Friday 28 December 2018

Singer Pinking Hand Crank Attachment No. 121379

Hello

I've been looking for one of these for absolutely ages, they are rare in the UK,




This one is a bit worse for wear.  Amazingly it still works.



It's a really nifty machine for pinking edges on material. The blade isn't actually sharp but it cuts really well by pressure between the blade and the bottom roller.

I had to take it apart to clean it.  This is where I came unstuck, I couldn't get the blade out, the tension knob was well and truly stuck, I knew that it unscrewed the opposite way to normal but I still couldn't undo it.  The adjustment screw on the width guide was also stuck.  My partner came to the rescue and dismantled it.  The bearing on the hand crank was seized but he managed to free this up as well.

Unfortunately, it didn't come with the original table clamp but there was one with the toy Singer sewing machine I had as child.  Don't know what became of this machine but I found the clamp in Dad's garage when I was clearing it out.




It cleaned up quite nicely. The Featherweight Shop came to the rescue for a copy of the Manual, you can download one here  Pinking manual.   A big thank you to them.  They sell new blades as well, including a straight one,

Tried a few different fabrics, it cut them all with ease, even the slippy waterproof fabric.  It even cuts paper and card because the blade isn't actually sharp the paper will not blunt it.  You can adjust the bottom roller to put more pressure on the blade if its not cutting properly.



It will sit on my sewing table ready for action!

Cheers
Sharon

4 comments:

  1. Is there no end to the list of Singer attachments?!! Never heard of this one. How amazing that it cuts without being sharp. Where on earth did you get it?

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  2. Ebay to the rescue! Singer were an amazing Company, they were the first to do franchises, HP credit, their merchandising was huge. There is another type of pinking gadget which attaches to the machine itself, this is even rarer. These gadgets were made in the USA, I don't think they were made it the UK. There are still some attachments out there that I don't have, its fun and not too expensive to collect them!

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  3. Have you seen this video, entitled Birth of a Sewing Machine, about the Singer factory in Clydebank?

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bIMxwy8CLkw

    After watching that, I thought - I wonder if anyone's ever written a song about a sewing machine, and found this. It might bring a tear to your eye...

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=03rQM7orKpE

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    Replies
    1. Thanks for these Lizzie, I hadn't seen them. I knew the factory was huge but that shows just how huge it was. My favourite customer Don was a factory expert, he was asked to value the machinery that made the sewing machines. This was when they were closing the factory down, he advised that they were all sent for scrap, when I found this out, I pulled his leg a bit, not sure if I wanted to work for someone who could be so heartless! He said that there were piles and piles of half made machines and parts all over the place, he wasn't there to value the stock, just the machinery.

      The song is great, I just knew that these machines had feelings!

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