Railroadersbrat

I think I'm still in shock that he found this machine, even though I know better. When we first got together and before he moved in with me, my fridge unexpectedly went out on me. I made casual mention on the phone that it had gone out, he asked what kind of fridge I liked and before the end of the day, he showed up in my front yard with not just one, but two. Anything I've ever put him on, he finds, but then he finds multiples. After he dropped off this machine, he went back over to our friend's to help one of her neighbors, he's since found two more antiques (a Class-99 and a Class 101) and a 403A. I've been cruising all over ISMACS website for two days looking into those ladies and then he dropped the 403A on me this afternoon. The antiques will stay where they are for now, one of them was sadly involved in a fire and most of her clear coating and decals are gone, though I did manage to find out it's the Knots & Rectangles design and it looks like in a couple of locations, the paint has completely peeled away from the metal. She's in pretty bad shape but when he turned the hand wheel, the needle moved up and down and the feed dogs moved, too. I told him that's a restoration we can't get into, we just don't have the capability to strip the body completely down and repaint it. She's in a treadle, the foot plate was damaged by the fire, I think most of her damage was caused by heat and smoke because her cabinet is just black in a lot of locations. I told him to start chatting up the possibility of selling her to someone who can do a full restoration on her. Given what she's been through, she deserves it.

My view has always been, these antiques were built to last through the ages and people tend to forget that. I've seen videos on machines that were far more damaged come back to life. As long as the hand wheel turns and the feed dogs move, there's life left in these old girls, they just need someone to give them some good TLC. So when I see or hear someone tell me they've given one over to a scrap guy, my blood just boils and my heart shatters into a million pieces. I can't tell you how many times I've actually cried when I hear of an antique machine that's just been tossed in the trash. People just don't understand how incredibly special these beautiful ladies are. I have two electronic machines and a vintage that takes cams, but once I get my lady cleaned and purring like a kitten, 99% of my sewing will be with her. You cannot beat the craftsmanship of these antiques and nothing that will come in the future will ever match it.