BAL-AMi Jukeboxes were manufactured in the UK from 1953 to 1962 by the Balfour (Marine) Engineering Company, mostly being derivatives of those made by the American AMi (Automatic Musical Instrument) jukebox company.[1]
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1958 Bal-AMi I200M SOLD Superb restored Bal-AMi 200 selection model I. Looking and sounding fabulous. Ready to Rock this classic British assembled AMi has just been fully restored, the M stands for manual selection where the red wheel is spun to the record selection making it significantly quicker to select and more reliable than the push. Home The Singer Sewing Machine CompanySinger Manuals. These manuals are scans taken from original Singer manuals that have been converted to Adobe PDF format for viewing/printing. Some of the original manuals are nearly 100 pages and the resulting files can be rather large, even when compressed into PDFs. View and Download Amigo RT Express operational manual online. REAR DRIVE PRODUCTS. RT Express scooter pdf manual download. Also for: Hd450, Rt express junior, Rd, Ext350. Read about ASIMO by Honda, the world's most advanced humanoid robot, as well as other robotics technology by ASIMO Innovations.
History[edit]
In the years following World War II, import restrictions were in place in the UK thus preventing many types of goods from being sold unless they had a certain percentage of locally manufactured content. One such example was the record playing jukebox, which were almost exclusively made in the United States at that time.
In order for any of these jukeboxes to be allowed to be sold in the UK, at least 53% of their content had to be manufactured locally. Recognising an opportunity, a London-based businessman, Sam Norman, engaged with John Haddock of the AMi jukebox corporation. An agreement was reached in 1953 for Norman's company, Balfour (Marine) Engineering, to manufacture AMi jukeboxes at the Balfour factory in Ilford, Essex, under licence from AMi.[2]
During the following ten years Balfour produced jukeboxes which were mostly identical to their AMi counterparts, aside from their internal electrical systems and amplifiers. The electrics were to UK specifications, and the amplifiers were generally provided by Beam-Echo. From 1955 onwards, these jukeboxes were distributed under the name of BAL-AMi.
To address the needs of some smaller venues such as coffee bars, BAL-AMi also manufactured some machines unique to the UK and holding just twenty records (giving forty selections allowing for two sides per disc).
Models[edit]
| Model | Year of Introduction | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| D and E | 1953 | Badged as AMi with some UK made parts |
| F | 1954 | Mostly badged as AMi |
| G | 1955 | First jukeboxes with the BAL-AMi badge |
| Junior | 1956 | First jukebox unique to BAL-AMi, made for smaller locations |
| Super 40 | 1957 | Designed and manufactured exclusively by BAL-AMi for smaller coffee bar locations |
| I | 1958 | Mostly the I200M (manual select) variant |
| Super 40 Deluxe | 1959 | Designed and manufactured exclusively by BAL-AMi for smaller coffee bar locations |
| J | 1959 | Identical to USA AMi model J with UK-spec electrics and amplifier |
| K | 1960 | Identical to USA AMi model K with UK-spec electrics and amplifier |
| Super 100 | 1960 | Designed and manufactured exclusively by BAL-AMi using some parts from the AMi model H |
| New Yorker | 1962 | Designed and manufactured exclusively by BAL-AMi using some parts from the AMi model K |
End of Jukebox Production[edit]
Sam Norman died of leukaemia in 1962 at the age of 47. BAL-AMi made their final model, the New Yorker, that same year. The Balfour company continued operations in other areas such as aircraft parts for the rest of the 1960s.[3]
References[edit]
- ^BAL-AMi Jukeboxes
- ^A series of articles written in 1992 by Tony Holmes for the jukebox enthusiasts' magazine Jukebox Journal
- ^Recollections provided to the BAL-AMi web site by former employees
External links[edit]
- BAL-AMi Jukeboxes Home of the British-made BAL-AMi jukeboxes
- Jukebox-Archive: BAL-AMI
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These manuals are scans taken from original Singer manuals that have been converted to Adobe PDF format for viewing/printing. Some of the original manuals are nearly 100 pages and the resulting files can be rather large, even when compressed into PDFs.
Bal Ami Junior Manual User
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Bal Ami Junior Manual Download
- 12K (3 MB)
- Singer 12K 'New Family', Instructions for using machine and attachments (Form K2); 12pp.
- 15-30 / 15-87 & generic 15 class machines (617K)
- 15-30 / 15-87 & generic 15 class machines
- rotated for printing(617K) - 15-90 (5MB)
- Reversible Feed, Oscillating Shuttle, For Family Use. Here is a high-res manual: 15-90 (50MB) Manuals provided by John Merritt.
