Post by @xenotar
I know my way around most hand crank and treadle Singer sewing machines, even OK with the older vibrating shuttle machines (never dealt with the ancient oscillating shuttles).
Then I face my Singer 29k industrial, and WTFery abounds. What an amazing, and initially baffling, machine.
Clutter for scale.
@jack_daniel My grandmother had a treadle-operated sewing machine. My father retrofitted a small motor to it…
@SteveBellovin@infosec.exchange @jack_daniel@mastodon.social My mother had one of those machines; my father used it to sew fishing bags and canvas satchels. I learned how to use it and would make small items, like altering jeans to keep up with the latest trends. I never really took to modern machines.
@xenotar @SteveBellovin This is my most modern machine, from 1936; my others are a 1933 # 66 domestic treadle, 1923 # 99 portable hand crank, and an 1880s vibrating shuttle unit that works, but is just decor these days. She, on the other hand, has modern Juki and Berninas, including a long arm. She is far better than I, I mostly do crude utilitarian work.
@jack_daniel@mastodon.social @SteveBellovin@infosec.exchange My parents got married in 1949, and I believe the Singer was a model from a later year. Unfortunately, when they passed away in 1977, my sister kept the machine but soon sold it. It was a very sturdy machine. My mother had an electric one but rarely used it, preferring the treadle machine.