Steve, thank you for the cautions and information! I am so glad to have found someone who owns and uses this machine, and finds it to be a good stitcher. The mechanics of it are fascinating.
My husband, who works with antique brass microscopes, is dubious about spray shellac, and notes the difficulty of masking off all the working parts. He wonders if brushing on thinned shellac might be better. I'm thinking Glenn's method by hand, if it comes to it, might work on the more stable decals. It's going to be a case of trial and error, probably, to determine what will and will not work on different parts of the machine. Ones offered for sale are often missing most or all of the gold on the base, so possibly for some reason they are less well attached.
I have an equally old Sellers fiddlebase handcrank which came from the UK about 2 years ago. Lots of gold decorations, which tended to flake easily if touched. According to my notes, I applied a thin coat of sewing machine oil on the surface, gently, nothing else. Today that machine seems quite stable. The oil might have helped, or change to a much drier climate.
Needles. System 332, 29x3 SY 3741 according to information online, but the shaft on the size 120 Schmetz needles I purchased is thicker than the needle that came in the machine. It cannot slide by the shuttle. Will getting size 100 or 110 needles work, or have I got the wrong type altogether? The new needles look like the older one except for the thicker mid-section.
With care I have started polishing up the hand wheel and it is coming up nicely. Are there are problems removing the cloth plate? Do you tip your machine totally upside down, (as per manual from Needlebar) to oil the underside?
That's all for now.....many thanks,
Dianne