1959 Berinia 530 sewing machine ??

[volsboy1]

I am in the process of going through my Mothers sewing machine collection and found a box that has a 1959 Bernia<span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: Arial Rounded MT Bold;"> </span></span> 530 sewing

machine in it.The machine was bought in Switzerland there is a book that has the ladys address and 4 dight phone number even.

I have never used it I did not know she even had it and I keep finding more Irons,Sewing Machines ,Coffee makers,etc. I guess

I got this collecting thing from her side.I was just wondering if somebody out there knows any about these machines or well has one

and used it.I don't know if I should keep it or sell it.Here is a pic of one like it my phone was dead...

 

[aamassther]

Berninas of that era are still collectible and very desirable. They probably have the best stitch quality out there. IMHO, they may even rival that of the Singer Featherweight. Yours looks in great shape too.

 

[gansky1]

That would be a lovely find. Bernina makes some of the finest home sewing equipment in the world, and still a family owned company.

The Bernina "Record" was usually the TOL machine with the most flexibility and features. The 530 series was the first with their Presser Feet (simple change with one lever) and a semi-automatic buttonhole function. (see link)

If you collect or even just appreciate sewing machines, Bernina is one to take for a spin. My mother has owned them since 1976 and would have no other. The 800 series and in particular, the 830 Record and later 830 Record Electronic were and still are among the most popular models in the States. I have three "keeper" Berninas but I've never seen one from as early as 1959 out in the wild, the 700 series is about the earliest I've seen around here.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bernina_Sewing_Machine

 

[tolivac]

VERY NICE machine-love how the older machines were built so much better than so many of todays models-Berninas are among the best.Sadly the Bernina dealer in my area went out of business.Mike of Greenville Sew&Vac gets a lot of these in for service-they are built well.A sewing school here uses them-they sent a batch of them to Mike for routine service.Offhand can't remember their model#'s.My stepmom had on e-VERY NICE.She no longer has hers.

 

[volsboy1]

I have the box and everything when I saw it I first I thought it was a home movie projector.Then I opened it up and was shocked

that pic I posted is not mine, that is one I found online that I used cause my phone eats batteries bad but mine looks just like it everything.This machine was brought

over to the U.S. because the box has a book or diary that has all kinds of things wrote in it.I did not look at the plug or anything

but sense it was bought there then brought here I bet it is set up for 220V.I will take some pics everything tomorrow and post

it.That makes 9 sewing machines I have Riccars and many more that I have no idea what to do with.Sewing machines where

never really my thing.Mom taught me to use them and everything but I like disposers and washing machines better...

 

[tolivac]

I like sewing machines too,besides disposers,vacuum cleaners and other applainces.My Mom taught me the "basics" on how to run one.Mike the Greenville Sew& vacuum man has taught me so much more-just being with him and helping when he services sewing machines.

 

[danemodsandy]

Really Nice!

It wasn't every day you saw a free-arm machine in 1959 - Singer didn't offer the feature at all at that time, leaving Elna and Bernina as the only practicable possibilities for most American home sewers who wanted a free-arm. And "foreign-made" products were still not easy to buy or to own, with the sole exception of Volkswagen, which correctly divined that the key to succeeding in the American market where so many others had failed was an American-style parts and service network.*

I'm assuming the actual machine you're talking about is as nice as the one in the picture, which means you have a really great find.

* Some other overseas manufacturers never caught on. My brother owned an MGB for a time in the '70s. It got hit, necessitating a replacement passenger door to be ordered from the factory in Britain; there were none in the system Stateside. The part took so long to arrive that we were joking about how the MG people must have put a sail on it and tossed it into the Atlantic.

 

[twintubdexter]

I have always been "interested" in sewing machines including some of these new touch-screen models but they don't come cheap, especially the high-end ones. I have been looking at used machines on ebay an C-list for awhile and finally bought one this week. I think the machine is a Bernina 1222E manufactured in Germany around 1978/1980...like it's new owner definitely no spring chicken. I need something simple to learn on. I can always replace the machine with something else since I really wanted the cabinet. It has an electric lift for the machine and judging from the other photos it looks brand new. I got all this for $200 (good/bad?) which seems pretty fair and the lady seller sounds like a total sweetheart. I have to take a 2-hour drive to Rodondo Beach Saturday to pick it up...wish me luck!

 

[twintubdexter]

EXCUSE ME!!!...I meant Pfaff. Maybe I should have bought a Holly Hobby sewing machine at Toys R Us.

 

[foraloysius]

That machine in the cabinet looks like a Pfaff.

