This ol Black Beauty of a sewing machine followed me home...

[CamoDeafie]

Couldn't pass this up in a thrift store for $15!!!
Riccar 2925 School machine
All steel gears except the stitch pattern cam stack (nylon worm gear)
Class 15 front load bobbin and system
Low shank vertical needle; means easy foot replacement
Dual belt drive
.75-1.0 amp motor
Free arm

After I go through it with a brush and oil, I'll check how it does with basic nylon fabrics. A video I found seems to say it could sew through 3 layers of cowhide, 2 layers of protected full grain leather, whatever that is.. and 8 layers of Army canvas

Msrp in 1984-1985ish was $377.44.
Mechanically it is very similar to old Janomes, Kenmores, Whites... all of which were descendents of the venerable Singer 15-91 which I also have sitting in closet waiting for new grease.
If it works great, then it'll be either primary or backup to the grey Singer 4411 Heavy Duty I have. This machine has a few stitches that the 4411 doesn't have, which is useful for certain fabrics.

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[CountryGent]

Very neat old machine. 'gratz.

 

[CamoDeafie]

After a session of cleaning the dust and lint out of it.. man... so much dried oil, so much lint and dust... its a wonder it was still operating. I did a few tests with light to mid weight nylons (330D to 500D) and well. It wasn't stitching properly, and kept hanging up.. checked shuttle hook, checked bobbin, changed needle, checked thread tension... then finally took needle plate off and what do ya know.. the needle plate has serious gouges and nicks.. one so serious it produced a hanging chip.. not merely a burr, but a chip still attached so I ordered a replacement that apparently also fits Necchi 4575, 4795,4975 series.. looked those up, sure enough, basically identical machines except for color and some details. So until I get the new plate in, it'll be on standby while I continue to use the Singer 4411 Heavy Duty.