Singer 319K – first few days

Having won the auction with the only bid of $10, I picked up the machine on Monday night, and started a long slow inspection of the machine. This is best done while cleaning and lubricating as most things get touched in the process.

So what is obviously missing? The case and the foot control are very obvious, but there was the plug off the foot control in the bits box. The bight control screw is not there, and these cost $36 each plus as much again in postage from the USA.

What is obviously damaged? The bobbin carrier has suffered needle strike, causing some damage. This was caused by the carrier not being seated properly, and vibrating into the path of the needle. The bulb in the light was blown. The motor was very noisy and sluggish. The belt and bobbin winder tyre will need replacing eventually.

What was especially pleasing? The drive belt from the main shaft to the hook shaft is perfect, virtually unmarked and unused. The full set of 26 fashion discs in the ubiquitous Singer box, and the five perfect discs in the disc stack under the piano keys was quite exciting, and 6 type  L bobbins was good too.

Generally the machine is correctly adjusted and responded well to a thorough application of oil, internally and externally to clean up the decals and paint work. There are some small patches of rust on the base plate and the top of the machine, and some of the bright metal needed a brief polish.

Before the end of the first day I had it stitching, including using all the piano key patterns, and one or two of the removable discs. The bight and needle positions seem accurate and the stitch length is easy to use and pretty accurate.

I had to repair the bobbin carrier by removing the damaged metal off the front surface of the carrier, and while I was having a go at it with the Dremel, I modified the carrier so that the longer type 15×1 needles could be used without striking the carrier. One HUGE bonus of doing this is that a 15×1 twin needle can now be used in place of the 306×1 twin needle which is now impossible to find, rather than just hideously expensive!

So by the end of the second day, I had it stitching with a twin needle and using pattern discs at the same time. That is so cool for just $10 outlay.

The BAK 4-12 motor was very noisy and sluggish, and wasn’t smelling too good in use, so today, the third day, I stripped and cleaned the motor, repaired a broken plastic part in the connecting block, and reassemble it successfully. Internally the motor was dirty, but with no wear on the  brushes, the commutator or the bronze bushes the shaft runs in. I also put a new LED bulb into the Singer Light.

So by the end of the third day, I have a motor that drives the machine like it was new, and the machine spins over so quietly (when not using fashion discs).

There is still so much to do, but I am now at the point where I know it is worth doing it, as this is a very special machine.

Aesthetically it is possibly the ugliest domestic machine ever made by Singer, only surpassed by the two tone brown version. If you are a fan of Function over Form like me then you will recognize it’s vintage charm and it’s beautiful engineering both inside and out. This might be the last sewing machine I buy, I am now satisfied that I have the best machine for me.

It’s not particularly old, it is one of the first batch of 319K machines made at Kilbowie in Glasgow in 1957, and some people think this was the last real black lacquer and gold decal machine made by Singer. Yes it is a clone of a Pfaff, and shared a lot of technology with the Elna Supermatic (Singer never was a great respecter of patents) but it is all proper Singer.