Torpedo Treadle Sewing Machine

TORPEDO TREADLE SEWING MACHINE

Sunday, May 14, 2017

In 2004, when my hubby brought me home a fabulous little treadle sewing machine, I was absolutely THRILLED!  It came in what looked like a gorgeous little oak treadle table, but didn't have the wrought iron legs & pedal, that I was used to seeing treadle sewing machines were supposed to have, it seemed to have been manufactured to be less expensive, & more portable, or at least, not take up as much space, as the antique cast iron treadle sewing machine bases did.

At the time, I had not yet begun researching sewing machines, & while I had fiddled with various broken sewing machines, trying to figure out ways to fix them, so I could use them, I was afraid of damaging the Torpedo sewing machine, because I didn't know how to get the long bobbin & bobbin case, in & out of the machine. It wasn't a quick easy thing to do, once you managed to wiggle the bobbin case free of the machine, you couldn't figure out how to get it back in! I referred to the long bobbin & bobbin case, as a "torpedo bobbin", I didn't know they were called Vibrating Shuttles, yet.

Torpedo Vibrating Shuttle treadle sewing machine cabinet, in Craftsman style. Note that the piece of locking wood, which normally sets where the sewing machine is, in top photo, is latched onto the side of the cabinet, where a small metal arm supports it, creating a slightly larger work surface. The desktop has small amounts of inlaid lighter wood, & gorgeous exposed hinges, as well as the metal keyhole, little touches that match the iron treadle wheel, & drawer pull, adding class, despite this being a budget sewing machine.

The Torpedo treadle sewing machine's cabinet had very clean lines, if I had to hazard a guess, I would say it was most likely a Craftsman style, though I expect it was an inexpensive model. Other than the bobbin winding mechanism being broken off, the machine & cabinet were in brand new looking condition, but I did not have any manual, or extra presser feet or attachments for it, & really didn't know where to look, to get started.

Torpedo Treadle Sewing Machine Table, in closed position, with sewing machine neatly locked under the center wood insert. There is a very short depth drawer, with a fabulously worked organizer, small holes just the correct size, for the long bobbins to be stored in a top to bottom fashion, which would prevent the thread from unwinding, & tangling up with other sewing items, the drawer is deep enough to hold most of the ordinary presser feet a sewing machine would come with, but there weren't any with this machine, when my husband bought it for me.  Idaho doesn't have a lot of treadle & antique sewing machines, due to low population levels, when these were new, but as people have moved from other areas, they have brought some with them, but antique sewing machines remain expensive in many parts of the western United States, due to low numbers of machines available.

My hubby and I had just begun to clean & fix broken sewing machines, mostly due to tension problems, or machines which had seized up, due to old oil drying to a glue, & freezing the machine solid. I had only done a few machines for family & friends, mostly zigzag sewing machines, & had not had the opportunity to work on any antique sewing machines, yet, but I dearly wished I could find a sewing machine manual for the Torpedo sewing machine, but I did not yet know how to use the internet as well as I do now, nor did I use eBay much, or fully realize how addictive it can become!

The long shuttle, & shuttle case, of the Torpedo Vibrating Shuttle Sewing Machine

Torpedo shuttle case, with thread inserted in the spring tension mechanism, I did not know if that was correctly threaded, & was afraid to try sewing, afraid of damaging the machine. Silly me!

I cleaned the machine up, oiled it, & made sure the treadle mechanism moved incredibly smoothly, & fast, but I literally was afraid to do anything else, afraid I would accidentally break something that couldn't be repaired, & I didn't dare risk that, this might be the only treadle sewing machine I ever own! (I had no idea what life had in store for me, did I? lol! I even gave away a gorgeous Singer 127 I fixed up, because my hubby brought 3 more home, for me to clean up & repair, & I didn't have room for all of them! I kept the junky ones to fix up, other people will keep them in good shape, but if they are in need of repair, people will throw them away, the idiots! Okay, I might like vintage sewing machines a little more than I should? Naw, that's okay, right? LOL!)

Note the treadle pedal is wood, & the treadle flywheel, or pulley, does not have a "skirt guard", like most of the treadles were made with, to avoid accidental injuries. Ingenious setup, but not safe around little kids. The small triangular iron "arm" at this side of the table, swings out to support the locked table insert, which is removed, & locked into position above this arm, so the machine can be raised to sew.

I have shared this blog under another blog name, but am trying to consolidate my sewing blogs, I keep forgetting some of them, due to the memory issues from the brain tumors of NF2, so if you see tumorfarmer blogs, it is probably mine, at least if it is about sewing, sewing machines, NF2, or similar stuff, lol!