Wow!!! I wish I knew you way back when I got my treadle!!!! Mine had been sitting in a breezeway for several years before I came across it..no protection from heat or cold, but at least it was out of the elements. I was only 16 when I got it. I took the whole thing apart..including the cabinet. I stripped the cabinet and refinished that, then played with the machine to get it going. It was very much trial and error for a teenage girl...but I enjoyed every minute of it.