Featured 1945 Singer "Indian Star" Model 15 cranker. Next restoration project.

Picked this up today for $30:



As you can tell, it's in pretty horrendous condition.



This is the "Indian Star" which gives the machine its name. The decal has the word "SINGER" in eight different Indian dialects/languages.

This is what it looked like after a day's cleaning and scrubbing:





After much testing and swearing, I finally got the machine sewing. Now all I gotta do is rebuild the base. It needs that front panel remade. It also needs a new bottom. Then I can work on cleaning up the lid and putting that on top. Then it'll be done.

I've always maintained that these machines are indestructible. It's impossible to kill an antique Singer. It's just a matter of how hard you wanna work to revive it.

The fact that this sews on the first try after just cleaning, scrubbing, a generous dose of oil and a new needle is proof of nothing less than absolute quality.

 

I think that, even more than your "finds", I envy your dedication and restoration abilities.

 

Hahaha!!! Thanks Mess. Whyso?

 

If I tried to do what you have been doing, I would either give up at some point, or it would end up looking like the dogs dinner.
I don't have anything near your patience or expertise.

 

Hi,
Nothing but a Singer is able to do it right. That is when quality was much more important then quantity. My BIL's uncle worked for Singer since he was 16, he is now 88 and still makes sofa and chair slipcovers on a 1934 Singer.
greg

 

It's not easy to do. There's all sorts of things you gotta sort out and think over. For one horrible moment, I thought that the machine was irreparably broken!

I sent a message to a friend who runs a sewing-machine repair business, and he very patiently trouble-shot with me over the telephone at 9:00pm at night. In the end I figured out which (two) problems were screwing me over, and after rectifying them, the machine started sewing!!

This is a real beast of a machine. I can see why it's still manufactured today. I can't wait to get it fully operational and all complete.

I've wanted to take up quilting as a hobby for a while, but it wasn't possible on my 3/4 size 128...



It's just too small to do it properly. A full-size machine like this should handle it much better.

 

The decoration is wonderful! And a very nice job of clean-up you did!

I agree with Messi. Your patience and expertise are top-notch!

 

Beautiful!
~
I'm male and yes, I sew.
Though I haven't sewn for quite some time, I have 2 jacket projects standing by. First is my drag racing jacket which I have to replace it, due to space limitations and wear, and move all my vintage patches (back to the first event I attended in 1970) to the new jacket along with adding newer patches. Similar with my Navy jacket.
I have a machine I was begged to buy at the end of a garage sale since no one did. It was hidden in its furniture/cabinet and I didn't even want to see it since I had 2 portables already.
I set off to my car and the 2 girls yelled; $10! You HAVE to look at this machine. Well ok then.
So I open the top and see...its original paint is green. Hmmm. That's nice indeed...
I pull it out and it's shaped like a C!
Not only that...it's 2 Cs!!
One is stationary and the other rocks to sew! Holy cat puppies! Never seen that before!
So I test it...and it works so happily off I go.
I have never used it and it isn't handy to take photos of, sorry, and I've given up after 20 minutes of net search so I offer you this one which is vaguely like it though I'm sure it doesn't function at all the same as the 'rocker'. I just offer it for an example of what my machine, kinda, looks like.

Attached Files:

 

Was it a Willcox & Gibbs? The C-shape sounds like it.

They look like this:



Once I get this machine all complete (probably take two or three weekends), I intend to use it for quilting or something along those lines.

 

My recollection is the the entire front C rocks not just a part of it. Don't recall manufacturer. It's buried in storage though going there soon so maybe I can get at it.

 

Well, the machine is clean. It's lubricated to within an inch of its life, and it sews. Now all I gotta do is rebuild the base.

While I'm waiting for help doing that, I'm busy sorting out the lid, the lock, the key, the attachments and other such stuff that I will probably need.

 

Gonna work on rebuilding the base tomorrow. Gotta put in the front panel, the new baseboard (the old one is quite literally falling apart), and I also gotta put in a couple of props to hold the machine level on the base.

Once that's done, all I gotta do is find attachments and stuff.

In a perfect world, I'd find one of these and kit it out...



But I won't be that lucky, I know it. So...eh.

 

Great luck to you for it!
Can't wait to see it done!

 

The new frontpiece...



Carving it out with a hammer and chisel.

Checking the fit...





Once we've finalised the front bit, we can rebuild the baseboard, which desperately needs replacing.

Dad wouldn't let me work the chisels on account of the accuracy required (and my eyesight being far less than perfect). But I did sharpen the chisels for him, which he said was a passable job. So...yay!

Obviously our DIY fixup won't be as good as what the boys at the Singer cabinet-making department did back in the 40s, but it'll hold the blasted thing together, at least!!

 

What did you use to clean the surface of the machine to make it look so great? I have two old Singers that belonged to family and I would love to make them shine like that again.

 

WD-40, paper-towels, and extremely fine-grit sand-paper and steel wool.

That stuff you see in the first picture is 70 years' worth of caked on, dried-up, solidified grime. It took REAL scouring to get it off.

 

Thank you. I'm going to give it a try. I have the patience, it's just finding the time to do it.

 

Start lightly with paper-towels and oil and a lot of elbow-grease. Don't use abrasives except as a last resort (which is what I had to do).

Polishing the brass pillar badge is best done with 0000-steel wool.

 

After much chipping, chiseling, measuring, fitting and testing, we're now moving onto sanding. Once we've got the edges smooth, we'll start staining (and more sanding), then we'll screw it onto the rest of the machine base. Then it's onto making the bottom, fitting in the feet, and putting in new bed-supports to hold up the weight of the machine, which believe me, is PLENTY heavy!!

 

The sanding is complete. Now begins the staining! This will take a few days.