Sussman Aquamatic II Commercial Steam Iron

I purchased yet another machine yesterday and the seller, whose late mother owned a small home-based upholstery business, threw in a commercial steam iron for which he had no use.  He didn't want to bother selling it so he offered it to the person buying the sewing machine in the hopes they would find it useful.  That person is me.

I have never owned anything but a household iron.  In fact I've never even used a commercial-grade iron, although I've been mulling the idea of buying one because I know pressing doesn't have to be the chore it almost always is.  I own several home irons.  (At last count, I own 8 of them.)  I've used all of them to varying degrees of dissatisfaction primarily due to their obligatory auto shutoff features.  I hate this feature.  I'm just beginning to make progress on a shirt and the iron turns off.  It cools down and I can't use it.  So, I turn it off and turn it back on, having to wait another 3 minutes for it to heat fully.  This constant on and off cannot be good for these machines and that is probably why they build them this way (and probably some regulation, too): so that we keep buying a new one every 2 or 3 years.  They don't get hot enough, they don't generate enough steam (let alone any dry steam), and they don't stay on long enough to accomplish my pressing jobs in a reasonable time and with good results.

I'm complaining about vintage irons.  Modern household irons are garbage.

Here is my newest vintage iron, a Sussman Aquamatic II:

It's obviously not quite on the level of a boiler unit but it draws water from a basin to a heat pump (via surgical tubing) and then steam is generated, expelled by pressing the lever the the left of the handle.  Plugging it in, it gets VERY HOT.  As in HOLY *&%$.  But that's what is needed in a commercial-grade iron -- that and an ability to shoot a steady shot of dry steam.  It's heavy and heavy duty.  Were it to drop to the floor, the floor would be damaged.

I've been searching for a manual and no luck thus far.  Hopefully I won't be walking around with sole plate-shaped holes in my clothes in the near future.  I've seen Sussman irons (and other equipment) for sale for years but this is my first.  It may not be ideal but it made the purchase of the sewing machine a little sweeter and certainly more worthwhile.