1909 Davis Model 8 High Arm Vertical Feed

     I just recently picked up this beautiful 1909 Davis Model 8 High Arm Vertical Feed sewing machine.  I picked up the machine head and cabinet separately.  The machine I purchased in Navarre, OH.  Unfortunately, the irons had been made into a table and were long gone.  I didn't remember to save the pictures from the ad but I did take pictures of the head when I got home.  See below.  

 

  

     As you can see from the pictures above the decals were in fabulous shape but the metal parts were fairly dirty with old dried up oil.  The first thing I did was oil the machine and to do a quick cleaning of the body with sewing machine oil.  Below is a picture of the machine after a quick wipe down with SMO.  

     As you can see, that did wonders to make the machine body/decals look great!  You can also see by the pics below that the metal parts desperately needed to be cleaned to match the condition of the rest of the machine.  

    To clean these parts I removed them from the machine and first cleaned them with alcohol to remove the old oil.  Then I polished them with a buffing wheel.  Below are some before and after pics.  The machine basically looks almost new!

     Now that the machine was all cleaned up I had to find a cabinet for it.  The machine head came with a manual which had a picture of the cabinet on it.  So, I set out to find this cabinet.  As you can see in the picture below the cabinet on the cover has a coffin top.  I suspect that by 1909 they had dropped the coffin tops and it probably came in a drop cabinet....but I like coffin top cabinets so that's what I set out to find.  

     It just so happened that there was a pretty good example of the cabinet that I was looking for on FB Marketplace but the seller was asking too much money for it.  I did contact them and made a low offer but they declined.  So I waited a few weeks and then contacted them again to let them know I was still interested.  A few more weeks went by and I saw they had dropped their price but still not low enough for me (especially since I just wanted the cabinet).  I contacted them again and raised my offer a liitle bit and luckily they accepted!  The cabinet was located in Somerset PA and I was already planning a trip to central PA to pick up another cabinet so I just incorporated this stop into my trip.  

     As you can see from the pics below, the cabinet is in pretty nice shape.  I do believe the cabinet has been revarnished at some point.  Another clue that the cabinet has been refinished is the lack of a Davis decal on the coffin top and the fact that you can see the orange varnish over top of the hinges and other metal bits on the cabinet top.  I might decide to recreate that decal in the future.  Below are pictures of the combination of the head and cabinet. The machine stitches extremely well (like new).  It's a great combination and I think they look great together.  Enjoy the pictures!!