- 15-91 (5.3 MB)
- 115 (4.5 MB)
- 'Instructions for using Singer Sewing Machine No. 115
- lock stitch, for family use' Form 8255, May 1915 (32pp). - 127 & 128 (2.7 MB)
- 192 Spartan (900 KB)
- Instructions for Singer's budget model (Form K6349), 4 pages.
For more detailed instructions, see literature for the 99 (to
which it is very similar). - 201 (6.2 MB)
- 221K Featherweight (1.1 MB)
- The bare-necessities Featherweight manual.
- 221K Featherweight (10 MB)
- Instructions for using Singer Portable Electric Sewing Machine No. 221K, Rotary Hook, Reverse Feed, for family use, plus 'Instructions for using attachments etc. which may be purchased separately' - this includes: the feed cover plate (for darning) and embroidery. Dated November 1951 (Form no. K5710).
- 221-1 Featherweight (9 MB)
- 'Instructions for using Singer Portable Electric Sewing Machine 221-1 (Lockstitch, for family use with foot control). Form No. 19657.' Undated. It would have been originally supplied with American machines.
- 222K Free-arm Featherweight (12 MB)
- Dated November 1955 (Form K5969). Including how to use the attachments. 96pp.
- 301 (5.7 MB)
- 319K (16 MB)
- Instructions for using the Singer 319K automatic swing needle sewing machine (1957 - 108 pages). Before computerisation, embroidery stitches had to be achieved mechanically. This zigzag machine has a set of levers on the top which, in combination with the 30 supplied fashion discs (flat cams), manipulate the byte of the needle to form dozens of decorative stitches. There was a free-arm version (320K) and together they represent probably the last of Singer's rugged, 'all-metal' domestics.
- 327 (4.7 MB)
- Instructions for using the Singer 327 Sewing Machine. 32 pages.
- 401 (14 MB)
- Singer 401 'Slant-o-matic' zig-zag sewing machine - instructions for use; Form No. 4101; dated 1960. Slant needle machine using 'Special Discs' for decorative stitching. For electric or treadle use. Announced as 'the world's first automatic with a slant needle and gear drive...'. (96 pages)
- 404 (3.8 MB)
- 411G (5.3 MB)
- 'World's first automatic that produces not only the conventional lock stitch, but also a single thread chain stitch which can be used for basting seams . . . ' -manual courtesy Bill Holman of the Vintage Stitchers Family of Groups
- 431 (7.9 MB)
- 503 (9.1 MB)
- 66 (5.6 MB)
- From 1929
- 66-18 (13 MB)
- For using the Singer Electric Sewing Machine 66-18. (Provided by Jens Parks in honor of his mother.)
- Vibrating Shuttle (9 MB)
- For the Singer Vibrating Shuttle (VS) machine and its attachments, supplied by the Kilbowie factory; Form No. 1443; dated 1891 See Singer Vibrating Shuttle #1
Attachments & Accessories:
- Blind Stitch Attachment (4.6 MB)
- Singer 'Famous' Buttonholer Models C and D (1.3 MB)
- Manual and Parts List courtesy of David Jones
- Lowshank Buttonholer Model 160743 (2.3 MB)
- Buttonhole Attachment Model 121795 (4.6 MB)
- Singer Buttonhole Attachment for Lockstitch Family Sewing Machines (Provided by Jens Parks in honor of his mother.)
- Buttonhole Attachment Model 121795 (1.2 MB)
- Older, poorer quality scan of the above.
- Professional Model Buttonholer (1.5 MB)
- Edgestitcher (2 MB)
- The Edge-stitcher: Singer attachment instructions; 4pp; 1916.
- Even-Feed / Walking Foot (7.2 MB)
- In two languages!
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- 'Directions for using The Singer Manuf. Co.'s 1888 (Foot-bar) Set of Attachments' for the Improved Family and VS2 machines. It's a manual for the first puzzle box (which was patented in 1889); this is dated 1889. The ruffler and tucker are very early styles (patented 1888).
- Needle Threader (153 K)
- Singercraft Guide Number 2 (1.4 MB)
- Zig-Zagger (3.8 MB)
Reference Works:
- Singer's Sewing Skills Reference Book (28 MB)
- Singer's Reference Book for Sewing Skills. Information on your machine, its attachments, and how to use them. (Provided by Jens Parks in honor of his mother.)
Wiring:
- Wiring (402 K)
- Contains Featherweight-specific, and generic, wiring diagrams
Bal Ami Junior Manual Typewriter
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