Posted 3 years ago
Singersew
(1 item)
Can anyone tell me anything about my machine? Serial # 2074001. Front plate # Y687591. Any info would be great. Also, where would I look to find a manual for it. Works great but would be great to look at a manual for it.
Hi, Singersew. :-)
That serial number on the motor pertains strictly to the motor, and that motor was used on more than one model of Singer sewing machine.
The serial number in the little bronze-colored cartouche (Y687591) on the bed at the base of the pillar is the one that will provide an approximate date of manufacture.
Per the Singer serial number tables at the International Sewing Machine Collectors' Society (ISMACS) website, serial number Y687591 was one of a block of 35,000 consecutive serial numbers allotted October 1 1922 by the central office to one of the factories, and all were destined to be stamped into the beds of model 99K machines:
*snip*
Y- 686131 721130 99K 35000 August 1 1922
Y- 721131 725630 99K 4500 August 1 1922 ALUM.
Y- 755631 759130 99K 3500 October 9 1922 ALUM.
Y- 1070691 1080690 99K 10000 January 12 1923
*snip*
http://ismacs.net/singer_sewing_machine_company/serial-numbers/singer-y-series-serial-numbers.html
The reason I excerpted four lines of information is that the allotment dates are not manufacture dates, but we can use them to estimate manufacture based on the allotment date of the block to which the serial number in question belongs, plus the allotment date of the next block of numbers allotted to the same model.
However, the interesting thing here is that the next two blocks of serial numbers for model 99K machines were allotted for aluminum model 99K machines. The central office didn't allot another block of numbers for cast iron model 99K machines until January 12, 1923.
Why would they make aluminum sewing machine heads? Weight.
The cast model 99 was a three quarters size version of the cast iron model 66, but even at that, it was still heavier than a lot of people wanted to lug around.
Anyway, they had over five months to make the model 99K machines that were in your block of numbers (August 1, 1922 - January 12, 1923).
About the model 99K (the "K" suffix means that it was made in Singer's Kilbowie/Clydebank factory):
https://www.singersewinginfo.co.uk/99k
Your decal set is called Filigree:
https://www.singersewinginfo.co.uk/decals/decal04
Here is a manual for the model 99:
http://needlebar.org/main/sident/99.pdf
You'll notice that the stitch length mechanism on the 99 in the manual is a lever instead of a thumbscrew. That's just a small modernization.
If you want a manual for one that has the thumbscrew, here is one for the model 66, which is the model 99's big sister. Mechanically, they're the same:
http://ismacs.net/singer_sewing_machine_company/manuals/singer-model-66-sewing-machine-manual.pdf
Here is one for an electric model 66:
http://ismacs.net/singer_sewing_machine_company/manuals/singer-model-66-18-sewing-machine-manual.pdf
If you want a manual specifically for a portable electric model 99 with a thumb screw stitch length mechanism, they're out there, but you might have to pay for one.
About the Kilbowie factory:
https://www.singersewinginfo.co.uk/kilbowie
August 1934 aerial photographs of Singer's Kilbowie (Clydebank, Scotland) factory:
https://canmore.org.uk/collection/1257700
https://canmore.org.uk/collection/1257701
https://canmore.org.uk/collection/1257702
https://canmore.org.uk/collection/1257703
https://canmore.org.uk/collection/1257704
Here is a modern Google Satellite view of the area that once hosted the Kilbowie Singer plant (there is still a railway station called "Singer" on the northeast corner):
Singer
Kilbowie Rd, Clydebank G81 2JN, United Kingdom
https://goo.gl/maps/ckxa4RrU85UBHXHs9
A circa 1934 documentary made at Singer's Kilbowie (Clydebank, Glasgow, Scotland) factory:
https://movingimage.nls.uk/film/1592
I could be forgetting something, so here is a collection of vintage sewing machine links:
https://www.collectorsweekly.com/stories/285089-vintage-sewing-machine-help
But if you don't want to sift through all of that, and have more questions, you can just ask them here in a comment.
Oh, thank you soooo much! I will try to find the info I need from the info you gave me. I am looking for bobbin info at the moment, but will be back if I need a little more help.
Amazing answer, Keramikos!
Singersew, The Singer model 99, like its big sister the model 66 uses the class 66 bobbin (so named in honor of the model 66), which is still used by a lot of different makes and models of sewing machines, and can be bought at your local sewing supplies store (or online, if that's how you roll).
