Singer 28K - Comparing Grandma and Granddaughter machines

 

If you recall from my previous two posts, 

• A look at the Singer 28K from 1894
• Looking at the Singer 28K from 1936

I showed off an early and a later version of the same machine. It's fascinating to see what stayed the same and what changed in the intervening 42 years between the production of the "grandmother" in 1894 (on right) and the "granddaughter" in 1936 (on left).

Let's check them out side by side!

I turned them for an angular view to get both mostly in the same photo in more of a closeup view. The granddaughter is in front. First observation: grandma's bobbin winder is down low and she has 2 spool pins, but granddaughter has only one spool pin and her bobbin winder is up high. Also, grandma was originally a treadle, and came without a handcrank. The handcrank is a modern one I picked up from Amazon. It isn't as nice as the original / official one as installed on the granddaughter, but it works well enough.

Birds eye view. Grandma's missing some of her decals, but other than that they are nearly the same.

Now you can clearly see the difference between original hand crank on left and new Chinese knock off hand crank on right. The new knock-off fit perfectly onto the machine - be sure to check that it says it is compatible with your machine's model to ensure that it fits well. The hand crank attaches to a bolt hole on the side of the machine's pillar and the little arm that sticks out from it grabs a spoke on the wheel. Both the vintage and new hand cranks will provide 3 stitches per rotation, so you can get it stitching pretty fast. Now, stopping it at an exact point takes some finesse, and I have found that I will sew up to about 1" away, then turn the wheel with my hand to get it to stitch those last few stitches so I can stop it with needle down and turn a perfect corner. 

I tried to bet them sitting at the same angle. The arm on the modern crank is a little longer than the original vintage one. I have found that the extra length to the arm means that when I put the cover on the machine, I have to be careful that the crank is turned just right so it doesn't get in the way of the case cover.

Above, looking inside of granddaughter's access panel.

Same view on grandma. Looks like she may need a kerosene bath. If you scroll back and forth between the photos, you can see that they are slightly different. Not a drastic change, but I have noticed that the granddaughter sews more quietly and smoothly, and I think some of that difference is due to the change they made to those parts above.

One really cool feature of grandma that I wish they had kept on later models is the access panel that blends into the machine. I'm holding the little kidney bean shaped access panel in front of the machine.

OK, at least granddaughter's access panel has some lovely grapevine etchings on her access panel. And it's shiny, so that's nice, too. But it is just a big chunk bolted onto the machine. I guess it has its own charm, and it does mean you don't have to use both hands to get the access panel open for oiling. I think the update was to make oiling easier to ensure that people oiled the machines enough.

Access panel back in place on grandma. It's amazing how that panel pretty much disappears as soon as the piece is in place. It was probably very expensive to make a panel like that because the casting had to be cut carefully to ensure that both halves fit together smoothly. 

Sitting together with their backs to us. Granddaughter is on left; grandma on right

More of that lovely vine etching on granddaughter's side panel. Grandma's is plain.

Left side view of both. Looks like the tensioner is a little lower on grandma doesn't it? Also, the shape of the presser foot lifter is a little sleeker on granddaughter. I'm sure there are other subtle differences if you want to spend time closely examining them. You can always click on any of the photos and a larger version of the picture will pop up. 

Another birds eye view of the two of them, this time with the hand cranks away from the camera. 

Hope you enjoyed the comparison show 42 years of progress for the Singer 28K.

HAPPY SEWING!!