 

[danemodsandy]

Joe:

As you say, that cabinet is wayyyyy too nice to pass up at that price.

Since that doesn't appear to be an electronic machine, it's probably still got a lot of life left; electronic machines have control boards that can be a problem to replace, especially if they're older machines.

If you have to replace the machine at any point, a new base board may be required; this is the board the machine is mounted on. Different machines need different base boards with different mounting points and hardware. A sewing machine shop that sells cabinets will have enough expertise to help you with figuring out what to do.

That cabinet is worth saving no matter what. It's even nicer than the TOL Singer Flip 'n Sew cabinet I have for my Touch-Tronic.

 

[twintubdexter]

Sandy,

The Pfaff 1222E has electronic motor control so there is a small circuit board. Even if you never used it you would have to appreciate the design on your singer Futura...almost like a piece of sculpture.

 

[danemodsandy]

Joe:

Here's the scoop on early electronic-controlled machines:

Many of them, like Singer Athenas and Touch-Tronics, depend on control boards that are NLA. The only parts source is donor machines.

To keep an older electronic machine going, just do the following simple things:

1) Keep it unplugged when not in use, to protect against lightning nearby when you're not home.

2) Use a surge suppressor when using the machine.

3) If there's a storm in the area, stop sewing and unplug.

That's really all it takes. If a board blows in spite of these precautions, it's usually because of a bad capacitor that was due to blow anyway.

P.S.: The machine in my photo is a Singer Athena 2000 I owned while living in Atlanta. These days in Iowa, I have a Touch-Tronic 2010 that is in an identical Flip 'n Sew cabinet. And you're right - it's a piece of sculpture.

P.P.S.: The day will come when I can no longer rely on vintage Singer electronic machines, because they're already nearly forty years old. When that day comes, I have a Singer 1425, a mechanical cam-stack machine that does everything the electronic machines did, to put in the Flip 'n Sew cabinet. It used the identical housing the electronic machines used.

 

[athanasius80]

The 530 Record is by all accounts a great machine. The quality is going to be up there with the 1950s Pfaffs and Elnas, and a Bernina is much less common. I would definitely hold onto it.

 

[twintubdexter]

I do have this machine in it's original box. My late partner used it to do stuff like upholstery and Halloween costumes and he turned out professional results. I used it once to sew a straight torn seam in the rear of my pants (too many donuts) and I did such a bad job I ended tossing the pants. It seems like a clunky mechanical machine but then what do I know? It does have a box of cams that sew things like little ducks on your fabric.

 

[danemodsandy]

Joe:

That appears to be a fairly late Singer Golden Touch 'n Sew, which was a good machine. They typically need a service by now and some models have plastic gears that are starting to give trouble, but they're machines that can be put back into great condition.

If you're thinking of getting into sewing, may I recommend Male Pattern Boldness, a blog run by a guy named Peter Lappin? It's the most widely-read blog run by a male sewer. Peter's mostly into sewing clothing, both male and female, but his musings on machines, fabrics, notions and patterns can be invaluable reading.

His alter ego, Cousin Cathy, turns up in some of the damndest vintage-inspired outfits you ever saw. What's funny about Cathy is that she has a huge following among straight women, all of whom get the joke and are delighted to see what Cathy's up to.

Even when Peter's sewing for himself, he's willing to go places many sewers would not. He recently made himself a pair of jeans out of - you ready for this? - blue toile de Jouy. And the man can write, a quality much rarer in bloggers than it should be. I don't sew the things Peter does, and he wears stuff I couldn't, but he's an inspiration. P.S.: That's a fifty-year-old tush he's flaunting in the toile pants. Some people have all the luck, eh?

Here's a link:

http://malepatternboldness.blogspot.com/

 

[gansky1]

I found a Pfaff 1222 at a sale once that we couldn't get to work so they lowered the price to $6 from $20. I'd wanted a Pfaff with the built-in walking foot for a long time so was anxious to get it home and give it a go. Come to find out, the main cam was plastic/nylon and had cracked. That part is NLA and after a few calls and an Internet search, I chucked the machine. Hopefully you'll have good luck with your Pfaff, they were terrific sewers.

 

[twintubdexter]

I'm becoming "sewing machine" educated...

...which will not get you invited to parties. That's called a "Cam Stack Gear" and it is currently available as a new replacement part for the Pfaff 1222. There's a video on YouTube where a repair person mentions the gear splitting and cracking. I was watching a Pfaff 1222E sell today on ebay with just a foot pedal and a CD owner's manual...$430.00 plus shipping. Someone must like these machines.

 

[gansky1]

Depends on the party!

