My Mother's Treadle needs someone to love it
02-17-2014, 12:29 PM
#41
Super Member
Join Date: Jul 2013
Location: South Dakota
Posts: 8,145
A lot of new furniture is veneer over particle board, and that may be what some think of when they hear "veneer". Most of you expensive antique furniture is veneer - and it's a nice thickness and beautiful. Nothing like a nice bookmatched set on a table top.
Newer veneer can be paper thin, and real easy to sand right through if you don't know what you are doing. I've seen so many old furniture that someone tried to "refinish" with a cheap power sander and 80 grit paper.
Last time we were in the Twin Cities, we stopped at Rockler and picked up some quarter sawn oak - 48" long by 4-6" wide, sequence matched. Came in a 12 sq foot bundle.
My cabinet that I posted a picture of above needs the entire top veneer replaced. Other than that, the cabinet is in near perfect condition.
Newer veneer can be paper thin, and real easy to sand right through if you don't know what you are doing. I've seen so many old furniture that someone tried to "refinish" with a cheap power sander and 80 grit paper.
Last time we were in the Twin Cities, we stopped at Rockler and picked up some quarter sawn oak - 48" long by 4-6" wide, sequence matched. Came in a 12 sq foot bundle.
My cabinet that I posted a picture of above needs the entire top veneer replaced. Other than that, the cabinet is in near perfect condition.
02-17-2014, 01:53 PM
#43
Super Member
Join Date: Jul 2013
Location: Tri-Cities, WA
Posts: 1,063
Oops, just read the rest of the pages..oh, well, I've never refinished anything so would probably not be the best person to have the machine anyway. It just looks so much like the one my grandma had! Got a bad case of nostalgia. Ok, time to sew, not read!!
Margaret
Margaret
02-17-2014, 10:38 PM
#44
Super Member
Join Date: Oct 2013
Location: Centralia, WA, USA
Posts: 4,890
I started a new thread for the repair/restoration process. "Singer model 27 "Ella"" IIRC. It was yesterday and my short term memory is just sad.
A quick update here though. Ella is unloaded and in my shop. Macybaby is supplying the front panel for the missing drawer or possibly the whole thing if it works. Thank you Macybaby. A quick once over showed that the top of the lid has had enough damage over the years that replacing all the veneer on that surface is the best way to go. The back of the dress guard needs the top 4 inches of the back rebuilt. No surprises there. The damage is shown in Kayluvstoquilt's photos posted here, and the rest of the wood just has pretty much the normal wear and tear a 100 yr old piece of furniture would have. I hope I look that good at 100.
I won't be going for "fresh off the factory floor" new. I like antiques and the patina of honest use they have. It would be a shame to erase all the history of the machine. My goal is to reverse the damage caused by the neglect and abuse most things experience when they're no longer in use or style while leaving things like the wear on the bed of the machine and the pin marks on the working surfaces of the cabinet intact. They're the signs of honest use and belong there IMO.
Rodney
A quick update here though. Ella is unloaded and in my shop. Macybaby is supplying the front panel for the missing drawer or possibly the whole thing if it works. Thank you Macybaby. A quick once over showed that the top of the lid has had enough damage over the years that replacing all the veneer on that surface is the best way to go. The back of the dress guard needs the top 4 inches of the back rebuilt. No surprises there. The damage is shown in Kayluvstoquilt's photos posted here, and the rest of the wood just has pretty much the normal wear and tear a 100 yr old piece of furniture would have. I hope I look that good at 100.
I won't be going for "fresh off the factory floor" new. I like antiques and the patina of honest use they have. It would be a shame to erase all the history of the machine. My goal is to reverse the damage caused by the neglect and abuse most things experience when they're no longer in use or style while leaving things like the wear on the bed of the machine and the pin marks on the working surfaces of the cabinet intact. They're the signs of honest use and belong there IMO.
Rodney
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