A quick "Hallo" and an update. Not a newbie but coming back again after a few er... "interesting" years. I didn't post much when I was here before I'm afraid.

When I first joined I had just acquired a 1940 Singer 28K hand crank in lovely condition from a charity shop for £40, and which I use here and there for the odd sewing repair job. I seem to have collected one or two other machines since then; a 1909 Home Companion vibrating shuttle machine (for which it's almost impossible to find bobbins), my sister's old 1936 Frister and Rossman (waiting for me to service it so it can go to one of my twin daughters), and a 1927 66K round bobbin and hook treadle machine in gorgeous condition, and which is now my working machine of choice. My other twin daughter also managed to score a real charity shop bargain for herself - a 1902 28K hand crank, in beautiful condition for just £30. I gave it a service and oiled the relevant parts and it works perfectly. That is living here with me for now until she finishes at uni, and has a bit more space to put it.

I'll post some pictures in the Vintage Machines section at some point, but for now I'm off to find the appropriate place to ask a question about rewinding cotton reels with new thread.

Just bought a 1909 New Home machine. It's a New National U model in need of a clean and a bit of a restoration. It was in a charity shop and cost me just £15!

The encouraging thing is that aside from a couple of small screws and the lid, it's complete and working. It's a vibrating shuttle machine like my Singer 28k and, like the Singer, when I took the bobbin out of the shuttle there was still thread on it.

I'm currently taking bits off of it and cleaning them up. It'll take me a little while but a good clean and service should see it perfectly usable again.

Hallo, new member here. I've just acquired a lovely 1940 Singer 28K hand cranked machine from a local charity shop. Spent the last two or three days checking, servicing and oiling it, and it now works beautifully. I've done a couple of rows of stitching on some old sheeting with it, the first time I've ever used a sewing machine, and it wasn't too shabby!

I shall probably be asking lots of questions over the next few weeks as I get to grips with this great old machine.

Gary.