this is a Wheeler & Wilson No. 9¹ treadle sewing machine from 1905. I was looking for light fixtures at one of our regional architectural salvage stores² and this machine was just sitting there all folded up in its table waiting for me…

I wasn’t exactly in the market for a treadle machine (I mean I wasn’t not but it was very much an “I’m not willing to pay the prices that are usually asked for machines that might not be in very good condition” sort of situation) but seeing that the mechanisms appeared to still function and it came with six(!) replacement bobbins and a whole assortment of original feet, for less than $100 USD³, well.

it turns out that replacement leather belts for treadle machines are a thing you can easily obtain from sewing and vacuum stores (one place I called could get me one with a day’s notice, the other had them on the shelf ready to buy), so after buying a belt and cutting it to fit & adding copious amounts of oil at all the manual-indicated locations⁴ I have one fully-outfitted machine that works quite well. I still need to give the oak cabinet some love, but it’s doing great!

once I got everything set up and oiled, threaded properly, and adjusted the upper tension, I tested the stitch length adjuster at all the whole-number increments from 0-6 (it’s a continuous scale, so I could get other lengths as well). doing pretty well! I’m really looking forward to doing some slow projects on this new machine.

1. I’m still not sure how to tell if it’s a No. 9 (regular) or D9 but I am very certain that 9 is involved ↩︎
2. architectural salvage rules. anything from used furniture to light fixtures to tile and flooring and lumber. if you’re in the greater Seattle area try Ballard Reuse, Earthwise Architectural Salvage, or Second Use ↩︎
3. with an unmarked discount, $71 after tax ↩︎
4. ↩︎