Sunday, 1 May 2016

Singer 201K2

After watching The Dressmaker I wanted a 201K2 and it seems that these were never sold in Australia. Thought of bringing one from the U.K. where they're not that uncommon, or converting a 201-2 from 110V but this didn't seem sensible.
Exactly a month ago I won one! It appeared on eBay and finished at 3:30pm when nobody would be watching. I still paid $111.50 for a machine that was in really awful condition. The wiring was actually melted and it needed a complete overhaul.

So, I got it working by my birthday (2nd April) and sold all my other 201s because now I had a rare one. Possibly a bit premature, the motor made a loud rumbling noise and wasn't at all the quiet rolls-royce purr I was expecting.
In the middle of sewing a jacket today I stopped and decided this was a great time to recondition the motor. Nicholas Rain Noe has an excellent article on this and the U.S. version is the same, just for a different mains voltage. I believe the grease might have had something to do with the reduction in the noise but it's still not whisper quiet.
Elusive 201K2
In the first scene of the film Kate Winslet is carrying an empty case. How can I tell? This baby weighs almost as much as she does.