Kenmore 15

A friend (and coworker) gave me a sewing machine Thursday after work. He said he was going to throw it away, but asked if I would like it. ‘Sure!’

I’ll show you the ‘AFTER’ pictures first, then I’ll show you my journey of the cleanup. The Kenmore Machine Model Identification chart states this machine was built in 1966.

I love the little body ‘emblems’ on these old Japanese machines, and the ‘round’ features of the body. They remind me of vintage cars!

I knew there was beauty underneath, I just had to uncover it.

This 'wheat’ or ‘seed’ of some sort kept falling out of the machine onto the needle plate during cleanup. I never did figure out just exactly where it was coming from!

We took it out of the cabinet and brought it into the house.

Before:

After:

I thought it was clean, after spending a few hours working on it, and when I went to take a photo of the back, as I picked up the machine, I felt more grime. OH! I guess I wasn’t done! Back to cleaning!

There! That’s better. It could be a lot better, but I ran out of steam.

Louie changed out the knee control and cord, for a foot control from a recent Brother machine purchase that I am parting out…

…and I’m waiting for a Kenmore 1A (and 1B) cam to arrive so this machine will zigzag before I test the stitches and tension. 1A will make a zigzag stitch, and 1B will make the blind stitch.

Everything moves like it is supposed to. For as long as it sat, nothing was ‘stuck’. I was a little surprised by that.

I like the two color ‘scheme’ of this machine. I do believe I will be keeping this one for my collection. I do love my Kenmores!

A little ‘LOVE’ and ‘elbow grease’ can make all the difference in the world! (I wonder how many people in the world do not know what ‘elbow grease’ is).

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Update Monday 7/2/12: The cam is here and it works!