Checking Out My Elias Howe Model A

 

I spotted this on Ebay, and pointed it out to my husband, "Look! It's an Elias Howe sewing machine!" 

Well, he bid on it and won the auction, so it appeared in the house just in time for my birthday. He tried to keep it secret, but it's a little difficult to sneak something like this into the house without me noticing. He didn't want to leave it in the car or garage, so he had to hand it over immediately. This Guy knows my weak spots. 

Ok enough about me. You're here for the sewing machine pr0n, right? Of course you are. This machine was identified as a Howe Model A from the late 1860s. It seems that the plates bearing the serial numbers and removable - the serial number is engraved on the metal plate that you can pull off if you need to service the groove where the shuttle goes - so I can't be 100% certain that this machine bears its original plates or if they were replaced some time over the past 1.5 centuries. 

Bottom view. This is what makes this machine so HEAVY - those are solid metal cams. Apparently, they were slimmed down in the Model B and later models, but they are solid here. The wavy grooves drive the movement of the two shafts. The one on the left is what moves the shuttle from front to back to front again in one revolution. The one on the right drives the movement of the bar that goes along the front which controls the feeding of the thread. You can also see that this machine had been a treadle (groove in the round disk on right), but was turned into a hand-crank machine. I think it was converted to make it (moderately) portable since a treadle is a rather substantial piece of furniture. 

Close up of those cams in same position as above photo.

Position of the cams rotated 180 degrees from above. You can see that the shuttle arm has moved along its path and that the groove shape here differs slightly from above. Cams are so cool in how they work - that wave pattern is what determines which way the other mechanisms move. 

See what's missing here? Yes, needle, shuttle and bobbin. Sad face. I'm searching for replacements, but they are extremely difficult to locate because they are no longer being made. 

Top view. Mother of pearl decorations. I found out from looking at a video of a restored Howe that the machine used to have a lot of gold designs curling around the mother of pearl. I can only imagine how pretty it had been back when it was sold to its first owner. Oh, if you're wondering what it's sitting upon, that's the top of a White treadle sewing machine cabinet. We'll check her out in another post. 

Front of the machine. 

Right side view. Note the interesting hand carved crank handle. The box apparently was also special made. I don't know the true history of the box - it could be vintage or new wood I cannot tell. 

Left side of machine 

Back of machine showing HOWE's name

Close up of HOWE's name

Serial number and list of patents applicable to this machine. Posting all the applicable patent numbers in a prominent place seems to have been a common practice in the late 19th century. I think it was because there were so many other competitors that the patent holders wanted to advertise that THEIR machines had all these patents applicable. 

Nothing like having the maker's image on your machine so you know it was invented and made by him. 

A fuller view of the left side. This time I turned the flash on so more features are visible. The lighting in the room was off because it was early afternoon and the bright sun was radiating through the closed window shutters.

Better view of the right side, focusing on that hand carved crank handle that was glued onto the treadle wheel.

"up the kilt" shot at the cams. I put the camera next to the hand crank and took the photo. Thankfully the flash did its job and lit up the underside to show everything underneath. 

I put this guy on the scale. From the top, it doesn't look like it should weigh all that much - it's quite small - but those cams are monsters. The Howe tips the scales at 22.6 lbs! 

My machine did not come with a manual, but I met a fellow on the Vintage Sewing Machine Facebook group who has a Howe Model B, and he kindly scanned in his manual for me. 

One thing of note: Howe drastically changed the cams in the Model B - probably because the earlier model took up so much material and was more expensive to manufacture, not to mention rather heavy. Here's a picture of the Model B's cams: 

Note how the cams were reduced to just the paths to guide the other parts. So all that solid metal that was in mine is gone. This Howe probably weighs 10 lbs less than mine. 

Here's a photo of the shuttle in that same Howe Model B

I also don't have any needles for my Howe Model A. Apparently, the needles are rather long - about 1 7/8" long - with a groove that runs all the way from the wide part of the shaft to the bottom. I will have to search around for appropriate needles once I manage to locate the shuttle and bobbins. 

My machine didn't come with any attachments, either. That's a bit disappointing, but not a big surprise since it seems many vintage machines are sold without their attachments. I don't know where they all go, but I suspect they are getting sold separately or have been misplaced in a way that whoever found them wound up tossing them rather than trying to match them back up with any particular machine.

HAPPY SEWING!!!