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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;Shangas, post: 333341, member: 360&quot;]My contribution, while called for, will be completely pointless now.</p><p><br /></p><p>A Wertheim Superba &#039;D&#039;. Made in Germany, probably 1870s-1900. Very old transverse-shuttle design. Germany was still making machines like this right up to WWII, believe it or not. When the rest of the world had gone onto round-bobbin electric machines, they were still quite literally, cranking out these old Victorian-era models, complete with the cranks on the sides.</p><p><br /></p><p>Despite its age and antiquated design, this machine would&#039;ve had features on it that, in 1900, would&#039;ve been considered highly revolutionary. Helical cut gears, for better movement, and a spring-loaded automatic-stop bobbin winder mechanism. Some even came with forward-reverse gears.</p><p><br /></p><p>Features like this wouldn&#039;t be seen on American machines until the 1920s and 30s at the very earliest. Many Singers didn&#039;t come with forward-reverse stitching until after WWII.</p><p><br /></p><p>Due to the needles that the majority of transverse machines use, sewing with these machines is a complete crapshoot. Sometimes if you&#039;re lucky, you can get the needles, but if you can&#039;t - they make extremely effective doorstops. By the 1890s and 1900s, when the next-generation vibrating-shuttle machines were being made, needle-sizes for domestic machines were pretty-much standardised across the board, so that, providing everything else works, you can still get them sewing today.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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