Posted 3 years ago
PatrickA
(1 item)
Hello to all i am new to this group and need help and information about my old Singer Pleating or Kilting Machine Model 49K1,Also I don’t know the value of this rare machine. Really appreciate any assistance
Thanks to all of you.
Also it has i think a serial number is Y 8551378 as i forgot to mention it.
Hi, PatrickA. :-)
Wow, an industrial Singer. Cool.
Thanks for the serial number, because that makes all the difference in terms of dating a Singer sewing machine.
Per the Singer serial number tables at the International Sewing Machine Collectors' Society (ISMACS) website, serial number Y8551378 was one of a block of 200 serial numbers allotted to a particular Singer factory September 10th, 1932, and all were destined to be assigned to model 49K machines:
*snip*
Y- 8551300 8551499 49K 200 September 10 1932
*snip*
http://ismacs.net/singer_sewing_machine_company/serial-numbers/singer-y-series-serial-numbers.html
There isn't a lot of information out there about this particular industrial Singer machine. Here is what ISMACS has to say about it:
*snip*
49K1 1893 to 1953 Industrial "Kilting machine". Singer suggested replacement 707K101.
*snip*
http://ismacs.net/singer_sewing_machine_company/model-list/classes-1-99.html
ISMACS has no information about that replacement model, but it has a picture (a drawing, really) of the 49K1:
http://ismacs.net/singer_sewing_machine_company/model-list/images0-99/49k1.jpg
The industrious folks at needlebar dot org:
*snip*
For kilting or pleating aprons, shirt fronts or any class of material in which pleating is used. The pleating may be made either continuous or alternative. By means of screw studs inserted in the ratchet spacing wheel, the tucking blade may be suspended at intervals while the feed rolls carry the material forward, thus producing groups of pleats followed by plain material. 49K1 pleats 1/8” to 7/8” in material up to 10” in width. 49K2 pleats 1/16” to 7/16” in material up to 10” in width.
*snip*
http://needlebar.org/nbwiki/index.php/Mike#Singer_49K1_Kilting_Machine
Photographs:
http://needlebar.org/nbwiki/index.php?title=File:Singer-49K-a.jpg
http://needlebar.org/nbwiki/index.php?title=File:Singer-49K-front.jpg
Somebody else posted one here at Collectors Weekly Show & Tell:
https://www.collectorsweekly.com/stories/154760-antique-singer-pleating-machine-now-wit
There's one in the Victoria museum in Australia:
*snip*
Table top pleating machine of metal on wooden base. It has a a fabric covered roller in the centre, a wooden handled wheel on the right and a large metal ball at the back. Decorative metal pattern on back.
*snip*
https://collections.museumsvictoria.com.au/items/245692
I did a quick and dirty summing of all the class 49 machines in the ISMACS Singer serial number tables, and there were only about 15,670, but that isn't unusual for industrial models. All save about 25 were model 49K machines, which means that they were made at Singer's Kilbowie (Scotland). I suppose that wouldn't be all that unusual for a machine described as a "kilting" machine, huh? };-)
About the Kilbowie factory:
https://www.singersewinginfo.co.uk/kilbowie
Pictures of the Kilbowie/Clydebank factory:
Singer
Kilbowie Rd, Clydebank G81 2JN, United Kingdom
https://goo.gl/maps/ckxa4RrU85UBHXHs9
August 1934 aerial photographs of Singer's Kilbowie (Clydebank, Scotland) factory:
https://canmore.org.uk/collection/1257700
https://canmore.org.uk/collection/1257701
https://canmore.org.uk/collection/1257702
https://canmore.org.uk/collection/1257703
https://canmore.org.uk/collection/1257704
https://canmore.org.uk/site/128291/clydebank-singers-sewing-machine-factory
A circa 1934 documentary made at the Clydebank factory:
https://movingimage.nls.uk/film/1592
As to value, valuation isn't done here at Collectors Weekly Show & Tell. You can get an appraisal by clicking the Appraisal link at the top of the page, but it isn't free.
Alternately, you can consider the advice of one of the ISMACS experts (especially their advice about eBay):
http://ismacs.net/sewing_machine_articles/how_much_is_my_sewing_machine_worth.html