Mrs. SewNSew

Hubby and I re-arranged the garage on the weekend so I could get to some of the tables inside and get a better idea of what I am dealing with. I pulled one aside today to sell to the "shabby" people. The back legs have been chewed by a dog and the finish is shot. I stripped out some of the sewing machine installation hardware as JIC back-up replacement parts. I doubt the next owner will need it.

Then I tried Glenn's cleaning recipe for the new desk I just brought in. The ingredients made me nervous so I erred on the extra cautious side. It appears I didn't need to and I will be more thorough next time. It really did a great job cleaning some of the worst gunky crud and the surface is smooth to the touch now. It's not like a complete re-finish since it still retains it's "character". It has a few scars it's picked up over time but it's clean. Next I need to clean the cradle and replace the felt. The desk will hold a 301.

Wouldn't it be cool if all machines could just trade in and out of a cradle? Easy in, easy out.

ThayerRags

I’m doing one of my favorite parts of sewing machine rehabilitation this afternoon. I’m watching the rusted parts from my Singer 115 soak in a vinegar/salt solution to loosen up the rust. It’s a tough job, but somebody’s gotta do it. By the looks of those parts, I may be tied up for 2....maybe 3 days at least!

CD in Oklahoma

Rodney

Vinegar, salt, and hydrogen peroxide makes a nice rust bluing solution. Practice on something you don't care about first though.
I have a really rusty earlier model 15 I'm going to restore. I may try the vinegar rust removal method on that.
Rodney

miriam

I use citric acid to get rid of the rust

ThayerRags

I’m slowly but surely getting some of the rust soaked off of the Singer 115 that I’ll be fiddling with most of the winter probably. Steve was right. It’s going to take some work to get this one even operating, much less “pretty”.

The rust on the silver pieces has pitted the finish pretty bad, so it may never look very good again, but I won’t mind this machine being just an old “beater” as long as it sews well. The presser bar adjuster nut is still frozen onto the presser bar, so I still have it in the drink. You can see a little fizzing where it’s at in the pan, so I’m still getting some chemical action. The upper tension assembly is in there with it where I’m trying to get as much rust out of the thumb nut threads as I can before I force it too much.

The body of the machine is still locked up hard and fast, but I’m going to just keep the shafts and bearings wet with sewing machine oil for a few more weeks before I start in with the penetrating oil, heat, and physical force. There will be plenty of time for that later on, and I’ve been amazed on other machines at how well the oil can limber things up if given plenty of time.

CD in Oklahoma

miriam

I fiddled with a Singer 328 - it sure didn't have anything wrong with it. Then I test sewed. It was great - quiet, too. Then I looked in the box of attachments. There was the bill of sale. I don't think it is a 'used' machine at all... Pretty cool machine.

Mrs. SewNSew

Yesterday, I fiddled with a Singer 301. I am constantly amazed how a machine that at first glance is just a little dirty can take me hours and hours to clean. (Yesterday was day two) After full clean and oil the wheel was turning freely but there was a real ruckus coming from the bobbin area. At first it was noisy and it felt like something catching. I checked for bit of thread, any areas that could be hitting, rubbing and rough spots. I found one rough place and used a rat tail file to carefully smooth it out but it shouldn't have been in an area that would cause rough running. More likely to be an area where it would grab a bit of thread if it got the chance!

Oiling seemed to help it smooth out some, but not enough. The spring holders under the bobbin plate were pretty gunked up and had to be cleaned with a toothpick, speck by speck.

I had to remove the parts and clean and re-clean the whole bobbin area at least 20 times. It's amazing I never dropped the teeny tiny jib screw.

I took about the rusted tension piece for the bobbin winder and dropped it in Evaporust overnight and got it back together this morning.

I don't know whether it was the cleaning, the filing, the oiling or the messing with the springs but it is now purring like a kitten and ready for a coat of wax today.

sdhaevrsi

It is fun to see and read about the machines and processes going on at the various work areas.

ThayerRags

The wife and I took a little road trip today and picked up a 1952 Singer 301-1 (the dash1 is a shortbed, a dash2 is a longbed). It has the dual cord setup and all of its parts, plus it is setting in a 301 cabinet cradle. It doesn’t have the front clips, but I have some to make the cradle complete.

It’s my second 1952 black 301-1, and I haven’t even fiddled with my first one, so now I’ll have to fiddle with both of them to see which one that I want to keep, and which one needs a new home. I also have a 1952 black 301-2 (long bed) to go with them that I haven’t ever fiddled with either. My wife took my 1956 LBOW 301A to use for her machine, so before now, when I wanted to use a 301, I just used mine ours hers and hadn’t limbered up any of the others.

CD in Oklahoma

Cari-in-Oly

Nice one CD. I picked up one like this a few weeks ago in a #40 cabinet. I think mine is a Friday or Monday machine because the decal along the front of the bed isn't perfectly straight, it has the slightest bow to it right about below the accessory screw holes. According to this website- http://www.singer301.com/limited/default.html mine is one of the special ones as the serial # is right in the middle of the first 10,000.

Cari