I did it, with an old treadle machine what had been converted to electric. It took me about a day's time to get it done right, and to follow these instructions, one must use a machine designed to be a treadle in the first place. If you have an old machine designed to be a hand crank, you will not find it translatable to making it treadle driven because the hand wheel does not accommodate the belt. It lacks the necessary groove.

I used to work in engineering, and I monkey with machines of all ilks, and mostly I figured it out just by looking at it. It involved things like turning the wheel around and removing parts. IOW not for the faint of heart.

I have two vintage portable electics upstairs I could also likely convert to treadle, but it's because there is a pulley from the externally mounted motor to the drive mechanisms and not directly to the wheel. The pulley would not work with that wheel. There is a groove on it, but it operates the bobbin winder and this machine does not allow the winder to be swung out away from the wheel enough for a belt. It would not run like the typical treadle but would work with some modification.

This is a great site, and I've had it bookmarked for a year or two and read it before I started, but like I said it's one of those things that unless you regularly tinker with machines is easier said than done.

Calliope--I'm surprised that you've found doing the conversions so difficult. I have over 60 machines and done literally dozens of conversions from electric to treadle, with none of the problems you had. I'm a sewing machine collector and use only treadles or handcranks in my custom quilting business.

Couple of things to know:
1)Select the right model: The first thing to look for is the belt groove in the handwheel--if you don't have a belt groove, you can't treadle the machine. Any handcrank machine, and many pre-1960 electrics can be treadled. I've never seen a handcrank Singer machine that didn't have a belt groove because the company saved money by making one type of wheel and using it on all its models whether handcrank, treadle, or early electric. Later, Singer switched to solid wheels for all its electrics, so that you have swap out the wheels if you want to use a handcrank on them, but with just a few exceptions (see #3) they still work fine for treadling.

2) Many companies sold portable handcrank machines that have a belt slot in the case. You would buy the portable, then later buy a cabinet that you could set the case into and you belted it up from through the slot. I have two Nationals and one Jones handcrank and all three of them have the belt slot in the case. I'm on a mission to find the treadle base for the National handcranks--I've never seen one "in the wild" although I have over a dozen regular National treadle machines.

3) Back to the electric Singers: there were a couple of models made that had direct-gear drives: the 101, 201 and 15-91 are the most commonly found gear-driven models. Singer did not put grooved wheels on these, so they can't be treadled. Many other companies (White, New Home, and National to name a few) went to friction-drive electric motors and these often have groove-less wheels as well, so they can't be converted to treadle.

4) The actual conversion is quite easy, IF you have a cabinet that your sewing machine with fit into without modification. I have done it literally dozens of times and I don't have any mechanical aptitude to speak of. The easiest conversions for my money are the 1940s and 50s Japanese machines, which are "clones" of the Singer 15, and will go right into a Singer base. They are fairly common, inexpensive and come in cool colors. However, if you have a cabinet other than a Singer, or a head that's not compatible, it's gets harder.

5. My preferred method is to rescue orphan treadle irons (virtually any brand will work) and have my husband make a top for them to fit the machine I plan to use and just put them together. I call these set-ups "mongrels". I have one mongrel treadle that I use only for taking to demonstrations. I can knock it down and set it back up in less than five minutes.

You can see picture of the traveling treadle in my "Other Machines" album, pictures of my studio table, with five heads mounted in it (three of which came to me as electrics: 1960s zig-zagger, 1950s Japanese 15 which I use for FM quilting and a mid-century National chainstitcher) in the "Quilting Studio" album. The are some shots of another Japanese 15 in a "mongrel" table in the "Quilting Retreat" album--it's one we put together at the last minute for me to use for my demo machine that weekend and is one of my favorites; the irons we used have an over-sized flywheel and it treadles like a dream. BTW--if you notice the students in the "Retreat" album, every one one of them is sewing on an electric machine that was popped into a treadle table when they got to the class because I wanted them to learn on the machine they planned to sew on at home.

I'd be happy to talk to you off-list if you like. My e-mail addy is: toomanydogs@chibardun.net

Annie

Here is a link that might be useful: Annie's webshots albums

The thing is, the first one is always the hardest because you have to figure out the logistics. I doubt the second one would be so difficult. I had to removes shafts and reverse them, and also reverse the wheel.

This was also not a Singer. Mine was an Ohio Farmer and although all treadles run on the same basic principle, some are more straightforward than others. Mine is ancient, and some parts had seized from filth and lack of use, and the motor had presented some extraneous parts, and I had to figure out what was necessary to the basic machine. It hadn't been used in at least sixty years.

I'm no novice when it comes to treadles either, though my collection pales compared to yours. We were using treadles in my sewing class in junior high school. Out of twenty machines, only one was electric, and I hated it so never fought to get it. My mother always had a treadle handy as well, and I used that one in preference to the expensive Necchi my father bought her.

I like treadles for the same reason I like stick shift transmissions instead of automatics. I find I have a lot greater control than I do on an electric. I also love the gentle whirring of the machine and find sewing on one relaxing.

Calliope- I can't for the life of me figure out why you'd have had to reverse the wheels or the shafts on your Ohio Farmer, which appears to have been either a Davis, a Standard or a Goodrich, all brands that I'm familiar with and have sewn on. The only thing I can think of is that someone did some serious messing about with it when they decided to put a motor on it. My oldest treadles are pre-1900, I've helped a girlfriend with one of the most primitive ones I know of, an 1885 American and all we had to do was belt them up and they worked just fine. Do you have pictures of it? I'm wondering if it's a different brand than those listed in my reference.

Annie