1950 Singer 201-2 "Black Betty"
Last
week we finally finished restoring our first 201-2, Singer's Rolls
Royce. She's all shiny now, with brand new paint and decals, sewing smooth and fast.
Purchased in November 2021, this machine was very dirty with scratched cracked worn finish and a few missing parts. Seller had no idea when it last ran.
Black Betty: before
We
didn't have a deadline, so took our time on each part of the
restoration, starting in mid January. I cleaned her off with Goop
hand cleaner. All parts were soaked liberally with sewing machine
oil. After that she loosened up enough to sew a little bit.
Singer 201 wiring before: YIKES!
Black
Betty was completely disassembled for inspection and cleaning. All
the wiring was rotted and crumbling, not too unusual for an old girl
built in 1950. My resident electrical guru rewired her and rebuilt
the motor.
Years
of gunk, lint, and grease on all parts took a while to remove. We
experimented with several methods to take off the gnarly old shellac
so we could repaint. Rubbing alcohol with a Scotchbrite pad and lots
of elbow grease worked best on this machine.
Jerold
primed, filled defects and sanded before applying several coats of
black DupliColor Automotive Paintshop lacquer with air sprayer.
After that dried, he block sanded to flatten paint. I added all new
decals. After a few days, he used DupliColor Paintshop clear lacquer
for final coats. Waxed to a high shine after she cured.
Reassembled
everything, then added vintage and new parts: spool pins, scrolled
face plate, chrome trim hand wheel, bobbin tire, light switch,
wiring, foot controller. Jerold even nickel plated the stitch length
plate for a little more bling. Finally, we modified a Singer #40
Queen Anne cabinet from another machine and installed Black Betty.
This
was a real learning experience. We had several ups and downs, got to
practice painting with an air sprayer, and enjoyed working together
on a major machine rehab. There are six more vintage Singer machines
in varying states waiting for their turn on our workbench.
But
first, I will quilt something on Black Betty...Bam-a-lam!
