soman2

Hello all,

A friend asked if I cold fix his great-grandmothers rocking chair. She died in 1941 and the chair was found hanging on the wall of his great-aunt's barn. He said that all but 2 of his g-grandmother's pictures shows her sitting in that chair. He goes to estate sales and recently purchased a Kenmore #158.14001 for $35. Knowing nothing about sewing he asked me to look at it for him. The machine was in excellent shape, but the stitch length knob would not budge and showed signs of pliers being used on the plastic knob. He offered me a deal, try repairing to preserve the chair and in return I could have the Kenmore. I had to fabricate the center piece of the back and fix a few cracks. My goal was to preserve not total restoration of what was there. Deal or no deal-.

Soman2

The other Rodney

Rodney

Your friend got a great deal. Very nice job bringing that chair back to life.
Rodney

quiltjoey

You did a beautiful job on the chair. Glad you could restore it! Do know much about the Kenmore however. I do have one in a cabinet that I bought new in the late 60's… I'm sure with your woodworking skills, you'll have as much success with the Kenmore.

J Miller

T o Rodney,

You did a great job on that rocking chair. Did you get a pic of the seat? I'd love to see the completed repairs.

As for the swing machine, I'd float it in Tri-Flow and work on it. But I don't think I'd worry about it if it wont cooperate. Fixing a family heirloom for a friend would make me happy.

Joe

Macybaby

If you are looking at an equitable trade, I don't think you have one - what you are doing for the chair is worth way more than that machine.

However if you are doing it only as good deed and favor, then getting the machine is great!

soman2

The seat was not there, but he thinks it was cane. If he elects to go further, which I doubt, I will work with him. I removed the stitch length assy. and there was no rust, just as Rodney(Centralia)said, neglect the oil and guess what happens?? I had to press the metal pieces apart. After a thorough cleaning and tri-flow on all metal parts, she sews like new . The machine shows sign of very little use and the damage to the knob shows that whoever tried to fix it decided to let it be and probably relegated it to the closet

Rodney

KLO

I don't know if you got a good deal but you are a good person for doing what you did! I have my grandmother's little rocker that looks very similar to the one you show except that the top horizontal rail is straight, not curved and the front legs are lathe turned so the chair is more "country" than elegantly formal. I think these chairs might have been called sewing chairs but I could be very wrong. (edited: Just googled "sewing rocker" and yes, that appears to be what they are. They are sometimes refered to as nursing chairs too!) And yes, mine did originally have a caned seat. In fact, I think that is why that groove goes around the seat hole. It's where the cane spline gets hammered in to keep the seat in tension so to speak once the already woven cane is laid out as a whole piece on the seat. Back on topic, what a great job you did on that machine! Well worth it to bring another one back to life instead of it ending up in the dump!

Mrs. SewNSew

Nice job on the chair! I bet your friend will be well pleased. The sewing machine is earned in my opinion, but i bet you would have done it without. You gave a very precious gift in fixing the chair.

QuiltMom2

Nice work on the rocker! Walnut? Both of you got good deals!

soman2

The wood is pine and appears to have a brown milk paint(?) finish. Due to the age and dryness of the wood, I washed it with mineral oil at the request of the owner so it looks like hardwood in the picture.

Rodney