Mrs. SewNSew

Cari? What are you talking about? It was a couple people on a Facebook group.

NapaJohn

Christy,

Click on the link in your first post and then read. He describes cleaning off the old varnish with alcohol: "Like a lot of sewing machines of the time, it was coated with some sort of varnish, probably linseed oil, that had discolored and generally made it look godawful. But a little isopropyl alcohol took care of that right off."

Mrs. SewNSew

Ah yes, ok thank you. I did read that and thought that was a little cray-cray.

ArchaicArcane

Grrr,.... a little reading before publishing that could have probably stopped a lot of people following his information and destroying their machines. I have a neighbor who had it in his head that he needed to remove the shellac from the machines to properly clean them. I told him the next time he told me he'd vandalized a machine like that I was going to bring my electric sander over and remove the clear coat from his truck so he could "properly clean it" too.

Jeanette Frantz

My gosh, I cannot believe no one who has a pea brain's worth of sense would use alcohol (either regular rubbing alcohol or denatured) to clean a vintage machine! I'd hazard a guess that his decals disappeared in the wind! Man, I can't believe he has the unmitigated brass to purport to KNOW about vintage machines! LOL!

Tammi, I like your analogy! He MAY (?) have knowledge about electricity, but he's so far off base as to the shellac coating, it makes me sick!

Jeanette

ArchaicArcane

Unfortunately a lot of people say they know more than they do about these machines and a lot are ruined in the process. I'm sure there are some who see what I do and shake their heads and say the same about me too though. A lot of it comes down to experience - what's personally happened to a person when trying to revive one of them.

It's the guessing as to what it is when a simple search would have turned it up that's bad. It's also reputation damaging so I won't say anything to him and let people chose what to believe.

A little electrical knowledge can be a very dangerous thing. The former owners of this house taught me that. It feels like every time I try to correct something they did wrong, the house tries to kill me!

Jeanette Frantz

Tammi,

That's why I ask so many questions! I do research, so I've read a lot of the threads on this forum, but the benefit of your expertise and that of the other members on this Board is invaluable! It is much appreciated!

Jeanette

Rodney

I just read that link. No after pictures of his cleaning with alcohol. i wonder why? No after pictures of his wiring repairs either.

I've rewired a couple of the cord blocks now. I used tiny screws and nuts to replace the rivets in one and IIRC one was soldered from the factory so I ended up soldering that one. I like Joe's idea of using pop rivets. Even though one of the originals was riveted it didn't occur to me to use aluminum pop rivets. It would have been far less fiddly than the little screws and washers I used. There's not a lot of room for extra fasteners in those blocks.

Tami's suggestion of using a mask and gloves is a good one (actually for cleaning any machine). I honestly don't believe those tiny washers are dangerous in the amounts we're likely to be working with. If it was every day or in large quantities it would be different but as an occasional thing I don't think they have enough dust on them to be a problem. The gloves and mask should be more than sufficient to protect yourself.
Rodney

Mrs. SewNSew

Well the cord block got re-wired with fresh new wires and soldered into place. It was working just fine last night. The back on the block was not original to it, but a good fit. I had to drill new holes to fit it back together. I didn't see any good choices so far as screws, nuts, bolts, so I poked split rivets in the back ad filled the little receiving cups inside with JB Weld. I clamped it well overnight and it's looking great this morning. The back is nice and secure and the block works like new. I'll have to look into the pop rivets.

I ordered up some phenolic washers to have on hand for the future. I don't see the point in taking apart every foot control I own but if I am in the process of dismantling things and I run into asbestos washers I would want to replace them. I would definitely use gloves and a face mask and clean up immediately afterwards.

mlmack

What exactly is he claiming is "filled with asbestos"? The whole sewing machine? The motor?