Bakelite Sewing Motor Controller (Foot Pedal) for Singer 221 Featherweight & 301

Description

Important:
Sometimes it’s easier to explain how something works with pictures instead of words, so we have added two photos to this listing so you can be certain that this sewing motor controller will work with your machine. Nothing shown in those two photos, numbers four and five, is included in this listing. I apologize in advance for the length of the description to follow but please read it the whole way through because one of the best things about this item comes almost at the end.
This is a genuine, vintage Singer sewing motor controller (foot pedal). Made from Bakelite, it uses our standard 110-120Volt U.S. household current. It has been tested on one of our Featherweights and also on one of our Model 301s, and it works perfectly. It will hold your machine steady at any speed from very slow to very fast.
It was designed to be used with almost all Singer 221 Featherweights, some 222 Featherweights, and most Singer 301s.
Fun Fact:
Singer 301 and 301A machines are pretty much identical. They just had “301” on their number badges from 1951 until 1953, when Singer added an “A” to acknowledge Anderson, South Carolina, where they were built.
Please take a look at photos four and five. If your Featherweight or Model 301 has a power terminal on its right side, just below the hand wheel, with three small round pins inside, this sewing motor controller will work perfectly with it. (Photo four shows a 221 Featherweight power terminal, and photo five shows the terminal on a 301. The machines shown in those two photos are not included in this listing.)
This motor controller has been cleaned and polished and is in excellent, all-original condition with only some very minor scratches. But I saved the best for last. The wiring on this thing is original, which means it still has a Bakelite plug (photo six). Why is that important? Because the last Featherweights came off the assembly line 60 years ago, and the oldest ones are almost 90 years old. Electrical wiring dries out and cracks with age, so most Featherweights either have new wiring or are limping along with patched and taped wiring that is dangerous and should be replaced. In fact, we install new wiring in almost every Bakelite sewing motor controller that comes through our hands.
But new wiring sets don’t have perfect-fit Bakelite plugs, they have rubber plugs that fit tightly into your machine’s Bakelite power terminal, often with disastrous results. If you have seen more than two or three Featherweights you have probably seen one with the bottom of the power terminal missing, broken off by the too-tight fit of the rubber plug. (We carefully trim the edges of the rubber plugs to make them smaller, and it helps a lot, but it’s still better to have an original Bakelite plug if you can find it.)
Finally, you may have noticed the red Velcro “keeper” we used to wrap the power cords. We do this because external Singer sewing motors, like the one on a Featherweight, have a tendency to eat power cords. A loose cord can easily get caught by the motor’s V-belt and be nicked or cut. When you sew, use this “keeper” to tie off the loose wires, preventing them from getting tangled and cut by the belt.
My husband and I
have owned and restored over 1000 antique and vintage Singer sewing machines (over two hundred Featherweights and one hundred Model 301s), and know quite a bit about them, so please feel free to ask questions! We are happy to help you.
We invite you to take a look at our other eBay listings. We are selling many interesting and useful things.
All of our goods are unconditionally guaranteed. If you are not completely satisfied with this item when it arrives at your home, send it back and your money will be cheerfully refunded.
Thank you for looking in.