violetlass

I rescued my mom's treadle machine that I would assume she had gotten at the weekly small town auction. I don't know how much she paid but it was probably less than $50. After she passed away my Stepdad had to move and was down sizing. So instead of selling the gem my boyfriend and I decided we would keep it and possibly restore it. I do not know what happened to the plate with the serial number but the only number I could find on it was 28 with a 1 under it. The remaining slide also has 28 on the under side of it.
The only thing that I have or see a problem with is that the treadle arm rubs against itself in a horrible noise when high, and the peddle tends to not want to move unless I turn the wheel when the peddle is too far back or too far forward. (Is that normal?) Yesterday, when I was trying to figure out the parts the small wheel on the right of the machine is turning really hard, it feels like I have to pull it hard to get it to move, will greasing/oiling up the gears help to loosen it?
One of the things I need to make it work is a new belt as the old one was loose and broke in my hand as I tried to tighten it, was shredded. Waiting for the belt to ship from eBay, but will adding some leather softener to the belt help keep it from breaking again? The only other thing I need is a new key, I can find one on eBay for 10-20 dollars. Everything was locked except for one drawer, but lucky for me I had a screwdriver attachment with the proper triangle head that was a little smaller than the key but worked to open it all up.
The best thing I found through all of this was the abundance of parts hidden in the locked drawer that many people on this site wish they could have. I wouldn't think of parting with them but might be able to help people make them for themselves. I have heamers and binders in many sizes. Some of my parts even have dates from 1888 or so. I took pictures for those that might have a better idea, I will post the pictures as soon as I can get them downsized.