Husqvarna 6570 (Ruby)

In 1979 Ruby was the last mechanical sewing machine manufactured by Husqvarna.  She was the top of the line and retailed for $1200 USD. 

In February 2010 I bought her online from a person in Montreal (as a birthday present to me) based on only one very poor photograph.  Ruby has eight plastic cams that fit into a shaft on her backside to make fancy decorative and utility stitches.

When she arrived here, one of her eight cams was broken and another was missing.  There were no accessories or manual.  The worse part was that after I cleaned her up she would not sew.  The transmission that drives the needlebar was worn out.  I could not find anyone in Brandon to fix her so I packed her up and shipped her to the Dominion Sewing Centre in Sudbury, Ontario.  I just got her back a few weeks ago.  

Dominion Sewing rebuilt the transmission, replaced the entire top tension mechanism, fixed the buttonholer, the needle up/down feature,  replaced the bottom screws that hold the motor and plug outlet in place and replaced the right side panel where the light switch and bobbin winder are.  After all this work Ruby was shipped back to me as good as new.

I purchased all the accessories and missing/broken cams from Dominion Sewing as well.  I have only sewn a few test scraps with her, but I sure do like looking at her.  She is red after all.  How many folks have a lovely red sewing machine to admire? 

I bought an electronic copy of the manual on-line and printed it.

Ruby also has an extension table.

The light is designed to be pulled down for finer work or to replace the bulb.  She also has a 5th gear, by pulling out the plastic nob behind the bobbin winder the machine will sew at 1/5th its usual speed with full piercing power for heavy duty fabrics or precise fine work.

 

This is a small scrap sample of  a few of Ruby's stitches. 

For more vintage treasures please visit Colorado Lady's blog.