Vintage Supermatic
The Supermatic hasn't changed a whole lot over the years. The red and chrome machine was around for a lot of years before the relatively recent introduction of the blue/gray machine. Tim Aydt bought one of the older machines on eBay and was kind enough to provide pictures and the following writeup.
So, I purchased this vintage Premier Supermatic on eBay for about $23.00 including shipping. It came with a 400 count box of Premier King Size tubes, some missing, and a flyer advertising RYO and SYO products. The flyer talks about pre-mades being 25-30 cents a pack, so my guess is that the machine is circa 1950s.
The first things I noticed were that the bottom of the tobacco slot was rusty, the aluminum cutter was corroded, and someone had been prying on the tube length adjustment lever. I completely disassembled the machine and in the process found several differences between this one and my blue machine. Let me say that the design is exactly the same, the differences are in the individual components.
On the outside, the lever handle is one piece, chromed pot metal, with a wooden handle mounted on the end at a 45 degree angle, and an integral bolt that runs through the top of the machine. The diameter of the threaded portion, of the bolt, is about half of what it is on new machines. The only other outward difference is the tube release. Here I found a threaded piece that screws into the tube release arm, covered with rubber. The rubber was worn completely through and fell of as I unscrewed it.
When I flipped it over, I found the tube length adjustment has been slid beyond the edge of the metal and was stuck there. This accounts for the prying, evident on the front of the machine. This was easy to fix and I adjusted it so it could not happen again.
I removed the cutter and cleaned the tobacco slot with WD-40 and steel wool, cleaned the cutter with 600 grit sandpaper, and lightly sharpened the blades. The cutter itself is of slightly different design and fits in its run tighter than the cutter does in my new machine. I've noticed the very little tobacco makes it's way inside this machine.
Two other significant differences, the spoon arm is made of pot metal with the steel spoon cast into it, rather than a steel spoon crimped onto a nylon arm. This makes it very rigid for a smoother action when stuffing. Also, whereas the new machines have a piece of metal welded into place where the cutter linkage bolts to the frame, this one has two separate bars that act like washers to raise the pivot point off the surface of the frame. Upon reassembly I over tightened one of these bolts, I know it says finger tight, but it was stripped, and broke it. I swiped one from my blue machine so I could try it out, as you can see in the picture.
Even after all this, I still couldn't make cigarettes, because the tube release was missing the little rubber piece. After a quick search of my kitchen and then work bench, I happened upon some heat shrink tubing. Three layers of tubing brought it back to original size and the tubing has enough bite to work perfectly.
After getting it all back together, I played around with the tube length adjustment, something that I had been afraid to do with my blue one. I set it to king-size and adjusted it until it was releasing the tube as the spoon touched the filter, just like Dave said. I soon noticed that it didn't stuff 100s as well as my blue machine does, but the kings come out great. This is OK because, on my blue machine, the 100s come out great, but the kings don't stuff as well.
I'm still awaiting the delivery of another burgundy Premier Supermatic, that I bought on eBay, anticipating that a friend of mine will begin SYO. From the pictures of it, it appears to be identical to my blue machine, powder coated with the acorn nut on top of the handle. After it arrives, I'll check it out and then I will call CTC and order a couple of anti-scuff pads, replacement screws and bolts, for the one I broke, and any other parts this second one needs.
Just a couple of other things and then I'll shut up for now.
The only thing that I might consider a disappointment on this vintage machine, is that, due to the one piece construction of the handle, I can't modify it like Dave did his. I find that having the arc of the handle at the top of the machine, rather than the side, makes stuffing easier and less likely that I will apply any downward pressure on the handle. I would advise anyone who can to make that change.
A few highlights from the sales flyer that came with this machine:
Green River flake cut tobacco- for hand rolling, 12oz for 90 cents postpaid.
ROLLS EZ-EE tobacco- in Natural, Rum & Maple, Honey & Rum, or Menthol flavors. 8oz for 85 cents postpaid.
V-Master 5-at-a-time cigarette maker- papers are 1 1/4" x 14 1/8", (that's one long cigarette), rolls and cuts into 5 regular size of 4 king size.
$5.95 postpaid.
Plastic Cigarette Case- (just like the 2-part cases of today, only clear) 25 cents each postpaid.
Premier tubes- Cork tip with filter, king size, CRIMP JOINT, no glue, 40 cents a box of 100, postpaid.
and, of course,
The SUPERMATIC cigarette making machine, in beautiful chrome and black enamel finish. (Has anyone ever seen a black one? Maybe the copy typist was looking at a black and white photo.) $11.95 postpaid.
Comments [ new ]
- old red supermatic
- Posted by nick on Tuesday, 27-Mar-2007
i was just wondering about old red, can you still get parts for it? and any real diference to the blue when making a smoke quality wise. just as good???
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thanks in advance,
nick
- Re: old red supermatic
- Posted by scott johnson on Tuesday, 27-Mar-2007
Yes indeed. Arbro has parts for these machines. I would suggest calling them and telling them what you have (if you have an old model like mine) instead of ordering online.
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- Re: old red supermatic
- Posted by nick on Wednesday, 28-Mar-2007
thanks for the info :)
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- Original supermatic
- Posted by scott johnson on Wednesday, 17-Jan-2007
This looks like my machine. how far would this date back?
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- Re: Original supermatic
- Posted by scott johnson on Wednesday, 17-Jan-2007
I was just looking at the book that came with my supermatic. It's off white paper, reddish text and graphics. on the back is a picture of the Premier-Supermatic tray. I'm gonna need to scan this and post the picture of it.
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inside the book are 2 copies of a Montgomery ward credit application and order form. must be really old. Under Annual Income, it starts at $5000/yr and the highest category is $13000 and over. I'm thinking this must be maybe 1960's era???