Originally Posted by
Cogito
... It isn't very often I "meet" someone who is passionate about knowing the family history and wanting to keep these stories with the machine. I love it! I am a huge genealogy nut and I also collect many old/vintage items. I get some really strange reactions when I ask for the stories behind the item.
More than anything I love that you want to bring these machines back to their former glory AND you want to retain the original parts.
Thanks, I get the same surprised looks when I ask if I can have any info on the previous owner for my records.
Because every machine in my collection is 1901 and earlier, I feel that I am more of a "caretaker" rather than an "owner" so I feel a sense of responsibility to preserve what I can for the future.
I do not think of what I do and restoring or refinishing. I call what I do "de-neglecting" them. I try to only remove the neglect that they have accumulated over the decades...