The Sewing Place

I have joined the 201k club

rowe1311

I have joined the 201k club
« on: March 20, 2017, 19:57:06 PM »
I now am the proud owner of a 201k.  It is a beige electric one and fits perfectly into the treadle.  The 66k has been booted out and the 201k has taken its place.  I am going to unplug it and put it on the treadle when my husband gets round to cutting the belt to size for me, and I will add a hand crank again.  I was trying to get the balance wheel off the 66k so I could attach a hand crank, but it seems impossible to get off.  I thought it would just pull out after taking the knob off but it doesn't. 

Amymac from this forum and TSF kindy dropped it off at my house today on route to Edinburgh along side a large ikea bag of fabric (and a bag of offcuts for the kids), so I am one happy lady. 

My collection is now complete (my husband hopes) and I look forward to seeing how i like it.  It will probably need a service at some point, but will have a play tonight and see how i get on.

Lilian

Re: I have joined the 201k club
« Reply #1 on: March 20, 2017, 20:19:52 PM »
Welcome to the club  :vintage: I hope you enjoy your 201k as much as I so mine  :D
Willing but not always able :)

rowe1311

Re: I have joined the 201k club
« Reply #2 on: March 20, 2017, 21:51:06 PM »
I have it up and working now and found that I was threading the needle the wrong way round.  It is the opposite to the 15k.  It really does seem to sew through a lot of fabric.  I kept scrunching up bits of fabric to see how many layers it could manage and it didn't falter at all. 

The balance wheel from the 66k is too long.  I am not sure if you can get shorter ones, because I have seen pictures of the modern ones with the spoked wheel before.  I am hoping I can so I can use it with a hand crank, but then it is also nice having a machine with a light. 

Lilian

Re: I have joined the 201k club
« Reply #3 on: March 20, 2017, 23:23:50 PM »
The threading is different on some  :vintage:.  A clue to remember is looking at the throat plate and there should be an engraved arrow pointing to the needle, that's the direction to thread.   :D

I like the light being on the front instead of the back :-)
« Last Edit: March 20, 2017, 23:52:42 PM by Lilian »
Willing but not always able :)

arrow

Re: I have joined the 201k club
« Reply #4 on: March 21, 2017, 18:46:09 PM »
The beige 201K23 is a bit different is some ways, mine takes an inbetween motor belt size to any of the black 201s (small and large hand wheel). I know very few came with the spoked hand wheel for hand crank and treadling. The castings of the aluminium body is not the same as the cast iron version, and it's possibly so with the hand wheel. By the mid 1950s most machines sold were setup with motor and lights by far (there isn't much detailed info on these), I have seen a single aluminium bodied 201 hand crank with all original parts. From the web I have seen some use a black, spoked, cast iron hand wheel from an older machine, but I don't know if it needed alterations for the aluminium body to accept it.

A model 66 is a nice machine, much the same drop in bobbin case, occilating of course. Cleaned and well oiled it's a smooth machine capable of exactly the same as a 201. The 201 runs a bit smoother, three sets of meshing gears makes a difference, but in strenght and capability they are equal. The 201 has a full rotary hook and race, and a revers lever. If it was me, I would keep the 66 in the treadle, and have an additonal 201K23 with motor and lights. The hand wheel on the 66 needs oil, when the stop motion screw is off, it's easier to get oil all the way along the axle there; it's very hard to reach this part from the oil points and it's sometimes stuck. Oil and wiggeling should loosen it; and I imagine other parts of the machine might need some extra attention too. It can take several days of cleaning, repeated application of oil, running the  machine and more oil to get it right again.


rowe1311

Re: I have joined the 201k club
« Reply #5 on: March 21, 2017, 19:58:04 PM »
Thanks for the info arrow.  I think there are two type of spoked hand wheels, and one is slightly longer than the other, and when I measured it against the 15k the axle seemed shorter than on the 66k.  I am going to give Helen Howes a call as I had asked her previously whether it was do-able, and she seemed to think it was with a spoked wheel.  I could still treadle with the solid wheel but I want the kids to use it too so would rather the hand crank too.  I love the rhythm of treadling and having one permanently set up away from the kids might mean I use it more. 

The 66k needs a lot more TLC than I am willing to give.  It is also missing a plate so I would have to buy that part too.  My first go on the 201k, it sailed through layers of fabric and so I am now very impressed.  My 15k does still stutter a little at the seams and I find that a little frustrating.  I can't really justify three straight sewing machines, so the 66k will be given to someone else either for parts of for doing up.  I think it is a turn of the century machine and I am sure offering it for free there will be a taker somewhere.     

arrow

Re: I have joined the 201k club
« Reply #6 on: March 21, 2017, 23:29:54 PM »
If the lacquer and decals are in good condition the 66 is worth fixing up, a missing plate or other loose part is usually not expensive. It's awful really if it's just tossed out because it's dirty and need of oiling and cleaning. Very rusty machines I hesitate to take on, even when thrown after me.

I don't know about the 66, since it was introduced in 1900 and are different to older model like 15, 27, 28, but some had much heavier hand wheels. For the older machines there are more than two different types, even though the later variants often had interchangeable parts.

There have been a few comparisons of the 15 and 201, and I'm sure the stitch quality on your 15 can be sorted out. The beige 201K23 will look a bit out of place in a treadle cabinet ca 1900?

Sewot

Re: I have joined the 201k club
« Reply #7 on: January 18, 2021, 02:03:13 AM »
The 201K is a dependable machine but I agree, if you are using treadle then a Beige later model will not look correct.
There is nothing wrong with a 66.
The stitch quality is the same.
Okay it doesn't have reverse stitch but you really have to think when you actually need this.
Half the time when we hem and get to corners there is no need to reverse stitch as the fabric will be turned and resewn?
For what it's worth I would not dump a good working 66 even if the decals are worn.
They are an excellent machine and when with the treadle immensely powerful.