Originally Posted by
tropit
I know...there's a very long and detailed thread started by Glenn about the shellac finishes and it's fabulous. But, it was getting so long and I really want to focus on these paint finishes. So, here are my Qs.
Has anyone ever used asphaltum paint on their sewing machines? It's my understanding that this was the painted surface used on most, older, black SMs.
Are there special tricks to using this type of paint?
Did Singer stop using asphaltum paint at a certain year? I have a black FW that really looks like it's enameled and not asphaltum painted.
I'm thinking of completely stripping a SM and repainting it with enamel. Has anyone done this before? Tips, tricks, product suggestions are welcome. Maybe I should be using lacquer instead?
"Asphaltum paint" is called "Japan" or "Japanning". I started to investigate it two years ago and didn't get that far, mostly due to the smell. You can use the formula for Japan and use a pizza oven to cure it (or a regular oven if you're smell deaf). There's an e-book called "A Handbook on Japanning"
here
If I had to guess, I'd say that enamel replaced Japan around the time non-black machines started appearing. Maybe around 1930s?
Everyone uses enamel, because Japanning is hard to do and takes a long time.