Please help me find out more about my new baby - an Eldredge Rotary Model 32

I've been thinking about buying an old straight stitch machine for a while,
and yesterday the planets aligned. The woman across the street from us has
gone to a nursing home and yesterday there was an estate sale at her house.

For $20, I picked up an Eldredge Rotary machine and cabinet. It's electric and
has a reverse. Luckily, it also had its manual which has been immensely
helpful since I've got no experience at all with older machines. It has a knee
lever and came with tons of attachments, including 4 hemmers which I'm very
happy about.

It's in fabulous condition with no rust, and apparently was still being used
occasionally. It runs and sounds very smooth, though it was skipping stitches
(I think due to user error - I haven't played with it much).

Anyway, does anyone know about these machines? I'm guessing it's not *that*
old. It's very plain vanilla - charcoal cast iron, and no decals at all,
except for "Eldredge Rotary" across the body in silver. The face place is
completely smooth with no decoration. Although the plate in the back says
"National Sewing Machine Co." and "Model B," the manual has a page
scotch-taped in explaining that it's a Model 32, which is identical to the
Model B except it also sews in reverse (which this does). There is no serial
number anywhere on it. It's not a shiny, pretty, painted Singer, but it
works!

I'm curious about what year it was made (I'm guessing in the 40's?), and if
it's possible to get parts for it (are they interchangeable with any of the
Singers?). I know for sure I need to replace the rubber on the bobbin pulley,
as it's very dried and cracked. I'm hoping if nothing else that I can find an
O-ring at Home Depot that will fit. If not, I'll just wind bobbins on my
other machine. Which reminds me, I also need bobbins for this one, as it only
came with one.

Any help would be really appreciated! Thanks!

-Meghan

know what I did? I got an old machine, not a clue where I got it from, it
appeared one day LOL anyway, I found out the maker of the machine, went on
the net and wrote directly to the company. I got a tiny bit of info on my
machine, not enough for my liking, but it was a start.
I am jelous that you got a manual with yours!! Mine came with parts missing
not included LOL no feet, no spindle to hold the thread and no papers or
information. It did come in a nice cabinet that I wish I could get my 12
year old Kenmore into though....

This is the info I got on my machine, of course it is a singer offspring so
it was a bit easier for me :

Thank you for taking the time to write.

Our records show that serial #ET127314 is model # 328K, manufactured
11-15-1961, in Kilbowie, Scotland.

You can order a copy of the manual from our website, www.singerco.com.
Click on Buy Accessories then Machine Manuals and enter your model
number. Or you can send a check or money order (USA $15.00 Canada $20.00)
to the following address ;

SINGER SEWING COMPANY
P O BOX 7017
LAVERGNE, TN 37086

You can contact a Singer dealer in your area to order parts and
accessories from. Go to www.singerco.com. Click on WHERE TO BUY and enter
your
postal code under dealer locator to find a dealer.

Cordially,
The Singer Sewing Co.
Consumer Affairs

Good Luck To You
~KK~

I found this site on goggle. www.ismacs.net/national/home.html. It is the
international sewing machine collector's society page on the national sewing
machine company. Hope it helps

Carl
-------------
Thou shalt use thine scraps to makes quilts for charity, so that those less
fortunate may know the joy of sleeping beneath a quilt.
"Meghan" wrote in message
...
I've been thinking about buying an old straight stitch machine for a
while,
and yesterday the planets aligned. The woman across the street from us
has
gone to a nursing home and yesterday there was an estate sale at her
house.

For $20, I picked up an Eldredge Rotary machine and cabinet. It's electric
and
has a reverse. Luckily, it also had its manual which has been immensely
helpful since I've got no experience at all with older machines. It has a
knee
lever and came with tons of attachments, including 4 hemmers which I'm
very
happy about.

It's in fabulous condition with no rust, and apparently was still being
used
occasionally. It runs and sounds very smooth, though it was skipping
stitches
(I think due to user error - I haven't played with it much).

