Singer 111Wsv65 Info, Please...

[jasonsargo]

Hello, all.

I've spent more than a few hours in the last few months lurking and dreaming, and finally lucked into two free blind stitch hemmers on Craigslist that I turned into a trade-in for a beautiful Singer 111WSV65 with new table and clutch motor. $100 on top of the trade and I was out the door from the fantastic Ralph's PowerSew in Denver...I think I scored, to say the least. My first industrial!

I have a few month's experience with a crazy left-handed cylinder bed machine with no reverse making medical leather ankle-foot orthotics a few years ago, so I know I have a steep learning curve ahead of me, but I'm going to have fun with this one. For some reason, making a beautiful tooled leather clutch purse for my daughter to treasure and use as she gets older is my first dream project, but maybe a little upholstery repair is on the horizon, too. Staying handy for my employer with some canvas medical instrument covers in the next few weeks might be one of my first projects to rebuild my skills. I doubt I'll ever step up to holster thicknesses, but want to be ready for projects a little thicker than garment leather.

Like I said, I've lurked, and now searched, but would love help with specific info and resources to get me up to speed on this machine, whether in this forum or elsewhere on the net:

- history (I'm guessing this is a "special variance" machine from about WWII, but what does that really mean?)

- capabilities (what thicknesses and thread, etc., can this machine handle?)

- manual

- service manual

- parts / clone-parts

- accessories

- tips and tricks

- modifications to consider

Thanks for your help!

[dikman]

You'll be struggling to find specific info on a WSV machine. I bought a 111WSV77, and couldn't find any mention of it anywhere! Looking at various photos of 111 class machines, I noticed that it appeared very similar to the 111W151-155 models, so I downloaded the manuals and started comparing parts/fittings and what sort of clearance I could get under the feet. My best assessment is that it's a 111W153.

You will probably have to do the same thing to try and find out your machine's capabilities. One thing I noticed is that yours is a needle feed and doesn't have the inner foot that a compound feed walking foot will have.

SV stands for Special Version (I'm guessing that you've seen the same video on youtube that I first saw? The guy uses the term "special variance" which is incorrect). Singer made a LOT of SV versions of many of their models, and no-one appears certain just what the SV models were for - some think they were prototype models, prior to a production run, or models built for a specific function (mine seems to disprove the latter, as it seems identical to the W153). Best guess is that some of the parts are/were slightly different for some reason that we may never know.

The W models were made at Bridgeport, in the US, and there aren't any records available for them so unlike other Singers you can't use the serial number to try and trace a specific model.

Edited March 12, 2016 by dikman

[dikman]

Slight mistake in my previous post, it is called a compound feed, i.e. needle and feed dog feed the material together.

This is a manual for a 111W100, which looks like it might be the same machine? http://www.manualslib.com/manual/364307/Singer-111w100.html Looks like it's meant for material, oilskins and possibly very light garment leather - doubtful if you'll be doing holsters on it!

If you search you may find parts lists too.

[jasonsargo]

Thanks, dikman!

That really did clear up why I can't find much info on this machine. I did go back to Ralph's today to get set up with some 138 thread, and they gave me a 111W155 manual. I looked through both manuals, and my machine really looks like it shares features with both the 111W100 that you thought, and the 111W155. In fact, they said their selection of 111W155 feet will work just fine. And you are right, the alternating dogs and the needle all feed the material.

I agree, and really started to just play around with the machine to see what it could do this afternoon. 3 layers of tooling leather (I can't remember the oz/thickness) and 138 thread seemed to work just fine, but I will just have to watch for marks from the feet for now. I'll just take it slow and avoid broken needles as much as possible, and enjoy not having to hand stitch near as much! I'll try to take some clearance measurements and pictures of my new baby soon.

[Darren Brosowski]

"SV" can mean a lot or nothing.

Sometimes it could be as simple as a special foot or attachment fitted at the factory for a customer and at other times the machine itself had major modifications.

On both the ISMACS list and Singer Parts lists the 111w starts at the 111w100 so anything before that was most likely anything before that were pre-production models. You would have to look at serial numbers to confirm this.

[dikman]

As it's in the 111 class, there's bound to be similarities - overall size, body shape, thread tensioner, feet etc. The trick is to match what you do have to other models (the W100 appears to have the stitch length adjuster in the end of the handwheel, for instance, whereas the W151-155 is adjusted by turning the handwheel itself).

Darren made a good point about the W100 being the first one listed in the 111 class, whereas this site - http://www.strima.com/needle?page=255 - lists needles for WSV model numbers from 36 to 88!! Unlikely to be prototypes, I would think, with so many models, but who knows??

All very perplexing......

[Darren Brosowski]

I have two Singer books that list the needles for some of the WSV models

It does not prove anything

[jasonsargo]

Wow, great info and resources, guys. Thanks!

Yeah, my stitch selection is done by pushing the left button in the bed and turning the handwheel like the 155, but the illustrations are just slightly off in both manuals. You guys have really pointed me in the right direction, though.

Now...off to decipher what the heck a 47:45XA needle is, and if I really need them, and where the heck to find them versus the 135x17 that looks pretty standard and seems to work fine so far...

XA

[dikman]

I have two Singer books that list the needles for some of the WSV models

It does not prove anything

I only mentioned it because until I came across that list yesterday I hadn't found anything to indicate how many 111WSV models there may have been (I only knew of a couple). I know that there are/were quite a lot of KSV models, and I think I saw mention of GSV models somewhere. There may very well be old Singer books somewhere with info on the SV models, but unless people put it on the 'net it's almost impossible to find out much about them.

[Rhons]

Hi All.  I am hoping to learn anything about the 111wsv65.

I have borrowed a machine that belonged to my late brother in law.  I am trying to decide if I should

1a) try to buy it  1b) just do a one time borrow.
Either way the machine has not been treated with TLC and needs cleaning ,  maintenance, replacing missing parts.

I have a couple of large army tents that I would like to do repair on.  So that is my primary goal, but I can think of lots of projects that this machine might be good for.

Based on this thread I am look at manuals:  111w100.pdf and 111W152_W153_W154_W155.pdf

so:

2) Any idea of the $ value?

3) Is there a better operating manual or service manual I should be looking at?

4) Replacement parts:  Who is a reputable source? 

5) I have done some searching and this model # comes up blank.  What model number is most similar that I should use to order parts?