I'm still messing with the Singer 15. I "think" it's a 15-30. I'm not 100% sure though. Olivia and I just cleaned and oiled the treadle irons and put another coat of shellac on the top this morning. I would like to put more on. We'll see how it goes. It's been hot most of the week. Today now that I would actually welcome some warmer weather to cure the shellac faster it's cooler and overcast. The machine itself is as ready as I can make it. The finish is far from perfect. It spent years in less than ideal storage conditions. I spent a bunch of time just cleaning petrified mouse poop and rust off it. The rust was probably caused by the mice peeing on it too. Yuck. There's a bunch of japanning missing around the base of the pillar and a few other random rust spots plus some silvering on the decals on the back side. I suspect it's more mouse damage. I cleaned up the rust as well as I could. I debated on it for a while and decided to leave it as it is. It would probably be worse if I tried to touch it up somehow. I also didn't want to erase it's character. The machine is going back to the family of the original owner.
The inspection plate is badly pitted on both sides. I turned the worst side in. I completely disassembled the nose and polished the plated parts as best as I could. There are some deep pits that are just going to stay. The same with the spool pins. They're far from perfect but at least they're not rust from top to bottom now. You don't have to worry about tetanus just from touching them.
In spite of all the cosmetic damage and the fact that it was frozen solid when I started a week ago it makes a really nice stitch and turns over easily.
I should be able to finish assembling it this afternoon.
I really like the machine-warts and all-and I hope the original owner's grand daughter likes it too.
Rodney