The New Improved High Arm Avery Sewing Machine

Recently I've decided to try to post more of my sewing machines to my blog. This will be the forth machine in the last week. Normally I post after restoring a sewing machine but I've decided to share some of the machines that I own that are already done. This post is about one of my favorite machines. It's "The New Improved High Arm Avery" sewing machine (circa 1886). It's one of my favorites for two reasons: 1. It's pretty rare. The Avery Machine Co. was not in business for very long and therefore there are not very many of them around. I've only actually only seen one other head and one set of irons (and they weren't together). 2. I love the irons! They are unique and look very cool.

There is not much information on the Avery Machine Co. online. According to fiddlebase.com The Avery Machine Co. was sold to Alford & Berkele Co. in 1887 which makes me believe that the machine should date to before 1887.......unless Alford & Berkele sold the machine under the Avery name. Also, the above ad which pictures the exact machine was dated to 1886. The machine is a transverse shuttle machine probably modeled after the Singer model 12 but the bed of the machine has a more Demorest type of shape. The machine was advertised as having less parts than most sewing machines and therefore was quieter, stronger, and more reliable than it's competitors. If anyone has any additional information please let me know in the comments!

I putchased this sewing machine in August of 2022. I had seen it previously because I had purchased a Singer New Family machine from the owner the year prior. I had tried to buy the machine then but the owner was not willing to part with it at that time. A year later, I saw the ad for the machine and knew exactly where it was and I knew I had to own those irons!. Below are pics from the advertisement. As you can see the machine and table were in really good shape.

Below are some additional pictures that I took when I got the machine home.

After getting the machine home, it was obvious that the machine itself had been revarnished in which left an orangish hue on the machine (not only the body but the metal parts also). You can see this in the pictures below. I wasn't happy with that so I decided to clean the machine up. I can't recall how I removed the orange hue but I believe I used TR3. From what I can remember, it actually cleaned up relatively easy.

At this time, I also decided to clean and polish the mechanical and bright parts on the machine. I did not completely disassemble the machine so what ever parts could be removed easily were buffed on the wheel and the rest of the parts were just manually cleaned while on the machine. I did remove the face of the machine and cleaned all of the parts within. Below are some pictures of the mechanical/bright parts after cleaning.

The table really didn't need much other than a basic cleaning. The irons were cleaned with Gojo non-pumice hand cleaner and a tooth brush. Then they were waxed. One part of the table that did need some work was the area around the Avery decal on the bonnet. For some reason the finish in this area was really dark.....almost like some had stuck something over top of it that affected the finish. I tried several methods to resolve this but they didn't work. Ultimately I ended up using lacquer thinner on a q-tip to remove the dark finish. This worked but was very stressful....I basically held my breathe the entire time while cleaning it! Below are before and after pics.

This machine has a pretty unique movement and it sews a very nice stitch. For reference, the machine takes a 20x1 needle. Below are videos of the movement.

The machine came with a partial manual that someone had laminated. Although that's not what I would have done, it has preserved the manual well and I don't have to worry about messing it up. Below are a few pages from the manual.