Used Singer sewing & laundry machines in Islamabad & Rawalpindi
Is a used Singer sewing & laundry machine worth buying?
Singer is marketed in Pakistan by a local company with its own showrooms and dealer network, which is why old Singer heads are still working in houses across Rawalpindi rather than sitting in scrap. The head you meet is usually a straight-stitch machine in a hand-crank or a treadle, and the first job is establishing which shuttle family it belongs to.
Assembled locally under licence
An established local service network means genuine parts are obtainable and repairs are generally worth doing.
Singer's current machines sit behind a local dealer network, and the old heads are kept going by the sewing bazaars of Islamabad and Rawalpindi, where class-15 bobbins and cases, 15x1 needles, belts, bobbin winders and feet are ordinary counter items. Long-shuttle shuttles and bobbins are the exception and take asking around.
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Checking a used Singer sewing & laundry machine
These are specific to Singer. The general sewing & laundry machines checks apply too and are on the sewing & laundry machines page.
Find the stamped serial
A Singer-made head has its serial number stamped into the bed casting, not printed on a sticker or a plate. It is the quick way to separate a real Singer from a class-15 copy wearing a Singer badge, and it tells a parts dealer which class he is buying for.
Open the slide plate
Singer heads here come in two families: the class-15 pattern with a round bobbin case dropped into a hook, and the older long-shuttle machines with a bullet-shaped shuttle and a long bobbin. Class-15 parts sit on every bazaar shelf; long-shuttle bobbins are a specialist hunt.
Look at the treadle ironwork
Singer's own stands carry the name cast into the legs and the pedal, and a matched head and stand sell as a set. Check the pitman rod and belt are present and that the frame is not cracked at the pedal pivot.
Check any motor conversion
Many hand-crank Singers here have had a clamp-on motor and foot pedal added. Look at how it was fixed: a bed drilled through or a cracked pillar mount is permanent damage, and ask whether the original crank was kept.
What Singer sewing & laundry machines are worth
- A head with the serial still legible in the casting sells above a badged copy, because that stamp is the only quick proof a buyer has of what he is looking at.
- Class-15 Singers hold value better than the long-shuttle heads, since bobbins, cases and hooks in the class-15 pattern are ordinary counter stock while long-shuttle bobbins have to be hunted.
- A matched head and Singer cast stand sell more readily than either alone, as the ironwork is increasingly bought for its own sake.
- A crude electric conversion costs value permanently, because a drilled bed or a cracked mount cannot be put back.
Model lines you will see second-hand
- Class 15 straight-stitch heads
- Model 27 and 28 long-shuttle heads
General sewing & laundry machines checks
These apply whatever the badge on the front says — the sewing & laundry machines page covers them in full.
Turn the balance wheel
With the machine unthreaded, turn the wheel by hand through several complete stitch cycles. It should move evenly under light resistance; a catch at the same point every rotation suggests a bent needle bar or a hook out of time, while a gritty, dragging feel is usually dried oil and old lint in the race.
Stitch a sample on cloth
Sew a seam on two layers and look at both faces. Loops sitting on the underside are normally just a tension or bobbin-case setting; stitches that skip at random, or thread that keeps shredding, point at needle-to-hook timing or a scored race and need a mechanic.
Open the bobbin case
Lift the bobbin case out and inspect the race track for rust pitting and scoring. A clean, oiled race lets thread run smoothly, whereas a pitted one keeps breaking thread however the tension is set. Note that the bobbin case itself is matched to the model and is the part most often lost.
Watch the feed dogs work
Lower the presser foot on a scrap and sew slowly: the feed dogs should rise through the plate, carry the cloth an even distance each stitch and drop back. Cloth that slips, bunches or drifts to one side means flattened dog teeth or a presser foot sitting crooked. Run a fingernail around the needle hole in the plate as well, since a burr there shaves thread on every stitch.
Ride the foot pedal slowly
On an electric machine the pedal should give a smooth range from a crawl up to full speed rather than jumping straight to fast. A pedal that surges, sticks or grows hot, and a motor belt gone cracked or glazed, are replaceable parts but they tell you how long the machine has stood. On an industrial head, the clutch motor should bite gradually instead of snatching the wheel from stop to full.
Work the stitch selector
On a zigzag or multi-stitch machine, change width and length one step at a time and watch the needle actually move, because the cams and gears that drive it wear and a selector can turn freely while nothing changes. The reverse lever should back the seam along the same line rather than wandering off it. A plain straight-stitch head has far less to go wrong here, which is part of why those keep selling.
Singer sewing & laundry machines — questions
How can I tell a real Singer from a copy?
Are parts for an old Singer easy to find in Rawalpindi?
Other sewing & laundry machines brands
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