Well, I am lucky enough to have a nice Singer 401-A, but I'd like a few more cams to expand the list of decorative stitches. I wonder if Vintage Singer cams are interchangeable. I found a box of accessories, including cams, for Singer 478. I tried to search on line but cannot find an answer to this question. I hope someone here can advise me. Thanks bunches.
Pat in Sunny Virginia
Sometimes I have seen that the size of the center hole is different. You might want to measure one of the cams you have and also measure the hole and compare the measurements to what you might find at a yard sale. I have a few extra cams. Barbara
I am not sure which type the 478 cams are. The 401 wants a black plastic/bakelite kind of cam. It isn't the flat type but the ones more dimensional. I think they refer to them as the top hat? (someone else can probably explain this better than me) The white ones are for newer machines. They won't work for your 401. I hopw I am not sounding too technical here. lol Where oh where is our Irene? She is the pro. Taria
I used to have a 401a. The 478 cams won't work. The 401 cams have a center collar, but the 478 cams are flat. I was able to buy some 401 cams on eBay a couple years ago for a good price. I see quite a lot of them on there now. Search 'Singer 401 cams'.
Hi Pat,
I belive that only 4 or 5 of the design stitches available on the cams are not built into the 401. The cams were mainly for the 'camless' model 403, which did not have the design camstack built in like the
401, so there's really no need to purcahse many cams outside of what came with the originall accessory box (if you have that).-Irene
I forgot to add, the 467 uses the flat black cams and the 401 the 'top hat' cams, which have a little raised portion in the center to make them easier to insert and remove.
The 401 is a joy to sew on!
-Irene
Thank you Irene and everyone who answered. I will play around with the 401 A a bit an learn more .... always a good idea and fun too! Pat
I have a 401 A also. But I've never used any of the cams. This was my grandmother's machine and my first sewing machine. Now that I have two Berninas, I have to admit that it hasn't seen much use for several years. I keep thinking one of my kids might want to have a usable sewing machine at some point and this would be a great one. It's in a nice desk type cabinet. KJ
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