Our disposable world....
May 7, 2020 19:50:13 GMT -5
Post by Cranky on May 7, 2020 19:50:13 GMT -5
A few days ago, I dusted off a sewing machine we bought 35 years ago. Remember Consumers Distributing? It was at the shut down. Bouhht it, started it up, ran it for an hour and never used it against since then.
A few days ago I got some fine very high thread count cloth and decided, why get it made when there is a perfectly good, new machine in the spare bedroom. After this much passage of time, the grease has dried up and I spent three hours taking it apart, WD40 it to an inch of it's life then re-lubing it. If you have ever taken an old pure metal sewing machine apart, they were marvels of engineering.
And yes....old white man can sew. Who else is going to make my he-man war thongs?
I needed an accessory so i phoned a dealer. Went over and started a long conversation with the owner. It's not that he had any other customers! Lol
The conversation came around to new plastic sewing machines versus old mechanical ones. The most transformed product in the last 40 years has been sewing machines. From pure metal machines that routinely went through generational hand-me downs to modern machines that are computer driven and can literally do miracles with thread and cloth. As long as they last.....
When I asked him about repairing them....he invited me to go down to the basement. Literally in a 4 cars sized space had a few thousand machines. I was actually amazed at the enormous volume of them. From the old foot powered Singers to new computer controlled ones. For me, it was a paradise of engineering, for him, it's now going to cost money to haul them out.
I asked him why not clean them up and/or repair them and sell them. His answer.....you simply can't find any repairmen and by the time you spend time even for a minor fix, might as well spend $250 and buy a new one. He actually offered some for free. Sooooo tempted, but given the 35 years between uses....
Masterpieces of volume engineering.....piled 9 foot high. What a waste! Nobody wants them, nobody can repair them...and now, people buy disposable cheap machines that wont last 1/10 of the time the old one could,
Progress....
A few days ago I got some fine very high thread count cloth and decided, why get it made when there is a perfectly good, new machine in the spare bedroom. After this much passage of time, the grease has dried up and I spent three hours taking it apart, WD40 it to an inch of it's life then re-lubing it. If you have ever taken an old pure metal sewing machine apart, they were marvels of engineering.
And yes....old white man can sew. Who else is going to make my he-man war thongs?
I needed an accessory so i phoned a dealer. Went over and started a long conversation with the owner. It's not that he had any other customers! Lol
The conversation came around to new plastic sewing machines versus old mechanical ones. The most transformed product in the last 40 years has been sewing machines. From pure metal machines that routinely went through generational hand-me downs to modern machines that are computer driven and can literally do miracles with thread and cloth. As long as they last.....
When I asked him about repairing them....he invited me to go down to the basement. Literally in a 4 cars sized space had a few thousand machines. I was actually amazed at the enormous volume of them. From the old foot powered Singers to new computer controlled ones. For me, it was a paradise of engineering, for him, it's now going to cost money to haul them out.
I asked him why not clean them up and/or repair them and sell them. His answer.....you simply can't find any repairmen and by the time you spend time even for a minor fix, might as well spend $250 and buy a new one. He actually offered some for free. Sooooo tempted, but given the 35 years between uses....
Masterpieces of volume engineering.....piled 9 foot high. What a waste! Nobody wants them, nobody can repair them...and now, people buy disposable cheap machines that wont last 1/10 of the time the old one could,
Progress....
