Monday, June 21, 2010

Sewing Machine Cabinet for my Singer 185J

In an earlier post I talked about getting nostalgic and purchasing a Singer 185J just like my very first sewing machine. I ended up buying 2 of them. A portable I got on eBay and another one in a cabinet from Craigslist. I decided to put the machine in a different cabinet and this required quite a bit of work.

The Singer 185J is a 3/4-sized machine so the opening in a standard sewing machine cabinet is too big.The hinges used to mount the previous machine will not work for my 'Lil Green. The old hinges are mounted on the underside of the cabinet. The spacing is wrong and the post used to attached the machine to the hinge are the wrong size. The hinges are what allow the machine to swing down into the cabinet when not in use.
On top are the square hinges I removed. On the bottom are the round hinges that fit 'Lil Green. These will get mounted on the cabinet top.
First I dismantled the cabinet.
I made a filler piece from birch plywood and cut the holes (at the right depth) for the hinges using a forstner bit. It took me hours to carefully cut the plywood so I could get an exact fit. I then glued and screwed a couple strips of hard maple to the underside of the cabinet to support the plywood since the Singer 185J is an extremely heavy sewing machine.
All finished. At some point I will apply stain/finish so the plywood will blend in with the original.
'Lil Green in her new cabinet.
Front view.
Rear view.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Do you still have a use for the hinges that are square shaped? I need a pair like that for my sewing machine cabinet.

angel said...

Sorry it's a green 185j in a cabinet

angel said...

Do u know what it might be worth its the green 185,j. Works

angel said...

Do u know what it might be worth its the green 185,j. Works