#chandler tackmaster

[dreamingofbabylon]

old men have gottttttt to start blogging compulsively about their hobbies again PLEASE I know there's some freako out there somewhere who knows how to adjust the tension on the Chandler Tackmaster's threadlock assembly pleeeeeeaaaase I just need the plunger to push forward another MILLIMETER so my baby can finish the tack cycle pleeeease I know you're out there

we as a society have GOT to bring back old-school forums. old men aren't going on reddit to tell me how to troubleshoot incredibly specific problems with my vintage industrial sewing machine. it's a hostile ecosystem to them. it's throwing off the natural balance of sustaining obsolete and endangered trades

[dreamingofbabylon]

girl you are soooooooooooo yuckydisgusting 💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖

I opened up this machine the other day, looking for parts to Frankenstein onto another one. I set upon my journey looking for a needle bar set screw, but found riches and wonders beyond comprehension 🌈

there was a teeny little mouse living in the base eating lollipops and nesting in fiber fluff 💔💔💔💔💔💔💔💔💔💔 mouse friend seems to have long since moved out but I was so charmed and delighted to find her little house. like girl where did u even get all this candy. did you eat them yourself or did you just think the sticks and wrappers seemed cozy? beautiful mundane mysteries all around us

These are really fascinating machines though. kind of a shame she's probably stitched her last stitch. She's a Chandler 554-55 Tackmaster. definitely not a manufacturer you hear about these days.

as far as I know, they exclusively made industrial sewing machines for production work. They seem to have specialized in machines for tacking and buttons. The manual was printed in 1972, and they were already manufacturing the 700 series by then, so this one must be well over 50 years old.

rest easy, queen- your sacrifices have sustained many other tackmasters after you, and you were a cozy home to little critters

[dreamingofbabylon]

she's soooooooooooo cute 💔💔💔 and sooooo gross and yucky disgusting and I am giving her a bath 🖤 at work the other chandler tacker of a similar model is in the hospital (get well soon my beloved 💔). This one has been in storage for over 20 years, so I got to rescue her to clean her up and see if she works.

I hadn't heard of these before working here but they're really neat. This one is a 600-75D Tackmaster. I'm not sure when it was made, but the manual was printed in 1972 and they were already making the 700 series by then too.

I think industrial commercial machines like this are cool cause they do like exactly one thing. very well. forever. For household use, most people today look for one versatile, user-friendly machine that can do a little of everything. an essay about planned obsolescence and right-to-repair is for another day. but suffice to say, they are completely different beasts.

In many workshop or production settings, you'll find a lot of machines set to do a specific task. buttonholes at this table, blind hemming at that one, straight stitching over there, etc.

The Tackmaster tacks. Just a tiny little front-to-back stitch and that's how it's earned its keep for over 50 years. This one, and a lot of other ones that do similar stitches, is a cycle machine. so you hit the pedal, and it automatically moves through a stitch cycle, then stops. absolute brick shithouse of a machine. she's SO heavy and so cool and I love her. it's been an honor dissecting and reanimating you, bestie