Necchi NA Nora

Certain machines require that I stalk the tall grass, then pounce.  I've been wanting a Nora for about 2 years and every time I find one, it's either too far away, too expensive, or in really terrible shape.  I found this one at the GW site: it was within my loosely enforced budget and in good shape.  As for distance, shipping was surprisingly reasonable -- but this is my second experience with a machine shipped via FedEx and I'm not happy.  The subject requires a small blog post of its own, so I will write one soon.

What I like about this machine is pure aesthetics.  The rounded, bullet-shaped design is what I consider Necchi's finest of the 1960s and the hulk of flat sheet metal between the cap and the throat balances the smooth form with heft.  The salmon pink color is almost ironic, although the machine came in several other colors.  (Truth be told, I wanted the hammered silver but I didn't want to spend $300.)  The hand wheel is that wonderfully tactile large, away-from-the-pillar design that is the very best for someone with hands my size and the mass of this wheel means that the inertia it generates keeps the machine running exceptionally powerfully.  Sure, some immediate start/stop control is lost due to weight but once I replace the cloth/synthetic rubber belt with a lugged version, the controller (my foot, rather) will have better control over the needle bar.

Those familiar with the Supernova models will have no trouble recognizing the familiar knobs for length, width, limiters, and tension.  The pressure knob is the screw-cap variety with a built-in oil port complete with bearing.  The angled spool pins (one is broken off) are an elegant and low-tech solution to the problem of bouncing, noisy spools, using gravity and a lower angle to draw thread downward off the spool, thus pulling the spool down to the platform.  Perfect.

I'm not entirely certain but I don't believe this model is double needle-capable, as the hook faces leftward rather than forward.  I will have to research this, though.  I don't have a manual, though I will be searching for a download when I have a few minutes.

The 1 amp motor is so quiet!  I really should do a video of this machine just to show how smooth and silent it is -- even more surprising, as this machine is oscillating rather than full rotary.  Though I need to pull the motor (and tighten the set screw on the motor shaft) for general cleaning and to polish the commutator, etc., it runs like a top, though I detect a little slowness.

I'm still cleaning the exterior and will soon begin some surgical kerosene and alcohol application on certain interior parts.  The machine included a really beat-up but genuine Necchi case, a Necchi box of attachments (mostly presser feet, some Necchi needles, two additional plates, etc.), and an additional Necchi controller.  Now my Lelia 513 has a Necchi controller of its own once this one is rewired.  Hurrah!

   

Pfaff 360

Today was a stressful but productive day, overall.

I was squeezing work into a bunch of other errands.  (Was it the other way around?)  Some of you may know that I'm looking for a new house, as I'm seriously in need of downsizing (but my sewing machine purchases have sadly kept apace); I have to sell a condo, a Volvo, about 30 sewing machines (at least), some other items, start boxing up/selling/storing/throwing/donating/etc. a bunch of stuff, and on top of it all, I have to take care of my mother who fairly recently suffered a heart attack.  I am my mother's caregiver because the rest of my family will not step in to help.  I love my mom but having her live with me has been a difficult adjustment.

Today I looked at a house.  It was a decent house -- mid-century modern, a good design -- and I liked it but thought it had cheap finishes and would require at least 100K to make it 'nice'.  Adding that to the price of the home and I think I'm better off looking at more expensive houses to begin with; basically, I'm in the process of:

• Finding the sweet spot in the current real estate market, which is very hot right now
• Figuring out what I can afford
• Figuring out what I am willing to spend
• Deciding on which new neighborhoods and communities I would like
• Packing and throwing 
• Thinking about how much house I need vs. how much I would like vs. how much is available
• Doing a lot of driving and stressing
• Refusing to put my mother in a nursing home while wondering about my sanity

In addition to the above, I found a very nice machine, a Pfaff 360:

I love Pfaffs and I've wanted a free arm (360 or, preferably, a 362) so I bought this one.  The seller realized it didn't have a power cord or pedal, so lowered the price to $45.  I think that's reasonable, as it's in excellent shape and I already have the cord/pedal from my 260, my 230, etc.

What's important about these Pfaff Automatic machines is that you have to have the levers in the exact positions to achieve the stitches you want and you have to follow the sequence of lever positioning.  So, you need the handy dandy Pfaff stitch wheel, which I don't have.  (There are full-color downloads and I can run those through a laminating machine, then insert a brass brad in the middle to spin it.  An easy hack.)

These machines are exceptional sewers but one of the best features is the shallowness of the arm itself.  This will likely be my free arm machine in a future sewing atelier with a Kenmore as a back up, as this machine cannot do several stretch utility stitches that are very useful on cuffs, for example.

