Caroline S

Grant, what can one do with a finish that is SEVERELY alligatored?
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This is a photo of my Davis NVF who spent many years in an old leaky barn. The only thing
that protected the head was the cabinet which is toast. But it was not protected from moisture
and freeze/thaw.

grant15clone

Unfortunately, There is not much you can do. A combination of waxing and oiling the really bad areas is about it. At least that I know of.
~G~

Caroline S

I will see what happens with waxing and oiling. If that does not work, I may try de-natured alcohol, I know, it will remove the alligatored gunk and silver the decals. But, the surface of the bed is so rough as to be unuseable. I may test my skills at touching up the remaining decals with antique gold paint. Nothing ventured, nothing gained at this point.

grant15clone

Another avenue to explore is to get it as clean as you can and varnish over the top of it. It would preserve the finish you have and give you a smooth surface to work on.
~G~

grant15clone

I wanted to share some pictures from my most recent project. This Queen Sewing Machine was brought to me to be cleaned up and sewing again. I was able to do both. Steve H made the slideplates for it and I think they look great. One was missing so a new pair was in order. This machine was in bad shape when I got it but it was worth saving. It sews a nice tight stitch again too. It was a lot of work and the clear varnish had oxidized so I couldn't scrub the painted surfaces too hard to get them all shiny without destroying the decals on it. I used SMO on cotton rounds and lightly wiped it, and wiped off the excess to clean it, repeating until it was clean. A little painstaking but I didn't have any real loss of the decals and it is preserved.
~G~

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mimiknoxtaylor

That is georgeous! I have an old treadle I just got & need to start working on when I have time. Love seeing what y'all have done.

SteveH

Well done! Very very nice! I particularly like how you clean down to the slot in the bolts/screws as well. lucky machine.

Rodney

I just finished reading this thread. A lot of very nice restorations here. It seems to me like old sewing machines are very similar to my old wood working machines. It takes a lot to kill them.
Rodney

SteveH

thought folks might get a kick out of this...

Cathy has a Gold Medal hand crank that had a main shaft(bolt) with bent threads. Her friend Pat has one with a broken bolt...

So..

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SteveH

then you have to fix the old bolt and determine the thread and diameter. In this case 5/16" diameter - 22 threads per inch (TPI) That is currently a BSF _British Standard Fine thread, so I ordered a Thread cutting die in that size from Ebay and the merchant sent me a more common 5/16-24..... and after and "politely" worded email they shipped me the correct hard to find one......

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Here is (Left to right) the Original, then the first homemade one with wrong thread die and then fixed with right die, and then on the right is the newest one made today at lunch with the right die first, not quite finished (Tonight is my Apprentices night and he was in a chatty mood)
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