Celiene, Shucks, it ain't nothin' but a thang. };-)
I'm just standing on the shoulders of giants, so to speak. It's all the people behind the websites I link who are amazing.
D'oh! Bad proof-reading will be the death of me one of these days.
This:
"Per the Singer serial number tables at the International Sewing Machine Collectors' Society (ISMACS) website, serial number Y687591 was one of a block of 35,000 consecutive serial numbers allotted October 1 1922 by the central office to one of the factories, and all were destined to be stamped into the beds of model 99K machines:"
Should read:
"Per the Singer serial number tables at the International Sewing Machine Collectors' Society (ISMACS) website, serial number Y687591 was one of a block of 35,000 consecutive serial numbers allotted August 1 1922 by the central office to one of the factories, and all were destined to be stamped into the beds of model 99K machines:"
With the thumbscrew stitch length mechanism can you so a reverse thread? I don't see it mentioned in the manual for the 66.
Ugg... do, not so
Singersew, Whoops, I am behind the times.
Reverse is a feature that modern sewing machine users take for granted, but it isn't a feature on many if not most old cast iron machines.
However, pinning down exactly when it was introduced seems difficult at the moment. >8-0
Per sewing machine Alex Askaroff, Singer didn't introduce it on their model 15 until the 1950s:
https://sewalot.com/singer_through_the_ages.htm
In this blog, the writer shows a 1937 ad for a Singer that reverses (unfortunately, it doesn't mention the model, but it does have a forward-facing tension assembly like models 66 and 99):
https://witness2fashion.files.wordpress.com/2015/08/bfn-dec-1937-full-ad-500inside-front-cover-singer-backs-up-dec-1937-draped.jpg
https://witness2fashion.wordpress.com/tag/reverse-on-sewing-machine-1937/
Apparently, it was introduced on the Singer model 99 when they came out with the 99-31:
https://www.singersewinginfo.co.uk/99k
https://www.singer.com/sites/default/files/outdated_product/SINGER%2099-13%20Sewing%20Machine.pdf
Here is a video of somebody operating a 1935 model 99-13:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Toznd-XB50s
I'm sorry that I don't have a good answer for you right now. It looks like something I have to work on when I get more time. :-(
Ugh, Still no good answer. I did find his interesting blog entry on the subject:
http://malepatternboldness.blogspot.com/2013/06/the-great-sewing-machine-backstitch.html
Here's a Wheeler & Wilson assigned patent for a reverse feed mechanism -- from 1887:
https://patents.google.com/patent/US374551
Now the real mystery is why it took the sewing machine industry so long to pick up on this useful idea, couture be damned.
Interestingly, the inventor seemed mostly concerned with buttonhole making.
A'ight. Sorry for the delays, and confusion. >8-0
I may never get to the bottom of sewing machine reverse/backstitch history, so let me try to focus on the Singer model 99, now that I'm not too distracted.
Unfortunately for you, your particular model 99 won't do reverse stitch.
The answer is right there in that singersewinginfo website article for the model 99:
*snip*
Perhaps the most obvious design change during the 99's production was in the mechanism used for adjusting the stitch length. Early models utilised a screw in knob which gave no direct indication of what length had been set. This was later replaced by a lever with graduated scale and finally by a lever with a separate indicator and graduated scale. With these later lever type adjusters, fully raising the lever reversed the feed for back tacking.
*snip*
https://www.singersewinginfo.co.uk/99k
Per that article, models 99-24 and 99-31 can do reverse.
Here's a manual for the 99-24. On page 18:
*snip*
For Back Tacking, raise the lever (E2) to the upper portion of the stitch indicator plate (D2) marked "Back Tack". The machine will then stitch in a reverse direction, thus making it easy to fasten the ends of seams.
*snip*
https://maritime.org/doc/pdf/singer-99-24-instructions.pdf
You have my sympathy, because while I love many things about vintage sewing machines, I also love reverse stitch (not to mention zigzag stitch, which is another relatively modern feature).
You'll probably want to read the various techniques describe in the comment section of that malepatternboldness blog post that other people use for securing the ends of seams.
As to that 1887 patent for reverse stitching, and the focus on buttonhole making, now that I've thought about it a bit, it makes sense.
In the era before zippers, the ability to make a neat, tightly-stitched buttonhole would have been highly desirable. That's actually something else I appreciate about my relatively modern (early 1980s) sewing machine.