chalkdust
New in Town
- Messages
- 2
- Location
- oregon, usa
Some of my favorites
Above, German Anker RZ… Some of these old German machines are the strongest, smoothest machines I’ve ever encountered. When I acquired this one, it was covered in a deep golden patina of nicotine that was so thick I could hardly read the dials. I regret that I ever cleaned it. It invokes images of a German fraulein, circa 1938, cigarette dangling from her lips, sewing a corset. It sews straight and zig-zag, and uses industrial needles.
Another nicely crafted German machine, this one a Gritzner, sold by Sears as a Kenmore 117.841. Very similar to sixsexsix’s machine above. It offers straight, zig-zag, and 14 or so decorative stitches via cams that are inserted in a door behind the Kenmore logo.
A tough little Japanese straight-stitch machine, very finely crafted. It carries the Remington name.
An early Japanese Kenmore 16, made by Maruzen in the mid-sixties. Heavy, and strong, and it takes big, rugged flat cams (one is a three-step zig-zag) in the hatch on top. The straight and zig-zag stitches are as long and wide as you will find on a home sewing machine.
The rarest of all machines, a Viking that actually works. Husqvarna Vikings from the 70’s and 80’s have a well-deserved reputation as the most unreliable machines ever made, and I can attest to that from experience. I don’t know about the newer ones, except that I wouldn’t gamble. Back in those decades, a lot of countries thought the Swedes were “smarty pants,” so they wouldn’t sell the Swedes any oil. Only their closest neighbor, the Norwegians, would sell them any, and then it was only surplus whale blubber that was sitting around the piers in 55-gallon drums. The Swedes tried to make the best of it, and boiled the whale blubber down into a grease they used inside their Viking sewing machines. The whale blubber hardens up over the years, requiring an expensive strip-down and overhaul, so be careful.
The one above, a 6690, is “computer” controlled with servo-motors, it has 5 interchangeable stitch cassettes, this picture shows the “B” cassette installed. If you are a Lutheran, and want to be punished for your sins, buy a Viking!
Finally, a Kenmore 1660 convertible free-arm machine. If Lucifer galloped up on a black mare, and told me I could only keep one machine, this might be the one. It was designed and built in Japan by Maruzen. Sears / Maruzen single-handedly extended the era of the “all-metal” sewing machine by over a decade. By the early-to-mid sixties, Pfaff, Bernina, Viking, Singer, Brother, and Janome had all switched to using some plastic cams and gears inside their machines, and they can be a gamble in terms of reliability. Maruzen stuck almost exclusively with all-metal internal mechanisms (gears, cams, cam-followers, etc.) up until the late seventies, when Sears sadly switched to Janome. This machine offers 12 functional stitches [as opposed to decorative stitches] via built-in metal cams. Strong, smooth, durable, reliable, and it offers excellent needle control. If you want an all-metal machine that features modern functional and “stretch” stitches, Kenmores are about your only option! Sears (the old Sears) carried a 25-year parts AND labor warrantee on their Maruzen machines. Many modern-day machines offer a 90-day labor warrantee.
Be cautious buying any used machine. Even the best of them can require some service if they are gummed up with old oil varnishes, and some of the best ones are 30 to 70 years old.
You might want to consider modern, fully synthetic lubricants, specifically automatic transmission fluid such as Valvoline ATF+4 instead of crummy sewing machine oil. The modern, synthetic lubricants will not leave gummy deposits over time, and do not contain any of the sulfur contaminants found in cheap sewing machine oil. They also have controlled, consistant molecular chain lengths and superior thin-film shear strength… (yada yada, sorry about that,,,) Automatic transmission fluid has the necessary low viscosity needed for a general purpose sewing machine lubricant. You might consider Aeroshell 22 where a heavier bodied grease is called for, such as larger gears. [excuse me… sorry… pardon me… I was just leaving….]
Above, German Anker RZ… Some of these old German machines are the strongest, smoothest machines I’ve ever encountered. When I acquired this one, it was covered in a deep golden patina of nicotine that was so thick I could hardly read the dials. I regret that I ever cleaned it. It invokes images of a German fraulein, circa 1938, cigarette dangling from her lips, sewing a corset. It sews straight and zig-zag, and uses industrial needles.
Another nicely crafted German machine, this one a Gritzner, sold by Sears as a Kenmore 117.841. Very similar to sixsexsix’s machine above. It offers straight, zig-zag, and 14 or so decorative stitches via cams that are inserted in a door behind the Kenmore logo.
A tough little Japanese straight-stitch machine, very finely crafted. It carries the Remington name.
An early Japanese Kenmore 16, made by Maruzen in the mid-sixties. Heavy, and strong, and it takes big, rugged flat cams (one is a three-step zig-zag) in the hatch on top. The straight and zig-zag stitches are as long and wide as you will find on a home sewing machine.
The rarest of all machines, a Viking that actually works. Husqvarna Vikings from the 70’s and 80’s have a well-deserved reputation as the most unreliable machines ever made, and I can attest to that from experience. I don’t know about the newer ones, except that I wouldn’t gamble. Back in those decades, a lot of countries thought the Swedes were “smarty pants,” so they wouldn’t sell the Swedes any oil. Only their closest neighbor, the Norwegians, would sell them any, and then it was only surplus whale blubber that was sitting around the piers in 55-gallon drums. The Swedes tried to make the best of it, and boiled the whale blubber down into a grease they used inside their Viking sewing machines. The whale blubber hardens up over the years, requiring an expensive strip-down and overhaul, so be careful.
The one above, a 6690, is “computer” controlled with servo-motors, it has 5 interchangeable stitch cassettes, this picture shows the “B” cassette installed. If you are a Lutheran, and want to be punished for your sins, buy a Viking!
Finally, a Kenmore 1660 convertible free-arm machine. If Lucifer galloped up on a black mare, and told me I could only keep one machine, this might be the one. It was designed and built in Japan by Maruzen. Sears / Maruzen single-handedly extended the era of the “all-metal” sewing machine by over a decade. By the early-to-mid sixties, Pfaff, Bernina, Viking, Singer, Brother, and Janome had all switched to using some plastic cams and gears inside their machines, and they can be a gamble in terms of reliability. Maruzen stuck almost exclusively with all-metal internal mechanisms (gears, cams, cam-followers, etc.) up until the late seventies, when Sears sadly switched to Janome. This machine offers 12 functional stitches [as opposed to decorative stitches] via built-in metal cams. Strong, smooth, durable, reliable, and it offers excellent needle control. If you want an all-metal machine that features modern functional and “stretch” stitches, Kenmores are about your only option! Sears (the old Sears) carried a 25-year parts AND labor warrantee on their Maruzen machines. Many modern-day machines offer a 90-day labor warrantee.
Be cautious buying any used machine. Even the best of them can require some service if they are gummed up with old oil varnishes, and some of the best ones are 30 to 70 years old.
You might want to consider modern, fully synthetic lubricants, specifically automatic transmission fluid such as Valvoline ATF+4 instead of crummy sewing machine oil. The modern, synthetic lubricants will not leave gummy deposits over time, and do not contain any of the sulfur contaminants found in cheap sewing machine oil. They also have controlled, consistant molecular chain lengths and superior thin-film shear strength… (yada yada, sorry about that,,,) Automatic transmission fluid has the necessary low viscosity needed for a general purpose sewing machine lubricant. You might consider Aeroshell 22 where a heavier bodied grease is called for, such as larger gears. [excuse me… sorry… pardon me… I was just leaving….]
It still sews perfectly.
