Join me in my happiness, please. I have wanted (but not needed) one, and yesterday on a whim stopped in the Singer shop to ask if they ever got any in. (I had been in there maybe 6-8 times over the past 10 years and never saw one.) Everybody was busy so I looked around and my eyes fell on 5 FWs sitting on the end of a table. (No tags or prices, maybe some collector brought them in for servicing?) When I asked if they were for sale, yes, just in. How much? He said $500 and he had some in the back for $300. $500 for a whim was a bit high, but I asked to see about one of the others. I am not a collector (tell that to DH). Turns out the serviceman said he had only one, and brought it out. Paint worn, not pretty like the $500 ones, but mechanically sound.
He said he would service it, put new wiring on the control, give me a manual (copied), extra needles and bobbins, and put it in a new case. So now I have a travelling machine and can use it at the vacation place since the old 646 died last summer.
Serial # starts with AG and one of the FW sites says that means made in 1940-41. I have sent the # to Singer to ask.
Jean M.
PS: I skipped the buttonholer; he wants $50. Figured I'd just keep my eyes open for one at thrift shops.