Drag Racing The 301

There is a group that meets at the library here in Simsbury on the first Monday of each month to sew for charity.  I haven't been yet, but I'm going this coming Monday.  I'm not sure if the library provides the machines we sew on or are we supposed to bring our own.  So to be safe I'm taking a machine.

The contenders are:

The 301
Pluses:  Wicked fast, recently tuned up, stealth black, super portable.
Minuses:  Not a 'classic' Singer, recent issues with presser bar freezing up again, wicked fast.

The 401
Pluses: Not wicked fast, zigzag potential, very portable.
Minuses:  Not a 'classic' Singer, not recently tuned, rat nesting in the hook, beige, zigzagger.

15-91 (Anna)
Pluses: Perfect stitch, best Singer ever made, can take my zigzag attachment, classic, not wicked fast.
Minuses: Not recently tuned, kinda sorta portable, really not recently tuned.

201 (1953)
Pluses: It's a 201 what else needs to be said, not wicked fast
Minuses:  Tuning iffy - just cleaned, never sewn on it for real, kinda sorta portable.

128
Pluses:  Kinda cool, very cool case, hand crank speed.
Minuses:  kinda sorta portable, missing front slide plate, case pretty busted up.

Really the decision was not that difficult.  The 301 wins out.  I had given it a thorough going over a couple days ago, before finding out about the sewing group.  The presser bar binding up again due to lack of use was an annoyance, but it's moving free again.

If I had spent any time working with the 1953 201 it might have been more of a decision.  I know its motion is good, but I haven't really checked its stitch quality and I know from experience that 201s being out of spec in any way can cause nightmares.  The Centennial 201 isn't in the running because of the baked wiring and one of the motor screws is seriously seized up, so no motor replacement is possible without a major overhaul (to come).  The 401 wanted to protest the decision but it was hard to hear it with all the cleaning supplies piled on top of it at the moment.

All that faux decision making really just leads up to this.  Seeing if my 301 can actually get close to the legendary speed of 1500 stitches per minute.

I know it's running as well as it ever has for me.  While the stitch quality is still not perfect, it's darn good, minuscule wobbles and tension variations that new machines dream about mimicking.

So here's the plan for the test.  1500 stitches per minute is 150 stitches in 6 seconds.  Setting stitch length to 10 means 15 inches of stitches in 6 seconds.

I spent the last half hour running stitches and measuring to warm up the machine and to make sure I am at exactly 10 stitches per inch.

I also checked and rechecked the presser foot pressure to make sure it was firm enough to catch the cloth without slippage but not so firm as to cause the motor to lug trying to push the feed dogs against the foot.  Finally I marked off the start and finish lines of the course (fabric).  I'm using two layers of plain old bleached muslin with a firm press.  Soft but not lint-y or given to puckering.  After pressing I marked off the 'track'.

Here's the video of the test.

And the play by play of the results.

Twelve inches on both runs at 10 stitches per inch.  120 stitches in 6 seconds equates to 1200 stitches per minute.  Faster than I'll ever need to sew on a project.  Not too shabby for a 67 year old machine.

I wonder what the others will do?  There will be more speed tests coming.