Not doing a full restoration at the moment, instead gave it a clean, an oil, and a service. I want to make sure everything works as it should and that it will actually sew. It does feel very nice to use, everything turns, oscillates, and rises and falls as it's meant to.
A couple of observations.
1. It's amazing how little the basic design of this 1909 American machine differs from my 1940 Singer.
2. It's a nice little machine but not in the same league as my Singer with regard to quality of components.
Here's a picture of it after I put it all back together. The little glass file full of red liquid on the base was wedged into the compartment under the machine. I suspect it's machine oil, and probably nearly as old as the machine.
New National 1909 by
garynortheastThere are a couple of screws missing from it which I need to source but otherwise it appears to be all there