Oh, sweet Davis

My poor old Davis Advance. It's my oldest machine*, manufactured in 1896. I so, so, so wanted to sew on a pre-1900s machine. But the thing just won't sew.

I've tried threading. And re-threading. And using different needles in different orientations. And the results are always the same...it sews a couple stitches, and then stops.

Yesterday it occurred to me that maybe I'm threading the shuttle wrong. This is the Davis shuttle.

When I bring the thread down under the spring on the side, it hangs limply along the shuttle, like this.

It's really loose, and maybe as the machine sews it slips along the shuttle. When I take the shuttle out the thread is often coming out of the back end, instead of the front, like this.

The pictures are fuzzy but there's a little metal finger in the center of the shuttle. I feel like the thread should maybe go under it, or something...is that right?

Any ideas?





* Oldest machine that I can accurately date. I have a German hand crank machine that has a fiddle base and a transverse shuttle, and it looks positively ancient. I have no idea when it was made, though.

Welcome home, Advance

It's been about two months, but I finally found time to get out to my parents' house and get the treadle base for the Davis Advance.  Welcome home, old girl!

It looks pretty good for 118 years old.  It was manufactured around 1896. 

I love the tray with the little holes where the bobbins go...or they would, if I had more than just one bobbin...

The finish on the top of the cabinet is in rough shape, but the finish on the sides and back is still beautiful.  And I like the design of the irons better than Singer irons.

This is the bracket that holds up the little table on the side of the cabinet.  Even this bracket is pretty.  Everything about these old machines is just beautiful.

The front plate isn't as pretty as my Singers, but I kind of like its simplicity.

The decals are pretty worn on the front, but on the back you can get a better idea of what they looked like.  I bet they were beautiful on the day they were made, and again, they're in pretty good shape for 118 years old.  Nothing else that I own will be in this shape in 118 years.

It's my only coffin top machine.  I wonder what was set on top of it to make that weird grid shape in the finish.

I need to order a belt and some needles (it takes extra-long industrial needles, not regular domestic needles).  I can't wait to start using it regularly.

Of course, that brings my herd census up to:

Three treadle machines
Two hand crank machines
One electric machine
Three machines that are missing parts or are just homeless machine heads

I have four other machine heads that I listed for sale on Craigslist.  It kind of hurts, but really, I need the space for machines that are at least close to functioning...not to mention fabric and all of my other hobby stuff.  Hopefully they'll find a good home, and not someone who will turn them into lamps or tractors.

Davises

This week I was perusing Craigslist -  a nightly activity for me - for sewing machines.  Most of the time I just look at the machines, but this time one ad caught my eye.  Someone was selling an old machine - and included a ton of pictures in the ad from Pinterest about what you could do with the treadle irons.

Yikes.

I emailed him to ask if he had the machine still, and he did!  He said it was a Davis Honeymoon...I Googled and was pretty sure that was a vertical feed model.  I was so excited...I've wanted a Davis vertical feed for a while.  So I drove two hours round-trip...in the snow...getting lost twice...to get this machine.

It wasn't a vertical feed.

It had a vibrating shuttle.  I really don't care for vibrating shuttles.

It had a leaf tension mechanism.  I don't care for leaf tensions.

I was so disappointed. 

The funny thing is, though, that just last month my parents gave me a Davis Advance machine for my birthday.  It was really sweet - I had followed the auction on shopgoodwill.com, but the price went higher than I wanted, and I talked myself out of the purchase.  However, I had shown the listing to my parents, and when I bowed out they jumped on it.  I had thought it was a vertical feed, and, again, I was wrong, but I was really happy to find that it was made around 1896.  I had always wanted a pre-1900s machine, and even though this one was only 5 years older than my Singer 27 from 1901, I was still so happy to have a machine from the 1800s.

I wondered if I could still sell the irons and use the Advance's irons for both machines.  Just swap them out.

I think it might work.  The machine beds are both the same size. 

And really, I have such a soft spot for these old machines, it didn't take long to start feeling a fondness for the Honeymoon.  The decals are grimy, but pretty.  

I still plan on selling the cabinet and irons...which is a pity, since they're so pretty...

I'll list them for a couple of weeks, and if they don't sell it won't be the end of the world.

I am sad that the slide plate is missing on the machine, because that's where the serial number is.  I'd love to get a date on this.  I also really want to get the irons and cabinet for the Advance from my parents' house so I can get both machines up and running. I can't wait to start using them.