Kenmore 158.1730 (No, It's Not a Singer This Time!)

Yes, this is a blog about vintage Singers, and yes, I LOVE them.  But this post is about a KENMORE sewing machine.

Let's face it, most Kenmores just don't have the same appeal as the classic Singers with the stylish features and catchy names like Featherweight!  Rocketeer!  Slant-O-Matic!  Golden Touch & Sew!

The well-built 158 Kenmores from the late-1950s- late-1970s numbered at more than ONE HUNDRED different models.  Dozens of different 158s appear identical unless you look closely - then you see some are super high shank, some are low shank.  Some are flat beds, some are free arms.  Some take cams, some don't.  Then there are different sets of cams from A-G which fit various models of the 158 machines.  It can make your head spin trying to sort it all out.

Well, not too long ago, I happened to acquire these C cams and low-shank Kenmore feet when I bought a lot of various sewing machine accessories. 

Well when this "bait" ended up in my sewing room, I knew it was only a matter of time until...

I found a machine to go with them!

Kenmore 158.1730

It didn't come in a cabinet, but that was okay, because just a few days later, in ANOTHER thrift store, I found a Kenmore cabinet for $12.00.  Yeah, I know it's not really attractive, but the price was right and it does the job.

The whole she-bang!

So what is so special about this Kenmore that sets it apart from the Singers?  It's just this:  it does reverse stitch patterns AND has all metal gears.  That is a combination, that doesn't exist in a Singer machine.

(There are vintage mechanical Singers that do reverse stitch patterns with Flexi-Disc cams, and those are the later models in the Touch & Sew line.  However, these machines have nylon gears and those gears, at 40-50 years old, are at the end of their life span.  They can theoretically be replaced but it's not an easy job, and may not even be worth the effort and expense - ask me how I know!) 

Deteriorated nylon gears from a later model Singer Touch & Sew

But evidently Kenmore was still making its 158 machines with metal gears a good decade after Singer had switched to nylon gears to save production costs.  So what I have here is the best of both worlds, and is - frankly - a treasure!  It is not only a low shank (a bonus, because I can use the vast collection of attachments I already have) but it takes the double C cams which make some pretty spectacular stitches.

For a vintage mechanical machine like this, these "reverse" stitch patterns are made by a double cam that moves the feed forward and reverse to make more complex stitches (single cam patterns, on the other hand, make a line of stitching in the forward direction only.) 

The machine has a few built-in reverse stitches, but with the cams I made a sampler of some of the other very cool stitches this old machine can make.

Here it is making a fish stitch, right below the Ducks in a Row and Flowers in a Pot

I want to point out that the blanket stitch (Cam #35 which is shown in blue, fourth from the bottom in the photo above) makes a pretty decent overcast stitch if you use it with an overcast foot as shown below:

It also works quite well with my Flower Stitch foot - better, in fact, than any of my Singers (the 338 I bought to use with it failed BIGLY.) 

The rest of the cams in the set are regular forward stitch patterns mostly identical to the ones you find in the older Singers.  

So here's how the Kenmore 158.1730 stacks up:

• Vertical oscillating hook, Class 15 bobbin
• Low shank (uses all the same feet as my low shank Singers!)
• 1.0 amp internal motor with a toothed belt
• Twin needles
• 6mm stitch width 
• 8 built-in stitches (four single cam, four double cam)
• Takes single and double C cams
• Feed dog drop 
• Extra high presser foot lift
• Presser foot pressure adjustment
• Marked throat plate on left AND right
• Built-in light is focused directly on sewing area
• Reversible straight stitch/zigzag needle plate 

This machine doesn't sew especially fast (about 800 spm) so if that's what you're after, keep looking.  However, I am VERY impressed with how well it handles at slow speeds.  You can do very slow stitching - literally one stitch at a time - for fine control, without losing any piercing power.  Impressive!