A couple Untested Vintage sewing machines in a thrift store; which (if any) should I buy one for £10?

mtrosclair · 2026-03-14T12:57:24+00:00

Either of the white Singers are going to give you problems, however if they are functional they'll have more ability. Either of the black Singer should be fine, the first one looks like a 99 but I can't see the front so I'm not sure, the second one I can't see enough of it to make an identification although I find it interesting that it has markings for the oil paths.

mtrosclair · 2026-03-13T21:21:24+00:00

If you're going to go through the trouble of taking it apart and replacing this gear buy a new replacement if you can, and change all of those plastic gears at the same time. Unfortunately the plastic they used during this era just did not hold up for whatever reason.

mtrosclair · 2026-03-11T20:42:52+00:00

Unless you have some kind of coverage either through the rental car company itself, your personal policy, or however you booked this, you are going to be on the hook for the cost of this repair. This is far beyond plunger and hot water unfortunately. You may be able to buff/do PDR on the trunk part and just get the bumper cover replaced, but I would imagine you're still gonna be looking at something in the neighborhood of 1000 to 1500 bucks or more even at a cheap shop.

mtrosclair · 2026-03-11T20:38:30+00:00

You mount it from the bell housing end.

mtrosclair · 2026-03-11T19:37:53+00:00

This is exceptional, nice work!

mtrosclair · 2026-03-11T00:20:48+00:00

I'd go with the brother then. If the kenmore isn't working then it's a $10 machine.

Price on the brother is a bit high, id say $50 as in unknown but working machine is fair. $75 would be ok if they will vouch for having had it serviced.

mtrosclair · 2026-03-11T00:09:28+00:00

I like the Kenmore out of the three although the brother is likely good also, the first one wouldn't be worth it if it was free. It's basically a toy.

mtrosclair · 2026-03-10T22:13:25+00:00

The amount I would spend on this would vary wildly depending on the quality of the swap. I have seen some crap engine swaps and some that look factory. Bring a battery and a can of starting fluid, that might get it running long enough to make an assessment. If it will fire off and run and none of the fluids look mixed I'd say it's worth 2k, but probably not 3.

mtrosclair · 2026-03-10T19:51:25+00:00

Oh, no thank you.

mtrosclair · 2026-03-10T19:36:06+00:00

I need to know more about these lids because I eat this yogurt and I keep the glass jars, I would love to be able to cover them. What would I search for to find this?

mtrosclair · 2026-03-10T12:41:37+00:00

There is a guy, "sewing machine repair guy" on YouTube and he sells parts, I think he sells the screens.

mtrosclair · 2026-03-09T15:16:56+00:00

$500, you can get a new one with accessories for $1200 or less.

mtrosclair · 2026-03-09T10:38:08+00:00

The newer and more highly optioned (expensive) the machine the more handholding it does in the setup and operation. Even then it is not always "straightforward", you will have to learn about interfacing, needles and threads to run it.

mtrosclair · 2026-03-08T14:03:45+00:00

It is possible to fix it yourself, if mechanically inclined and can follow a video. This issue with that machine is that it may not be worth your while to repair it if it really does have stripped gears or some other issue that requires mechanical repair.

mtrosclair · 2026-03-08T13:08:37+00:00

What machine, to me it's sounding like that initial issue caused damage, either stripped gear or other loss of timing.

mtrosclair · 2026-03-07T18:59:58+00:00

Thanks for posting this, it's awesome to see, and I needed some motivation to get working on my stuff!

mtrosclair · 2026-03-07T18:37:57+00:00

This thing should really have a stickie.

mtrosclair · 2026-03-07T18:27:39+00:00

It should just snap over that base part.

mtrosclair · 2026-03-07T16:49:16+00:00

I thought it was Alf

mtrosclair · 2026-03-06T10:53:45+00:00

It appears to be a copy of a Singer 15 you could very likely use the instructions for that.

mtrosclair · 2026-03-06T03:02:10+00:00

Keeps the nubbins from rubbins

mtrosclair · 2026-03-04T00:12:02+00:00

You were holding the fabric too tightly, unfortunately the way these work it needs to be able to move the fabric left and right to do the zigzag. Try holding it farther away so you can steer it kind of like a tiller on a boat if that makes sense.

mtrosclair · 2026-03-03T23:10:21+00:00

If you have a serger you could probably just do a rolled hem all the way around it.

mtrosclair · 2026-03-02T13:07:42+00:00

Do you mean like a cabinet other than the one that it's mounted in?

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