Anyway, does anyone know about these machines? I'm guessing it's not
*that*
old. It's very plain vanilla - charcoal cast iron, and no decals at all,
except for "Eldredge Rotary" across the body in silver. The face place is
completely smooth with no decoration. Although the plate in the back says
"National Sewing Machine Co." and "Model B," the manual has a page
scotch-taped in explaining that it's a Model 32, which is identical to the
Model B except it also sews in reverse (which this does). There is no
serial
number anywhere on it. It's not a shiny, pretty, painted Singer, but it
works!

I'm curious about what year it was made (I'm guessing in the 40's?), and
if
it's possible to get parts for it (are they interchangeable with any of
the
Singers?). I know for sure I need to replace the rubber on the bobbin
pulley,
as it's very dried and cracked. I'm hoping if nothing else that I can
find an
O-ring at Home Depot that will fit. If not, I'll just wind bobbins on my
other machine. Which reminds me, I also need bobbins for this one, as it
only
came with one.

Any help would be really appreciated! Thanks!

-Meghan

On Sun, 18 Apr 2004 01:37:12 GMT, "*KoffeeKupz*"
wrote:

know what I did? I got an old machine, not a clue where I got it from, it
appeared one day LOL anyway, I found out the maker of the machine, went on
the net and wrote directly to the company. I got a tiny bit of info on my
machine, not enough for my liking, but it was a start.

Unfortunately, the company closed in 1953! So I'm out of luck as far as that
goes.

I am jelous that you got a manual with yours!! Mine came with parts missing
not included LOL no feet, no spindle to hold the thread and no papers or
information. It did come in a nice cabinet that I wish I could get my 12
year old Kenmore into though....

I was really lucky. The cabinet has some dings, but the machine is in perfect
shape and seems to run well. The intact manual was a definite bonus. And
the price was unbeatable. I'm just hoping I can still get parts for it.
Someone on eBay is selling the bobbins, so that helps, and it seems to take
regular needles, though that could account for the skipped stitches come to
think of it. I'll have to fiddle with that some more once I wind bobbins on
my other machine!

Thanks!

-Meghan

On Sat, 17 Apr 2004 19:02:48 -0700, "Carl Ebert" wrote:

I found this site on goggle. www.ismacs.net/national/home.html. It is the
international sewing machine collector's society page on the national sewing
machine company. Hope it helps


Thanks! I did find that page while searching. I also found an eBay auction
for two old advertisements; the one on the left looks very much like my
machine, though mine has a reverse, and the one in the ad doesn't. I wrote to
the seller and asked if they knew what year the ad is from. Here's the link:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...tem=3286711333

Someone else is selling bobbins, so I wrote and asked if they have any other
parts for it.

I haven't heard back from either person, but it's a start.

-Meghan

Can you find a patent number on it anywhere? If you see one you can
search for it at the US Patent office website. It lists ranges of
patent numbers issued in a given year. By finding the range your
number falls into you can determine the year the patent was filed. I
just picked up an old Hotpoint iron and learned it's from 1931, Still
works beautifully!

great!!! sounds nice, though I've never seen that brand..
doesn't skipping stitches have something to do with the needle?

PS: I read it came with 4 hammers and I was pondering about the uses of
hammers in sewing... my last option before I reread your line was that
they were used to assemble the wooden base of the treadle.. )

Meghan wrote:

I've been thinking about buying an old straight stitch machine for a while,
and yesterday the planets aligned. The woman across the street from us has
gone to a nursing home and yesterday there was an estate sale at her house.

For $20, I picked up an Eldredge Rotary machine and cabinet. It's electric and
has a reverse. Luckily, it also had its manual which has been immensely
helpful since I've got no experience at all with older machines. It has a knee
lever and came with tons of attachments, including 4 hemmers which I'm very
happy about.

It's in fabulous condition with no rust, and apparently was still being used
occasionally. It runs and sounds very smooth, though it was skipping stitches
(I think due to user error - I haven't played with it much).

Anyway, does anyone know about these machines? I'm guessing it's not *that*
old. It's very plain vanilla - charcoal cast iron, and no decals at all,
except for "Eldredge Rotary" across the body in silver. The face place is
completely smooth with no decoration. Although the plate in the back says
"National Sewing Machine Co." and "Model B," the manual has a page
scotch-taped in explaining that it's a Model 32, which is identical to the
Model B except it also sews in reverse (which this does). There is no serial
number anywhere on it. It's not a shiny, pretty, painted Singer, but it
works!

