Wheeler & Wilson Model 3. Made in 1871

 

Meet the Wheeler & Wilson Model 3. This one is Serial Number 636981, which was made in 1871, according to a document I found and according to the Serial Number chart from Fiddlebase.com (which sadly is actually gone and only available using the "Wayback Machine" of archive.org).

I was able to identify it as a Model 3, based upon this article from ISMACS which describes each of the models Wheeler & Wilson made. The Model 3 is pictured in Fig. 4 on that page

The most interesting factoid about this machine is that it moves the fabric from LEFT to RIGHT as it stitches. All other sewing machines that I have personally encountered move the fabric from front to back as they sew. The photo above is of a Wheeler & Wilson just like mine except its in a cabinet. You can see that the front of the foot is pointing to the left. The bar sticking out on the right (which gets hidden when sewing by the cover toward the rear of the photo) is the bobbin winder. The bobbin is pushed onto that shaft, then the treadle belt rotates it while the bobbin winds.

An interesting comment about the machine:  "The machine takes some getting used to, feeding from left to right, but, if you had used one for years, changing to a more conventional machine might have frightened some."

A second interesting factoid about this machine is that its treadle belt is a wide belt as opposed to the narrow round belts seen on most other treadle machines.  

The bobbin is unusual in that it's very flat and thin like a pancake. 

Showtime!

Let's take a closer look at the Wheeler & Wilson Model 3 machine:

When I first looked at it I thought this was the front because the toe of the foot faced front. That would make it "backwards" compared to most other sewing machines which have the needle on the left. Once I found the photos of the machine attached to its treadle base, I learned that this is the left side and that the shaft facing us is the bobbin winder which goes inside a wooden box which was part of the treadle base. 

The cloth plate bearing the serial number and a list of 4 patents from Mr. Wilson.

 The direction of the printing was a hint that the machine was to be used with the foot pointing to the left and the material moving left to right (because that was the orientation in which the lettering on the cloth plate was right side up). 

The badge on the bed of the machine: "Wheeler & Wilson MFG, Co, New York. 625 Broadway".

Top view of machine. The right-most bar holds the presser foot against the cloth plate, and the needle bar to its left moves up and down. The needle is slightly curved and the presser foot has a glass section which has two holes in it. There is a hole on the right side of the needle bar that can be used for feeding cord into the front hole of the presser foot for couching down narrow cord (the cord must be narrow enough to fit through the hole in the foot, of course).

Front view of machine. Ready for stitching.

Close up of foot and needle. Note that the whole foot is NOT metal. There is a clear glass piece in its center so that one can see the stitches as they are being formed. I have seen attachments for this machine, and apparently the glass piece can be removed then replaced with a different piece. The metal part of the foot cannot be removed. My machine's glass piece appears to be stuck in place. I'm not sure if it's simply because the glass has been in place for so long that it's just jammed in there, or whether perhaps this model did not have removable glass foot inserts. The "Standard" foot has only one hole in the glass. This foot has two - the one to the left of the needle in this picture would be used for feeding cord through the foot so it can be sewn down upon the fabric being stitched. 

Right side view of machine where bobbin case is visible.

Bobbin removed from case to show its size.

Very flat bobbin. The space between those plates is just barely wide enough to fit a piece of thread.

Bobbin case without bobbin

Bobbin loaded. 

Another view of right side. I attempted to feature the gold decorations on the two arms of the machine.

Back of the machine. The shiny metal bar is the spool holder. 

Looking through underside from the back to see the pulley for the belt. The pulley looks like a large thread spool covered in leather.

Left side from down low to see details

Bobbin winder. It's obvious why that was covered with a box for sewing because otherwise it would catch on the work and wind it up rather than let it pass by smoothly.

Underside of front to showcase the belt pulley.

Angled view to catch another peek at the interesting bobbin case.

Close up of needle and foot with needle raised. You can see that the needle is curved slightly. It's not a sharp curve, but it's definitely curved. Of course, the way it's so far out from the other parts makes me wonder how many people accidentally stitched through their fingers!

Needle down view. You can see there's a second needle hole in the foot and that the needle bar has another opening which could be used to help feed cording into the hole in the foot.  

Hope you enjoyed looking over the Wheeler & Wilson!

HAPPY SEWING.