The camstack! That's it, what I needed. Yes! Well, no. Too late - Lol

That would have been good to find, perhaps I had a wrong part number from the shop here. For $6 I didn't mourn it for long. There are estate sales every week and I have too many scurried away already.

We'll have our own party!

 

[fido]

This is my Singer 15K80 which I bought a few years ago for £10 at a junk shop in Elgin. I bought it to sew new cushion covers for my camper restoration but I've never used a machine before and had nil success. I think there is a fault as it keeps breaking the thread. I got someone else to make my covers in the end. It is a manual machine converted to electric operation and there is an added lamp at the back.

 

[twintubdexter]

an interesting note...

...concerning that $200 sewing machine & cabinet I "bought" from a not-so nice lady on Craigslist...she called me this morning and said she decided to give the machine to her daughter. It was Monday when I originally called her and we agreed that I would buy it but the ad was still running today with the same price. I called her back and used a feature on my phone that disguises my voice and discovered it's still for sale but she wants more money...a lot more. She could have at least told me this rather than to just hand me a lie. I guess it's a seller's prerogative to change their mind but I would have prefered an honest answer, especially from what appeared to be a nice old lady. At least on ebay sellers are held to a set of standards...sorry for the venting and I do appreciate all the information members provided on this topic.

 

[hydralique]

At least you discovered the seller's duplicity before you drove all the way to Redondo Beach. It'll serve her right if she can't find a buyer willing to pay more than what you had agreed to who isn't a flake.

 

[foxchapel]

volsboy1 - that Bernina

. . . is TDF gorgeous. You could probably sell it for the same price paid when it was brand new. Vintage Berninas are highly valued. There is an excellent Yahoo Group for these older machines : http://groups.yahoo.com/group/BerninaThirtySomethings/

It will need to be serviced, preferably by a Bernina technician (no affiliation) before you even try to sew with it. The oil and lubrication will have dried up and gunked up. Otherwise, damage could be done to the machine. The gears are (I think) nylon, so you don't want to force it to run if it is indeed locked up from years of sitting.

Knoxville has a good Bernina dealer, Cookville does or did, and there is one in Cool Springs area of Brentwood/Franklin. I have no idea about dealers west of the TN river.

If I didn't have too many machines already, I would want to buy it. ~sobs~

 

[retromania]

I have several sewing machines, but I mostly use my mother's Singer 15-91 in cabinet with matching stool. I feel so dainty sitting at the machine and I ain't dainty! I'm 6'1" and when I stand up my thighs grab the cabinet and I have to be careful not to turn it over! LOL. It's a basic machine, but has some attachments that allow it to perform other functions. It's smooth, quiet and makes a very nice stitch.

 

[retromania]

fido

I love your 15K80! It is similar to my 15-91. The wooden base w/extension table is so cool. Would love to have one of those. I have priced them on Ebay, but I'm just not willing to spend the money.

 

[foxchapel]

... those old Singer cabinets . ..

retromania - I know what you mean about that cabinet. They were built for petite women, if you ask me. (and the 15-91s are great machines) I've got a Singer 201k that came with cabinet. Being right under 6-ft tall, I cannot even get my knees under the silly thing to use it, so the cabinet is useless to me. Machine is sitting on a table in a lovely wooden base that looks like the lid to a shoe box and it's perfect for my setup.

 

[danemodsandy]

That's The Nice Thing....

....About the Singer Swing-Away/Flip 'n Sew cabinet from the '70s that I showed above - I can sit and work at it very comfortably, and I'm six-four.

Other cabinets don't necessarily work well for me, and I've tried more than a few. The more inexpensive the cabinet, the dinkier it is, as a rule. The Swing-Away/Flip 'n Sew was $400 back in the day, so one would hope it's of a reasonable size, right? $400 was a ton of discretionary income back then.

 

[fido]

I think the Singer 15-91 might have been the model my mother bought just after WW2. There was a waiting list at that time so she had to put her name down some months before she got it. It had the same arched top case as the one in the link. Mine has a much less elegant rexine covered case which is a bit scary to use. You just lower the case over the machine and spring loaded catches engage in slots in the wooden base. You then pick up the machine by the handle and hope that those 60 odd year old catches still do their job properly!

http://www.google.hu/imgres?imgurl=...0&zoom=1&usg=__Y7TRlFrnDTsOfzrQQ2MIQaXMZTY=&d

 

[fido]

Oooops

Link didn't work, try this one:

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3556/3821035613_e1c3313296.jpg

 

[retromania]

fido,

Your machine and case look to be in mint condition. That's a nice size too. My 15-91 is a little bigger than that or wider. Was your machine in the family or something you bought later?