Originally Posted by
jennb
If your irons aren't in bad enough shape to need sandblasting, you can use a fine steel wool to scrub them down. I used that with a mixture of dawn (the blue kind) dish soap and warm water, then wiped them dry, and repainted mine with rustoleum appliance paint. They look brand new. I haven't reassembled them yet, waiting for the (consistent) warm weather to pull it out again and get working on them. I used this for one set of my Davis irons, which are not very ornate. I have 2 other sets of irons that are more decorative and will require a little more work. One singer set, and one National set. I'll do some close hand painting on those I'm sure to restore them as close to original as I can.
That sounds great, I've cleaned and oiled the rest of the machine - thanks to Muv's tutorial! Wow, what an amazing experience. The machine looks fantastic, and I don't think the irons are too rusty at all.
... stripping with all those intricate woodworking shapes on it may prove beyond my capabilities so I haven't decided what route to take on that one. I may have some fun with that one. I'm open to suggestions!
How about a heat gun and a small, flexible scraper?
As for magazines, I'll have to PM you with a list of some of my favorites.
Lovely! Thanks Jennb
