Quote from companion thread
My Mother's Treadle needs someone to love it
Originally Posted by
Rodney
...A quick update here... Ella is unloaded and in my shop....I won't be going for "fresh off the factory floor" new. I like antiques and the patina of honest use they have. It would be a shame to erase all the history of the machine......leaving things like the wear on the bed of the machine and the pin marks on the working surfaces of the cabinet intact. They're the signs of honest use and belong there IMO.
Rodney
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