How to Tilt Back the Head of a White FR Treadle Machine

While it's great having the original manual for my new sewing machine, I've found that it doesn't answer all my questions. To clean and oil the underside of the machine I need to tilt the head back but couldn't figure out how! The first step was to remove the treadle belt. Mine is old and loose so that was easy to do. But I couldn't tilt back the head. It was fastened and I couldn't figure out how to get it to release. I suspected this knob had something to do with it.

It looked like it needed to be unscrewed, but which way? It was too tight to turn either clockwise or counterclockwise so I was stumped. I searched the internet for an answer and found others asking the same question, but nowhere could I find the answer. Finally, I found a picture of the same machine without the cabinet. When I saw the underside of the knob I knew what to do.

Tilting it to the left released the latch so I could lift the head.

I don't suppose that's terribly interesting to anybody, but after puzzling over it for so long it felt like an accomplishment to figure it out! So I'm posting this just in case someone else is having the same problem. 😌

How to Tilt Back the Head of a White FR Treadle Machine
© January 2019 by Leigh at Leigh's Fiber Journal

My New Sewing Machine

Hello Fiber Friends! It's been a while since I've done any serious blogging here at my Fiber Journal. But that's about to change because I recently got a new sewing machine!

It's a White Family Rotary treadle sewing machine. It came with the original certificate of warranty and the manual. The certificate is dated August 20, 1913. Between that and the patent date (April 18, 1911) I have an idea of how old the machine is.

In one of the drawers, I found all of the original attachments.

These are for gathering, shirring, hemming, sewing lace, making tucks, quilting, ruffling, binding, underbraiding, and chainstitching. That's actually quite a lot for a machine that only does straight stitch and with no reverse.

My first step will be to give it a good cleaning and oiling. I'll have more on that soon. In the meantime, if you're interested in the full story of how I got it, click here to go to that post on my homestead blog.

 My New Sewing Machine © January 2019

by Leigh at Leigh's Fiber Journal