1875 American No. 1 in a Three-Quarter Cabinet

     Today I get to share with you not only a special sewing machine but a very special cabinet.  This sewing machine is an 1875 American No. 1 from the American Button-Hole, Overseaming, and Sewing Machine Company.  The machine is in great condition for being 151 years old but what is particularlyspecial is the cabinet in which the machine was furnished.

     I originally saw this machine for sale on Facebook Marketplace in Macomb, Michigan.  Below are the pictures from the original ad.

     I ended up watching it for a few months thinking that it was too far of a drive (almost a 5 1/2 hour drive one way) and expecting that it would be sold quickly..  At this point I didn't realize how rare the cabinet was.  I finally contacted the seller to see if the machine was still available and to ask for more pictures.  The seller promptly responded.  Below are the additional pictures they sent.

     From the pictures above I could see that the decoration on the machine was in pretty good shape and that the all important shuttle and bobbins were present.  With this information I knew I wanted the machine/cabinet so I negotiated a deal with the seller.  I continued to research and in searching the internet I couldn't find any actual pictures of American No. 1's in this type of cabinet.  I then contacted a few sewing machine experts and they confirmed that indeed this cabinet was pretty rare.  They indicated that they had only seen one other American cabinet like this...ever!  So, it's essentially one of two known to exist.  How awesome is that?!  Below is a page from an Illustrated Price List of American Sewing Machines displaying the cabinet.  

    I was prepared to make the trip to go pick up the machine in Macomb, MI but I was lucky enough to get help from a fellow sewing machine enthusiast who lived in Ann Arbor, MI.  They graciously agreed to pick up the machine for me and store it temporarily.  The machine pickup went without issue.  As it turns out, they have a relative that plays for a professional soccer team in Pittsburgh and they were planning a trip to the Burgh to come see him play.  So...that very next week they drove to Pittsburgh and delivered the machine to me!  I've said this before, but the sewing machine community is filled with people who are extremely nice and helpful!  You gotta love them!

    The pictures below were taken on the day I recieved the machine.  As you can see the machine and cabinet were in very good conservable condition.  I was really excited in the potential of this machine/cabinet!

 

    With this machine I followed my usually methods of conservation so I won't bore everyone with all the details (see some of my other posts for details on my methods). I didn't try to over clean the mechanical parts of the machine.  Below are some before and after pictures of the under bed of the machine. More after shots are in the final set of pictures of the machine below.

 

     There were also several things that needed repair or fabrication.

     First, the key hole escutcheon was missing on the coffin top lid.  I didn't make one but I was able to find one (just one) that would actually fit.   The first picture below is of the hole in the lid with the escutcheon missing.  The second picture is the hole filled with the replacement escutcheon.

     Second, the door that hides the treadle wheel and pitman arm had a hole in it.  Behind the door and the hole was the latch that keeps that door shut.  I found that if I put my finger in the hole and pushed straight back it would unlatch the door.  So, I figured there must have been a button of some sort ot unlatch the door.  Since it was missing and having no idea what it was supposed to look like I just had to get creative and wing it!  Basically, I made a button from a piece of wood dowel.  Unfortuntately, I don't have any pictures of the fabrication process but below is a before and after picture.  

     Third, one of the drawers was missing a piece of wood that is used to keep the drawer on the drawer runner.  This just required cutting a piece of wood to the right size and gluing/nailing it in place.  See pics below.  The red arrows point to the piece of wood that I replaced.

 

     Fourth, one of the knobs on the drawers had been broken off.  Someone previously decided to put a wood screw through the center of the knob instead of gluing it back in place.  To repair this I removed the screw and glued the knob back in place.  This then left a hole in the center of the knob.  To fill the hole and make it look similar to the other knobs I took a very small dowel rod and sanded the end to look like the center of other knobs.  then I pressed the dowel into the hole in the knob.  Then I colored it ot match the rest of the knob.  The first pic below shows the screw in the center of the knob.

    Fifth, the japan was missing on a good portion of the hand wheel and those areas were rusted..  I fought with myself on if I should try to make it look better or not.  Given with how nice the rest of the machine came out I couldn't leave the hand wheel all rusty.  So, I removed the rust.  Then I used black aniline dye mixed with shellac to cover the areas where the japan was missing.  Then I french polished clear shellac over the hand wheel.   Now seeing the end results.....I'm glad I did it!  See pics below.  

     Lastly,  the bobbin winder tire was completely dry rotted and crumbling.  I know that some of the bobbin winder wheels had a set screw that can be loosened to remove the wheel from the bobbin winder pin.  My bobbin winder wheel did not have a pin.  Once again I fought with myself because a didn't want to put a brand new tire on the bobbin winder wheel and I also didn't want to risk pressing the pin out in fear of breaking anything. So...I ended up making a bobbin winder tire out of a piece of leather treadle belt.  I glued it in place so it can always removed without damaging anything.  The best thing is it works....and it looks old!  See pics below.  The red arrow points to the seam in the leather tire.

    Finally!  The pictures below are the final results on this beautiful and rare American No. 1 in a Three-Quarter cabinet.  Please feel free to make comments or ask any questions you might have.  Enjoy the pictures!!