Singer 201K

Hello

Ooops, was playing on Ebay and my finger slipped!  Wonder how many times that excuse has been tried, take my word for it, no one believes it.

Ok, I had a go with my friend Sarah's Singer 201K and it sewed beautifully, totally straight, fast and smooth.  I had sewing machine envy so had a peek on Ebay.

Found a 201 with knee control advertised by a house clearance company, they didn't know what they had.  It had a problem that the knee control was missing so they couldn't try it.  Not totally sure if I believed that, there is a special place in the case for it to go securely, I suspect that it was more like, they would have to electrical test it and it was unlikely to pass so legally they shouldn't sell it.  So it can be a regular thing for sellers to claim their machine were untested cos "they don't know how to operate it", "the plug was missing (often the case if got from a tip, they cut plugs off)", "foot controller and plug leads are missing"  all to get round the laws on selling electrical equipment.  Anyway, the machine was cheap enough so put a best offer on it and got it.  At the same time, found a knee bar on Ebay and ordered that.  But when the machine arrived, they hadn't packed it properly, it had rocked in the case and pulled one of the hinges out splitting the wood.  So rang the company, and to be fair to them, they gave me an instant partial refund so the machine was even  more of a bargain.

Here it is with the split case.

On inspection, the wire to the plug needed the damaged bit chopping off it, the wire to the motor was looking very secondhand. The motor wire is covered with a cotton coating which rots with age so despite me wanting to try it out, I have to wait until the knee lever arrives, I will buy a reconditioned motor and get the case fixed.  So a little work require but I think it will be worth it, the actual machine itself is in good condition, the paint work is especially good.

Will let you know how I get on.  Never used a knee lever control before, wonder how I will get on with it?

Cheers
Sharon