WHEELER & WILSON No. 6
Leather Work, Tailoring and Heavy Manufacturing
From 1873 to ... by 1905 (?)
I have invented certain new and useful improvements in that class of sewing machines in which the loop of needle-thread is drawn out and passed over a bobbin by means of a revolving hook, some of which are also applicable for other purposes. These improvements have been made with a view of producing a sewing machine of the Wheeler & Wilson class or system which will sew leather and heavy fabrics as well as those of lighter make and will allow of the use of a bobbin holding much more lower thread than such bobbins now do, more thread, in fact, than can be wound upon the spools used in the shuttles of ordinary shuttle machines.
by James A. House (1872)
In 1873 the Wheeler & Wilson Manufacturing Company produced its first machine, with horizontal bed and overhanging arm attached thereto, using a needle-bar with perpendicular action and carrying a straight needle. Its vibratory arm was actuated by a cylinder-cam on the shaft under the table of the machine. This defective and cumbersome mechanism was not a success and was superseded by a rockshaft in the overhanging arm. This was again displaced by substituting the revolving shaft, as used in the original Singer machine and giving motion to the needle-bar and the upper thread " take-up " in the same manner as applied on the Singer machines at the present day.
NEW WHEELER & WILSON No. 6
Leather Work, Tailoring and Heavy Manufacturing
From 1873
My invention has been made with a view of producing a sewing machine of the Wheeler & Wilson type, more especially adapted to the sewing of leather and heavy fabrics and constitutes an improvement on the machine patented to me March 5, 1872, as US 124.360.
by James A. House (1873)
Progress in American Invention
It is announced that the Wheeler & Wilson Manufacturing Company has recently perfected and is now introducing, a new and meritorious sewing machine, the New Wheeler & Wilson No. 6, which is constructed on novel principles and seems destined to revolutionize the sewing machinery of manufactories. This seems to be one of the reasons why this company has received, at the World's Exposition in Vienna both the Grand Medal for Merit and the Grand Medal for Progress, since receiving the highest premiums at former World's Expositions and is the only sewing machine company recommended by the International Jury for the Grand Diploma of Honor.
It is also announced that the specimens of boots and shoes and other leather work that have taken the highest premium at the Vienna Exposition were stitched on Wheeler & Wilson's New Sewing Machine No. 5, which is adapted to a much wider range of work in leather and cloth than any other machine in existence.
The Manufacturer and Builder (September 1873)
No. 6 Machine $ 75
1876
Nos. 6 and 7 (A-B-C)
Devices for W&W No. 6
?
The object of my invention is to produce an attachment which will gather the upper of two pieces of fabric to be stitched, or the lower or first one and then the other or neither, as the operator requires.
by George H. Dimond (1877)
1878
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US 210.036 James A. House
My improvements are, in this instance, shown as adapted to the sewing machine Wheeler & Wilson No. 6, which is generally similar to the machines illustrated and described in Letters Patent US 124.360, dated March 5, 1872.
November 19, 1878
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No. 6 Machine £ 9 (1878)
The Wheeler & Wilson No. 6 is fitted with a rolling presser foot, suitable for leather work. As will be at once apparent, the plan of the machine is essentially different from that of the earlier forms, giving greater strength and perfection of work upon thick and heavy materials.
by J. W. Urquhart, C.E. (1881)
1882
The Shoe and Leather Reporter
The Wheeler and Wilson Manufacturing Company, Bridgeport, Connecticut, has long been one of the most thrifty corporations in the country and their business seems to keep on increasing; their Boston office is at No.594, Washington Street. We understand that nearly 2.500 of their machines are used by three or four rubber clothing companies and that many thousands of them are employed in shoe factories. The large demands for the W&W No. 6 and W&W No. 10 machines has necessitated the putting on of night gangs to keep up with the orders. The cylinder machine for sewing the seams of boot legs and the seam trimmer attachment have met, we learn, with great favor among boot and shoe manufacturers.
The Sewing Machine Gazette 1882
1887 c.
Wheeler & Wilson No. 6 Cylinder Machine
By 1894, the W&W Nos. 5, 7, 8 and 10 were no longer made, so customers would have been offered the No.1 (curved needle) and the New No. 4 for shirt manufacture; No.6; No.11 to special order with the Number 10 buttonhole version. All basic work could be covered by the No.9 and versions of the No.12.
by John Langdon (ISMACS)
Sources:
The Sewing Machine Gazette and Journal of Domestic Appliances
The Manufacturer and Builder