Freaky_Quilts_Dragon

What on it moves? Can you turn the hand wheel, and if so does it turn the drive shaft? If so DON'T turn it much, the rust will just grind against the metal, but it does mean you can hit it with strait oil and not a penetrating oil like PB Blaster or WD-40 (I know some decry WD-40 because it can harm decals, but it's great on reeeealy stuck machines. If you use it just be very careful to keep it on the insides.) If the mechanics just won't budge, hit it with PB Blaster everywhere moving parts touch and let it sit for a while, and try again later. If after several tries it still won't move, take off what you can to make it easier and keep trying. Remember what Captain Dick Treadle wrote, if you can get it to move even a fraction of an inch you are winning!

I recommend using cotton cloth to clean it rather than cotton pads or balls as the strands on pads stick to rusty metal like velcro. Old t-shirts work great. Wood or bamboo toothpicks are great for scraping gunk out of tight places. Really, really avoid using metal pins as they scratch the metal. I admit to using them on occasion to get some stubborn crud out of tight corners, but never on the mechanical joints or gears!

Also, if you know a screw is there but you can't see it well, clean the slot out well before you try to turn it. I stripped the slots on two important screws because they where too packed with crud to get enough grip with the screwdriver. Few things suck more than getting a stripped screw out! Don't be afraid to push strait down HARD to keep the screw in the slot while you turn, it keeps the screwdriver from sipping and stripping the screw or scratching the paint. Also, tapping stubborn screws with a hammer against the end of the screwdriver can work like magic!

To use Evaporust, make sure to take apart each and every part and really scrub them with a brush, detergent, and water and rinse well. You have to get all that oil you just put on out of the rust or the Evaporust can't get at it. Check the parts after about 4 hours and every 1-2 hours after that, J Miller is very right about not soaking them too long because the carbon in the steel can settle back into the metal and leave ugly black marks you have to grind off to get rid of. No as important for things that stay inside the body, but good to know for things like the feet and needle bar.