I thought I’d share some pics of this Singer 45B8BT I picked up on eBay with a cheeky offer of £260, and how it transitioned into a Seiko TH-8B.
As far as I can tell, Singer never made this extra heavy-duty walking foot machine. It was contract-manufactured by Seiko Japan to a Singer design. Then Singer hit upon hard times and Seiko bought the rights. The machine is still sold today as a Seiko TH-8B. It’s used for sewing extra heavy-weight materials such as canvas, vinyl, leather, synthetics and various coated, laminated and rubberised fabrics.
I prefer the more modern look of the Seiko, so I decided to use similar colours for my restoration. Apart from looking a little rough around the edges, there wasn’t much wrong with the machine. It had been stood for a long time and needed a new thread take-up spring. I also swapped out the old clutch motor for a new Kinedyne servo motor, which offers much better low-speed control.
First step was to strip the machine down ready for spraying. The sewing head is cast iron and weighs around 80 kg, so it’s a two-man lift!
Next step was spraying. I used a two-part paint with epoxy hardener for maximum durability.
I resprayed the table top white, plus a few coats of lacquer, and added hardwood edge trim I ripped down from one of my daughter’s old beds.
Really pleased with the result!
Glynn