sews

Hi -- our new old Singer 28k arrived today, the younger sibling (1 year younger, so 1896) to this one.

Sadly it turns out the bed is in much worse shape than I thought. It appears to me that there is no way to save the finish nor what little is left of the decals. The most severe damage is contained pretty much to the area shown in the photo, but there will be more flaking off towards the front edge..

How should I best go forward to deal with this?

Our goal is not to redecorate, but to have a usable and decent looking surface that more or less blends in with the rest of the machine. More photos tomorrow (but essentially is looks like the older machine in the link).

We're eager to hear your suggestions.

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Glenn

The only thing you can do with this is to sand it down and remove the black on the bed. Derust with evaporust sand and prime and paint it black. Order new decals and apply shellac to protect the decals. Ebay has the decals or sale. It looks like it has been standing in water. What does the rest of the machine look like? I don't think I have seen one this bad in a long time.
Skip

sews

Hi Skip -- thanks for the response. Below is a photo I just took, prior to any clean up. There doesn't seem to be any water damage to the wooden base, but either way, the bed certainly looks bad. The machine works quite well, everything is lose except the stitch length screw. It came with 2 shuttles, 4 bobbins and an extra round plate for the feed dogs.

What kind of black paint? Can you (or anyone else) point me to a thread here that describes details of the procedure?
Thanks again!

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Glenn

Hi Sabine, I don't think there is tutorial on painting a machine but if you look at the stickies you will see how to clean and repair the clear coat on the machine. You will be able to use this on the machine except for the bed. The painting requires a good sanding to a smooth and rust free surface. Prime with a good quality primer and then paint black. I use automotive primer and paint. Use a gloss jet black. After derusting and you have a good surface for repainting before painting wipe down with alcohol to remove and oil and dirt. You will need to apply three or four coats sanding lightly with fine wet or dry paper between coat with a block so sanding will remain flat with now ripples. No need to sand the final coat. You should now have a nice smooth surface to apply new decals. You can buy a spray can of clear shellac in Lowes or Home Depot to protect the new decals. Let the paint cure for a week before applying decals and shellac.
Other members have painted machines and I hope will come on board and provide more info. this will get you started cleaning the be anyway. Please read my tutorial first before cleaning the top of the machine. Make sure understand the process before starting on a machine.
Skip
PS Most of that can be scraped off with puddy knife before sanding.

Rodney

The top looks good enough I would be inclined to mask it off and just paint the bed. Unfortunately it will just rust again if you don't and you're not using it everyday in our climate.
Rodney