Originally Posted by kwendt
I've got some work ahead of me. My new-to-me 15-91 came home today. Do you know, I had to show the shop owner how to drop the feed dogs on the thing, she didn't think it could! I knew better, 'cause of this thread! She was amazed. In turn, she was very careful to show ME that the oscallating bobbin was fussy about when you pulled thread.
Her tip for the 15's: always always bring the needle take up lever/needle to the highest position, and bring the pressure foot up to the highest position FIRST before attempting to remove the work, pull on the threads or anything. It's fussy. And it will jam if you don't do this.
Anyway... I wiped down the outside of the cabinet with Industro clean (I'm stripping it tomorrow)... the rag came away BROWN with tar/old varnish. There's water damage to the top, some slight cracking of veneer.
The machine itself is dull, coated with nasty tar stuff. I'm going to dismantle the thing using Billly's tute, just to clean all the surfaces and such.
That cabinet though... I can strip the varnish off the legs, sides, and all the surfaces of the tops.... but its raw wood on the inner box, the inner pull out drawer, and the bent wood machine modesty panel. NOT varnish. So the smoke has got to the raw wood on those areas. So hum... Can I brush stripper onto the raw wood surfaces to remove the old nicotine? Then maybe coat all the inner/raw wood areas with Zinnzer primer to seal it? Stain, varnish and poly the outsides like normal.
Anybody have any advice on this? Any refinishers on here/ Baking soda and water will take out surface smells, but not remove the smoke and tar. I wish I wasn't so allergic to the stuff.
Maybe I should just good will the cabinet, and find another one... ???
Hi Kwendt, I restore antiques and have for years. Learned the trade in Germany when stationed there in Army. The best thing you can do on the raw wood with smoke and tar is to wipe down the surface with household ammonia(damp only) and do this twice. When dry coat the raw wood with clear or orange shellac from Lowes or Home Depot. You can also wipe down the wood with denatured alcohol which is better than ammonia. Use two thin coats of the shellac. I would recommend using shellac as the final finish on the outside of the cabinet. Most sewing machine cabinets that are fairly old all had shellac. You can tell what finish was used by rubbing a small spot with alcohol, if it desolves the finish then shellas was used, if not it is varnish. The shellac will block orders. I only finish my cabinets by stripping if needed then stain with a anline dye(water soluble). You can get in walnut and oak or any color you want. Then finish off with three coats of shellac. I hope this help and I will be glad to answer all your questions. Glenn