Happy Birthday to Me! Singer 107W5

 I complain about zigzagging a lot.  If you've read any of my posts about the 401/403/Automatic Zigzagger you probably know this already.  Now just imagine how much my wife has heard it.  I'm kind of thinking that's why for my birthday this year she went down to Norm and asked for a zigzag machine that would shut me up.  And here it is.  A 1940 allotted Singer 107W5

Now first things first.  How do I know it's from 1940, you might ask.  Everybody knows that the Bridgeport records were lost when the factory closed.  Yep they were.  And like everyone else I figured it would always just be a kind of guess when a W machine was made.  Then I found out that back in 2018 Gregg from Keystone Sewing in Pennsylvania posted these gems on Leatherworker.net:

Super groovy, right?  Hopefully ISMACS updates their number database with this info.  Doesn't break it down by models, but hey it's better than just looking at a W machine and saying, "looks old alright".

There is a ton of stuff on this machine to go through.  Since it is a Wheeler and Wilson errr I mean a Singer's Bridgeport Facility machine there are lots of things that are not as I am accustomed.  (Forgive me Marge.  Singer wasn't an evil corporation that destroyed its competition. Singer wasn't an evil corporation that destroyed its competition.  Singer wasn't...)

Kind of mundane things, like the knee lift lever shaft running up into the pedestal and the lifter itself having two pivot points on the back of the machine.

To the trippy.  Like the Stitch Regulator being where the Clamp Stop Motion normally is.  Say what!?

Of course not everything is awesome about it.  It uses the Arm Shaft Connector Belt to drive the hook.

 One of the reasons I never picked up a xx6 zigzag machine (or a Pfaff).  It might be perfectly okay, but those pieces of cloth with hunks of metal clamped on them never gave me a warm and fuzzy.  So first thing I did was order two of those plasticy modern replacement belts on Ebay.  I guess I'll survive.

But back to the neato.  That belt is driving a vertical rotating hook that's turned 90 degrees (which it does on the xx6s as well, but it's just way cooler on an industrial, right?).

The W5s also have an added bonuse.  What Singer calls Positive Reciprocating Feed Slide.  That works to smooth the fabric while it's being stitched.  Keeping the zigzags from creating puckers on long seams, like drapes. 

The width of the zigzag is controlled by the big silver knob that was seen in the center of the machine in the first picture.

I haven't done much cleaning or testing on it yet.  A bit chilly here, and yes, the sewing room is still being worked on.  I need to tape and mud the drywall and lay the floor.  A bit chilly for that right now.  And my primary worker is off at college at the moment.

Mounting is going to be the first challenge in getting it running.  The bed size is different than any of the other industrials, so I'll need to make an insert that I can put in one of the industrial tables to fit it.

If you want to see a 107W running there is at least one video on youtube of someone going through their's.  Once I get everything together and get this guy mounted solidly I'll get some zigzagging videos of him up.

That's about it.  Overall I would say a terrific birthday present.  But it's not the only one.  There's a good sized snow coming down so it'll be a few days before I get photos of the other industrial birthday present up :)

Oh and I still need to get the second 101 post done.  And another 15 is on the way, woohoo.  So another rush of postings is coming.

Edit - By request here's a close up of the tension assembly.