Hello! Welcome to 24 Washington Avenue. This is my singer 15k 80.
I bought it in London when I resided there over a decade ago and it moved
with me when I relocated to the United States. It came with this lovely manual that was perfectly
preserved thanks largely in part to an oil spill that had taken place in one of the drawers.
The other manuals I've seen have generally had rather tattered and frayed pages but
this one is in immaculate condition I hope to go through the basics of this machine in some
detail following the instructions as listed by the manufacturer and I hope that you will
find it of use or, if nothing else, of interest. The first thing that singer recommend is that the
user practices operation of the treadle machine without the actual sewing mechanisms engaged so
reading from the book: Balance Wheel Stop Motion: this device allows the balance wheel to run free
so the bobbins may be wound and the correct method of treading acquired without operating
the stitching mechanism to loosen the wheel hold it with the left hand and with the right hand turn
the stop motion screw over towards you as shown in Figure one and that is what it looks like and
I shall now demonstrate- left hand on top of the wheel right hand holding the stop wheel mechanism
and turning it to me over the top to me which disengages the sewing mechanism so the wheel
can be operated using the treadle without the needle going up and down. Now if I tighten that
turning it away from me over the top, now you can see that the sewing mechanism has been engaged.
So once again turned toward me over the top it is now disengaged and this allows the user to
get a good feel for the treadle motion at slow speeds, and at fast speeds stopping
and starting. It's important to know that the wheel should always turn over-the-top
toward you - never away from you. They go on to write that once a person
is familiar with the working movement one might tighten the balance wheel by turning
the stop motion screw from you, and placing a piece of material under the presser foot
lower the latter by means of a lifter and again work the machine without its being threaded,
until you are accustomed to guiding the material. So here's my fabric in place. I have engaged the
mechanism over at the flywheel. Fabric is under the presser foot, I will now use the
lifter at the rear to lower the presser foot my needle is not threaded and now, I will begin to
operate the machine to get a gauge for guiding the material underneath of the presser foot
Were I to turn a corner, I would pause with the needle in the down position,
lift the presser foot using the lifter, turn my fabric, lower the presser foot,
and continue again ensuring that the flywheel turns over the top toward me never away from me.
Next for the instructions on setting the needle for the first time. Raise the needle bar to
its highest point and loosen the thumb screw - so that's at its highest point,
thumb screws loosened, hold the needle with the left hand and with its flat side to the
right insert it into the needle clamp as far as it will go and then retighten the screw.
And I'm turning it now to ensure that the flat side is pointing to the right
then inserting it underneath as far as it will go
(taking care not to poke myself!) and then re-tightening the thumb screw.
So they wish for you to turn the balance wheel until the lever is that its highest. So this is at
its highest. My thread is on top of the spool pin on top of the machine, I now take the thread pass
it through the back of the machine over the notch down between the tension disks - from the back
between the disks - up over the thread guard which is this l-shaped piece here from behind, into the
loop of (the spring the spring is right here), up through the hole in the end of the lever from
the back, down into the guide, (which if you just hold the thread there's a notch on this side and
it will pass in - it's not a complete circle so if you just pull it up against the front it will slip
into place you don't have to thread it through the hole) into the second guide, which is down here by
the needle and then, from left to right, you may thread through the eye of the needle so once again
the thread passes over this notch at the back between the tension disks from the back underneath
over the top and over the guard, then through the spring which I just pass it down the side
here underneath (and I tend to hold the thread back because it provides just enough tension to
allow you to catch the spring) then through the hole in the lever from back to front through the
first of the thread guides and again you can just create some tension and pull toward the back and
it will slip in there once again just tension pull toward the back and it will slip in and then down
through the thread guard at the front and then you are able to thread the needle from left to right.
Removing the Bobbin Case and Bobbin: Turn the balance wheel toward you until the take-up lever
is at its highest point so this is the same position as when we were threading the needle.
Draw open the slide in the bed of the machine and with the thumb and forefinger of the left
hand open the latch and withdraw the bobbin case. So here's the manual. This is the latch that is
pulled out to release the bobbin casing from the pin and allow it to be pulled out so just to show.
There's the lever, so I'd reach in and grab that
with my finger it will release and then the bobbin casing comes out.
I shan't cover winding the bobbin at the moment however we will discuss threading the bobbin case.
You simply take the bobbin with the thread passing away from you over the top, pass it into the case,
take the tail, pass it through the slot around toward the back, keeping tension applied it will
slot into place it just pulls right into place. So again, the tail away from you over the top,
into the case (and I usually just hold it pinched with my thumb and index finger so that it doesn't
pull out), turn it so that the thread goes through that slot, pull it back and it will
just pop into place, so now the bobbin case is threaded and can be reinserted below the machine.
Drop the tail into the belly of the sewing machine, close the cover and then to pill
the thread up, simply hold the tail from the needle lower the
needle when it reaches its highest point pull on the tail and it will
pull the thread up from the bobbin and now you have two threads ready to sew.
The stitch length regulator allows the user to change the length of the stitch. It is controlled
through this screw here. In its uppermost position it provides the longest stitch,
and pushed all the way to the bottom it barely moves at all it simply goes up and down - there is
no backwards and forwards motion. You may see that with the screw in its lowest position the feed
dogs simply go up and down -there is no backwards and forwards motion, whereas if I turn the screw
and lift it all the way to the uppermost position, now you can see there is a very clear forwards and
backwards motion - where the feed dogs would be coming up, applying pressure to the fabric,
moving it backwards and then dropping down. If I move the stitch length selector about half
way you can see as I move it the distance that it travels towards the back changes so now in
a medium position there is still a moderate amount of forwards and backwards movement,
but far less than in the uppermost position. Now to demonstrate those stitches, I have a
black piece of cloth here so that the white thread will be clearly visible. This is with
the stitch selector in its uppermost position ... now moving it down to the middle ... down
even further ... and I won't move it all the way down to the bottom because there will be nothing
to see! So now to remove my fabric I simply pull it to the back, sever the threads, and now you
can see where I started out there is the initial stitch, transitioning to a medium length stitch,
transitioning to a super small stitch, and with the feed dogs disengaged or not moving forwards
and backwards at least a person would be able to do free motion embroidery, buttonholing,
and other such tasks where you do not wish to have that forwards and backwards motion.
As with any mechanical device maintenance is of critical importance. Various oiling points can
be found on the machine, on the bobbin winder including the underside. Generally speaking,
I will turn the hand wheel and look for anything that's moving - any points where
there is any kind of motion - and I will give it a generous oiling, ensuring that I have a
cloth underneath to catch any drips and I will give it a quick rub afterwards to make sure that
there is no oil left to attract fibers or dust and make a mess of the underside of my machine.
From the manual the oiling points are clearly identified - including instructions on the
best positioning of the machine the in order to oil the various points.
So that's on the underside and you must make sure that you disengage the belt on
the treadle before trying to rotate the machine back because the tension in that
belt will stop your machine from moving. As they say, neglect to oil the machine and
you will shorten its life and find yourself faced with lots of trouble and annoyance!!