I'm curious about what year it was made (I'm guessing in the 40's?), and if
it's possible to get parts for it (are they interchangeable with any of the
Singers?). I know for sure I need to replace the rubber on the bobbin pulley,
as it's very dried and cracked. I'm hoping if nothing else that I can find an
O-ring at Home Depot that will fit. If not, I'll just wind bobbins on my
other machine. Which reminds me, I also need bobbins for this one, as it only
came with one.

Any help would be really appreciated! Thanks!

-Meghan

--
Dr. Quilter
Ambassador of Extraordinary Aliens
http://community.webshots.com/user/mvignali
(take the dog out before replying)

On Wed, 21 Apr 2004 07:57:23 -0700, "Dr. Quilter"
wrote:

great!!! sounds nice, though I've never seen that brand..
doesn't skipping stitches have something to do with the needle?

Now that I've got it all cleaned and oiled, it's not skipping stitches any
more! The tension gets a little wonky when sewing in reverse, so I will
have to figure that out. The needles for it are about 1/4" longer than
standard needles, so I have to drop it down a little bit in the needle clamp.
I put up pictures he

http://f1.pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/msj...=/996b&.src=ph

(You may have to copy & paste the second half of the link if it wrapped after
sending.)

It's a very not-pretty machine but it seems to sew really well so it's a great
machine for me to learn about vintage machines on - and there's so much more
room under the arm for quilts than my other cheapie Walmart machine!

PS: I read it came with 4 hammers and I was pondering about the uses of
hammers in sewing... my last option before I reread your line was that
they were used to assemble the wooden base of the treadle.. )

Hehe - the hammers are for my head when I can't figure out why the bobbin
thread won't come up with the top thread, or why it's skipping stitches, or
where to find a short enough light bulb, or when I can't figure out how the
race works with the stop bar...

-Meghan, who has learned 500% more about sewing machines than she knew a week
ago

She's a real cutie!
I love the old black machines with their fancy gold designs and all that
cast iron, but yours reminds me of a chunky little farm horse... hard
working, and fiesty.
Diana

"Meghan" wrote in message
...
On Wed, 21 Apr 2004 07:57:23 -0700, "Dr. Quilter"
wrote:

great!!! sounds nice, though I've never seen that brand..
doesn't skipping stitches have something to do with the needle?

Now that I've got it all cleaned and oiled, it's not skipping stitches any
more! The tension gets a little wonky when sewing in reverse, so I
will
have to figure that out. The needles for it are about 1/4" longer than
standard needles, so I have to drop it down a little bit in the needle
clamp.
I put up pictures he


http://f1.pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/msj...eqnt2Q&.dir=/9
96b&.src=ph

(You may have to copy & paste the second half of the link if it wrapped
after
sending.)

It's a very not-pretty machine but it seems to sew really well so it's a
great
machine for me to learn about vintage machines on - and there's so much
more
room under the arm for quilts than my other cheapie Walmart machine!

PS: I read it came with 4 hammers and I was pondering about the uses of
hammers in sewing... my last option before I reread your line was that
they were used to assemble the wooden base of the treadle.. )

Hehe - the hammers are for my head when I can't figure out why the bobbin
thread won't come up with the top thread, or why it's skipping stitches,
or
where to find a short enough light bulb, or when I can't figure out how
the
race works with the stop bar...

-Meghan, who has learned 500% more about sewing machines than she knew a
week
ago

eautiful cabinet!

Meghan wrote:
I put up pictures he

http://f1.pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/msj...=/996b&.src=ph

It's a very not-pretty machine but it seems to sew really well so it's a great
machine for me to learn about vintage machines on - and there's so much more
room under the arm for quilts than my other cheapie Walmart machine!

--
Dr. Quilter
Ambassador of Extraordinary Aliens
http://community.webshots.com/user/mvignali
(take the dog out before replying)