OK, gotta go look at house listings and swallow hard.  This weekend is a busy one.

Meister 101

This past Saturday was a day I had been anticipating for several weeks.

My friend Janet -- someone I have become friends with through this blog and through her own, the very entertaining Suck It Up, Buttercup -- had found a Meister 101 in the wild, specifically Whitefish, Montana and offered to retrieve it for me.  (She lives in beautiful Kalispell.)  Like a true collector, she found yet another machine in my neck of the woods (the Seattle metro area), a Necchi BF Mira in excellent condition which I purchased for her; we agreed to meet in Spokane the aforementioned weekend to exchange machines and meet each other in person.

Janet's daughter Mariah was with her and according to Janet's own account, she remarked that though we had not met in person until then, it was as if we were continuing a conversation we had begun many years ago in which long stretches of absence never matter.  Janet is as friendly, funny, generous, and genuinely nice as her blog posts and comments and in person even more so.  The sewing community is filled with great people and Janet does our hobby proud; a shared interest often facilitates such meetings and I'm very glad we agreed to have a machine exchange.  Thank you, Janet!  I hope we can do this again.

As she knows, I'm particularly fond of German mid-century machines and this 1953 Meister 101 is a really wonderful example of the kind of engineering that makes them so smooth, powerful, and to me, desirable.  I admit I haven't run the machine except to test that it works (and does it ever), but it is the beauty of the design and the cosmetic and mechanical condition that help make it such a great acquisition.

The width and length levers have an extremely long travel, facilitating very small adjustments.  The hand wheel is large and set apart from the body, the needle position lever on top also being large and easily adjusted.  I love the oil port arrow decals (and the red oil ports on both sides of the 1.0 amp motor), the hand wheel direction decal, and the limiting switch in the width lever.  Sometimes found badged as a Sewmaster (though neither version is very common), much of the Meister's design reminds me of the Anker RZ, another German machine I really like.

The hand wheel moves with an ungodly amount of smoothness and without a single drop of oil I found it both heavy and free with the only sound being the rise and fall of the feed dog mechanism, a very soft click typically made by a precision instrument.  The shafts and rods of this machine are very thick, particularly the secondary drive shaft.  Like the Anker RZ, the Pfaff 130 and 30, and other German machines of this era, there is a semi-industrial level of quality here.

The nose plate reminds me of several German machines, notably the Anker RZ and some Pfaff models, although the Meister has an angled back edge that sets it apart.

Clearly this particular machine has seen very little use.  It's near-mint and I am extremely pleased to have it.  Once again, my gratitude is to Janet, a collector who has the eye and the passion for fine vintage machinery.  The Meister 101 is more than a keeper -- it is among the top few machines in my collection.

(Hard to believe it's about 62 years old!  Also hard to believe is the price: $30!)
        

 

Necchi BU Mira No. 2

Sometimes a seller knows just how good the machine s/he is selling happens to be.  The guy selling this machine is well aware of Necchi's legendary engineering, tight biases and screw threading, beautiful stitching, and all else.  But he wanted it gone and I was able to buy yet another BU Mira for a mere $50 in an original Necchi cabinet (needs refinishing) and it runs.  Perfectly.

I love this machine.  Were I forced to jettison every machine save one (man, that would suck), I might choose the BU Mira just because there are few machines which do everything really, really well.  Many of my Kenmores are contenders on the basis of sheer competence and ease of use but they don't have quite the smoothness nor the panache nor the physical beauty of one of Necchi's finest models.

I love the way it sews, it sounds, it looks -- it's easy to operate, the stitch limiters work so beautifully, the tension assembly is so refined that I can choose from an almost infinite number of settings, ditto the pressure knob.  The oil ports have bearings to prevent dust, the motor has two speeds...and the Wonder Wheel is unique and very Italian.  (In the interest of full disclosure, this machine is missing the WW rods and the tire is the usual crumbled mess that needs immediate replacement with the O-ring kit workaround.)

I will never pass up a BU Mira for $50 or less.  I can't -- not one in this condition.  Do try to find one, as they're just so choice. 

Necchi Supernova Julia

On Saturday, I purchased this machine and I made an appointment with a CL seller to purchase the following .5 Reliable clutch the following morning:

It's a very nice one and in great shape, and was kept in his pristine, spotless garage next to an E-type Jaguar in mint condition. We had agreed to meet at 9 a.m. and because he had completely forgotten (and his son called him after I spoke with the boy at the door) he was 30 minutes late. He gave the motor to me and apologized profusely. Do I hate it when people forget about a meeting they've scheduled (and after all, he was the one who chose the day and time)? Hell, yes. Do I love getting free, really nice, cool stuff? Hell, yes.

