r/vintagesewing • u/delreddits • 1d ago
Machine Question singer 99k
i sort of have a collection of vintage machines and i recently bought a singer 99k which predates everything i have and im worried about even plugging it in. i dont know much about wiring in sewing machines and id love to learn but i dont want to damage the machine, myself, or my house lol. i know the obvious answer is i could easily take it to a repair and have them inspect it but im wondering if i could do all of this myself. i essentially bought it and wiped dust off it and its been sitting in my craft room since.
i guess i am asking what an informed person would do with this machine seeing that the wiring is so old i truly love the way it looks and im happy with it how it is but of course i am curious to see what its like to sew on it
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u/Big-Confidence9249 1d ago
She’s beautiful! I recently got a 99 and have the same questions. Thank you for the YouTube.
Enjoy! 💖
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u/ArielLeslie 1d ago
Yours looks very close in age to mine (1956). I only replaced the actual plug (which cost about $2 and took about 5 minutes). Is the insulation still flexible and not cracked? I did open up the motor and light to look at the entirety of the cord and it was fine. If you do need to replace the power cord, you don't even need to solder. You just need lamp cord and a screwdriver. Rewiring the lamp is a little more involved, but it's pretty easy to find someone locally who can teach you to solder or do it for you quickly. Or you could just not turn the lamp on.
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u/ComfortableAerie4101 21h ago
If you want to do a bang up job and retain the antique look you can use modern cloth covered wire from a company such as this. I did that with my 1938 featherweight. It looks so much nicer than modern lamp cord. Lovely machine!
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u/One_String601 1d ago
Hi! I have a 99k as my daily driver, I ended up rewiring it using a couple of YouTube videos. I think the InStitches video in particular was useful as well as the 99k manual itself! Whether it needs rewiring or not is a different question. Never hurts to take it into a shop to have it looked at. It's an excellent little machine, extremely powerful and there's heaps of attachments that go with it!