A quick tale of absolute serendipity…
I picked up an industrial treadle on Ebay this week for the magnificent sum of £5.50, which I will use to run the 96KSV7. It came with a resident but non-original head, an elderly Singer 16, and a box. The box has an opening lid, but it was locked and there was no key. My standard Singer keys didn’t fit, nor did the magic flatbladed screwdriver; a key that opens some of the tiny Saxonias, and also my china cabinet, nearly fitted & worked but didn’t quite. And there we stuck…
This morning I popped down to the Tip with a friend who does love a good Wombling session. We could see some old “keys” quite some way down in the Metals skip. She was searching for some weights to dangle from the end of a strip doorcurtain; old keys would be perfect. So, with permission, we rigged up a “hook” of some old copper piping and went “fishing” for the keys. With much giggling, we eventually hooked most of them out. But they’re not keys; they’re more like picklocks, possibly the tools of an old locksmith’s trade. And when we got home, the first one I tried opened the Singer 16’s case effortlessly.
That’s “Karma Shopping” as one friend calls it, at its finest!
A recycled lifestyle... 