The next morning (Monday) before work, I purchased another machine for $20. I bought this 401A to eventually flip, as I don't want it. It's in really great shape, includes the manual, a full set of slant feet, a bunch of other sewing paraphernalia (bobbins, cams, tools, etc.), and comes in a large, heavy mid-century modern desk that would actually work as a real desk. In thinking about it, I may keep it for a while.

Yesterday, I contacted a CL seller about a "Vintage Sears Sewing Machine" for sale, her ad showing a Necchi Julia. We agreed to meet in the evening and she came to the door barefoot and in her pajamas with her long, flowing hair dyed bright blue, her nose ring glinting in the setting sun. She was very nice and showed me the 'Netchy', explaining that her father had purchased it for her mother, who hated sewing. The father made a remark about his wife's sewing and her mother resented it so much that she never sewed again.  This isn't the first machine I've purchased that included some baggage.

In addition to those emotional scars, the machine was absolutely filthy, complete with the hair of several animals, oil varnish galore, dust, dirt (as in dirt from the garden, not the usual household dirt), and a smell that would put the smelling salts industry on notice.  I have cleaned it and it's near-mint:

The case is in fair condition but the machine is in remarkable shape and for $25, it's an absolute steal. It's as full-featured a machine that the 1960s would produce and even includes a built-in pop-down magnifying glass and separate needle threader.  I don't really like the pastel lavender color but it's consistent with its age and styling.  I haven't run the machine because the wiring is in terrible condition; although I tend to plug things in and test them despite (or in spite of) bad wiring, this one is too far gone to take that risk.

Kenmore 158.540

Model 54, where are you?

Bellingham, apparently.  My mom needed to visit with a sick aunt and wanted a chauffeur.  My price?  Take a side trip to purchase a machine, one I've wanted for a couple of years but twice wasn't able to buy, first due to condition and second due to price.

Here it is, paint dings and all:

It was only $35 and I've had some success with touch-up paint on another machine (a Necchi -- stay tuned) so I think I'll try to match the cream paint (oil-based white and bone, mixed with spirits) and see if I can hide some of the spots you see here.  The machine is in great mechanical condition and it came with a full set of E-cams and the buttonholer with the geared plate that fits the buttonhole drive lever in the bobbin area.

These pictures were taken after a long day and right after I cleaned up this machine.  (It was the usual filthy garage machine with a dust bunny the size of Rhode Island.)  I'll take better pictures once I do the touch-ups and get some better lighting. 

Pfaff 30

I just purchased a 30 from a local guy who had no idea about/interest in it.  It was $40, a good price.

(By the way, what is it with me and $40, i.e. all the machines I've purchased for that amount?  What is up with that?  Is there a virtual sign above my head that says '$40'?  Do people look at me and say to themselves "Him?  Yeah, I'd pay him $40"?  WTF?)

The 30 is not common in my area.  (Now watch -- they'll start popping up all over.)  I've never seen one in person until yesterday, the only one I've ever seen for sale here.  It's straight-stitch only with reverse, feed dog drop on the deck.  It takes Class 15 bobbins, so it's high-capacity.  The motor, oddly enough, is not the 1.3 amp Pfaff that is common on this machine (and the 130) but a 1.4 amp.  1/10 won't make a huge difference but it is a notable departure from what I've so far read is standard for these Pfaffs in the US.  Needless to say, it has power and speed to burn.  I'll do a LOT more sewing on it but I've had this machine less than 24 hours and it has vaulted to the top of my straight-stitch heap.

(I should also note that the seller, very pleased, told me that he sprayed WD-40 throughout the machine in order to help me get it running really smoothly.  I smiled and thanked him profusely and began to sweat.  I may have even shed a tear of both joy and sadness due to his good will and the problem he created.) 

The design of the bobbin area is unusual (to me) in that a hinged collar holds the housing in place rather than the more typical bracket/screw design.  The castings of the shafts and pins are very impressive.  I'm no expert but it appears this machine borders on semi-industrial.  Not a whiff of plastic anywhere except the tension and the wheel.

The cabinet is sturdy but the finish is obviously shot.  I like it though and will refurbish it; I particularly like the hardware and the spider webs on the base in the picture add to the vintage feel.  In it, I found 11 pairs of scissors and shears, a boat load of notions, a pair of lace panties, and a box of contraception.  Thus, I assume it was used as a night stand.  (OK, what was that about $40?)  The original manual is here, too.

From its condition, this is a machine that appears not to have seen much use.  That's hopefully going to change.