ThayerRags

Quote from companion thread My Mother's Treadle needs someone to love it

I agree with maintaining the scars that these old machines end up with. It shows the history of the machine in my opinion, whether from use or abuse, and should be considered a valuable part of the machine. It’s part of their history.

I don’t care for wood work, so I’ve not ever re-done a wood cabinet, but I’ve re-painted a few metal stands, due to rust or simply to change the color of one. I re-painted a brown Singer straight-leg treadle black because the brown paint was peeling off from being stored in a wet area. I think machines and cabinets should be restored to good physical condition, mainly for their own protection from further damage, but stop at that point.

For example, I have a couple of Singer Series 29 treadle stands, and re-painted one black and replaced the gold accent on the logos. It looks nice, but it also looks “modified”, and I know that I covered up some history. The other stand is an ugly dark green color, much of it worn off to bare metal, and I’ve thought about re-painting it, but I can’t bring myself to do it. When I look at the black machine on the worn green treadle stand, I wonder when and how those two got together, and under what circumstances. I also see life’s struggles, for both the stand and the people who were associated with it through time. That looks real to me, and I like that.

CD in Oklahoma

amcatanzaro

I do this and I pay a lot of money for better eyesight. It doesn't seem to help though.

Rodney

Macybaby has been helping me a lot with answering questions about the drawer and how it should fit via PM. Frankly, many times she's given me valuable information without me asking or knowing which questions to ask. She's been a huge help to me. It would be much harder to get things right without her knowledge.

I've learned that although the cabinets may look the same Singer made at least a couple sizes and at least a few variations on how the center drawer fits. If you find yourself looking for replacements take careful measurements, look at how things go together and if you're buying long distance be sure to ask the seller to do the same. I would never have known this except thru the hard way without Macybaby's help. This morning I woke up to 3 messages with pictures she found of the drawer guides and an explanation of where to measure for the fit.

Thank you Macybaby.
Rodney

Rodney

I've finally started on this machine now that I found a donor treadle for the drawer. I'll post some pictures later today on my progress in hopes that it helps others with restoring their machines. So far it's not a lot.

It's a little early to worry about it but I do have a question. Do the moving parts on the treadle get oil or grease instead? I suspect oil but want to be sure. I've started taking it apart so I can repair the pitman arm and it's bone dry. The pitman arm is missing some wood from the bottom and has a very old repair. I'm splicing in some new wood but will also leave the repair plate in place. It was a good repair done with materials at hand a long time ago and it seems a shame to just toss it. I actually have a good arm from the parts treadle but want to do things the hard way instead.
Rodney

Rodney

The start of the repair process. First off I'm starting repairs to the "new" drawer. It's simple. Work wood glue into the cracks where the veneer and applique are separating. It can take a while especially if you have a limited amount of clamps. Glue it up and find something else to do for the rest of the day while the glue dries. Repeat as needed until it's glued back together.
The first couple pictures are some of the damage wanting to be repaired.
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Forcing the glue in. I pried out the loose veneer gently, squirted in some glue and worked it in as much as I could with some thin cardboard.
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Clamp it and wipe off the excess. There's actually a few repairs being glued and clamped here. Some of the applique was lifting off too.
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Next up is the broken Pitman arm. This repair is a little more challenging.
The old repair. It was covered with old cloth friction tape when I was given the machine. Not bad as far as repairs go.
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The damage.
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The first step after looking it over is to trim back to good wood. You can't just cut off the end. End grain repairs are weak. This is what's left after trimming.
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I don't know the species of wood used in the original arm. I have some maple that I decided would work for the replacement wood. I found it easier to make two patches to glue to the arm to re-create the end.
Glued and clamped.
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I'll continue tomorrow. It's been hot and muggy the last few days. I do a little in the morning then do my best to hide from the heat the rest of the day. I'm not getting much done.
Rodney

kayluvs2quilt

Rodney...thank you for starting this thread and for letting me see the process as you work on my mother's machine. This is absolutely fascinating. Looks like 'Ella' has found a really good home.

Blessings to you - Kay

Rodney

I'm happy you think so. I'll do my best to live up to it. Someone-most likely one of your relatives-made the repair to the pitman arm many years ago. It's not my intent to get rid of it. I'm going to replace the missing wood and re-install the metal piece that was used originally. That will give the wood some additional strength. The end of the pitman arm is also missing some hardware that originally kept everything together. The metal patch will also work as a substitute for those pieces. I am very impressed with the engineering in Singer's treadles. The old designers came up with some really elegant ways of doing things.
I hope you're doing well.
Rodney

SteveH

very nice, I will be watching this thread...

Rodney

Not much to show today. I took the clamps off and shaped the pitman arm using a file and sandpaper to match what the original would have been as closely as I was able.
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I drilled the end to match the original keyhole shape as close as possible along with the hole thru the end so it is capable of accepting the Singer hardware. I expect the repair to be as strong as the original wood. The wood itself will fail before a joint made with modern wood glues. I still need to find some appropriate stain so it blends in with the rest of the arm.
Rodney

singerguy

nice work Mr. Rodney.