny--compares size of decals and boat shuttle.  Note the sliding throat plate traveling to the left--if cleaned well enough the mechanism would eject the boat shuttle for removal.

The lid is quite handsome.  I use Howard's Feed n Wax beeswax and orange oil to clean and condition the wood.  And it smells good too!

Cleaned, oiled, and gears greased as well as under the machine.  I'll let it sit for a week, then oil it a second time, and spent more time deeper cleaning of metal bits.

Thank you for looking at my photos.  Please leave me a comment--I love hearing from you