I recently took this sewing machine out of mothballs and decided to put it to work. It's a Davis Model VF-2 machine from around 1900. It originally belonged to my great-grandmother, Martha Ora Tucker Seward and it was passed along to me long ago. I named the machine "Minnie" which was Martha Ora's nickname.
I actually put some mileage on this machine myself. When I was a Boy Scout, I used it to repair my surplus pup tent that had previously been used as a paint tarp. (Very colorful! The troop required me to pitch it in the very back of the campsite!)
When I was active in competition blackpowder shooting and reenactments, I sewed my own clothes on this machine.
I've had it in storage for quite a while, though it now resides in my office. I opened it up not long ago and rebuilt the flip-over lid that covers it. Someone had broken the hinges loose and a wood veneered panel in the center of the lid had peeled away. Just a few days ago I installed a new belt, gave the machine a minor cleaning and oiling, and sewed a bit on it. Still works great!
It takes a slightly longer than standard needle which is no longer made, although I found a very close alternative on eBay and ordered a few. Standard needles can be made to work, with some fudging, but not reliably.
Here's a closer look at the machine.
As you may be able to see from the first picture, two of the drawers on the cabinet are not quite a match. There is a more complete cleaning, oiling, and refinishing in the works when the weather cools off a bit. Not a radical refinish. Just a general re-tightening of the wood joints, cleaning and lemon oiling of the wood and so on. I want to keep as much of the original finish as is left, wherever it has any.
I'll post a follow up when all that is done.
A peek inside the mechanism. The long bullet shape is the shuttle that contains the bobbin, which is a long spool. It's a different design from the newer round bobbin that more modern machines use. The shuttle swings back and forth, sliding through the needle thread to capture the stitches.
A few of the original attachments and extras that came with the machine. Two hemmers, an edge guide, two shuttles, and a wrench.
This item, that looks a bit like a mutated ninja throwing star, is actually a pretty cool multi-tool. The top and right arms were once different sized screwdrivers like the left arm. The bottom part fits the needle clamp nut to help tighten or loosen it.
A page from the Davis VF-2 owner's manual.
While I'm on the subject, here is another possible project for me. This rusty machine was found through Freecycle or Craigslist Freebies. It had sat in the previous owners yard as a piece of yard art for several years before she offered it. I took it and hope to make it operational again. Looks bad, but is really pretty sound. It looks a lot like the Davis and has a similar shuttle bobbin. However, this is a Singer Model 27 also from 1900.
Here's one from the internet in slightly better condition!
What will I do with it if I get it going? I don't know for sure. I only know that I have always been fascinated by machinery in general and sewing machines in particular. My grandmother, Mildred Seward, did a lot of sewing when I was growing up and I helped her often.
Just an old sew-and-sew!
Okay, maybe not so significant to anyone other than me. Way back in the previous millennium, like maybe 1961 or so, a favorite great-uncle of mine passed on. Dr. George Duff Ross had been the town physician in Liberty Hill, Texas for many years. There are still people around who bear one of his three names in honor of his delivering them. He was also, in my eyes, something of a Renaissance Man. He had a myriad of hobbies, including taxidermy, woodworking and fishing. He had designed and built his own very unique home in the town. He also had a well equipped workshop.
After he passed on and his house was sold, we had a lot of his books and things to dispose of. I managed to latch on to a few. I was only ten or eleven at the time, but I already had a huge love of books, and everything of Uncle Doc's was fascinating to me. I didn't get to keep much, but one was the book shown above.
"The Amateur Craftsman's Cyclopedia of Things to Make" was printed in 1937 by the Popular Science Publishing Company. The book was hardback and composed of 338 pages of projects, tips, and all sorts of fascinating information drawn from years of back issues of Popular Science magazine.
The title page calls it "A complete manual for the home-workshop enthusiast with detailed working drawings and instructions for making toys, novelties, sporting equipment, models, furniture, house and garden conveniences, radios, photographic accessories, and scientific instruments - painting - workshop methods - metal working." "With over 1400 working drawings, diagrams, and illustrations."
I loved this book! I was already fascinated with do-it-yourself projects. Of course, much of the book was pretty dated, even by 1960. However, the contents stirred my imagination and gave me a start on many of the interests I hold still today, such as woodworking, photography, metalworking, and electronics.
For several years I returned to this book over and over, poring over the pictures and details. Finally, my grandfather loaned the book to his brother who also had a workshop. I never saw it again. Over the past 40 years or so I forgot the exact name of the book, but I still remembered the book itself, as well as a visual memory of many of the contents. I tried a few times to find another copy, but I was stymied by not having the actual name or publisher.
Finally, a couple of weeks ago in a related search of vintage workshop articles, I came across an article that I remembered from the book. The footing on the page copied gave me the right name. Of course it is out of print and a collectible but I subsequently found a used copy of the book on Amazon.com. For fifteen dollars plus shipping it could be mine! I jumped on it. In a couple of days I had it, the copy shown above.
This copy is a second edition and is a slightly larger format than the original, I believe. However, it is all there in pretty good condition. Everything I remembered from before. I am so pleased to finally have this book back in my possession!
I'm still a sucker for old reprints of vintage how-to articles. I'm a bit fan of ingenuity. A lot of the time the methods and materials are waaaaaaay out of date. I mean, how often can you run down the the mechanic shop and find a magneto from a Model T? However, the concepts are still sound, even if it is necessary to find modern equivalents for materials and finished projects. You may not have need of a wall rack for buggy whips, but it may give you and idea for something else!
Long lost treasure!
