Advice needed: just brought home treadle base for GM's free No.5
 

We cleaned out my Moms garage and I crammed the treadle base of a Free No. 5 into my Saturn Ion. I will have help to get it out this weekend and start working on it.

I need advice on how to clean and repair the cabinet. The treadle has been in a cousins basement and then in my Moms garage for a few years. Someone tried forcing the drawers open (there is a locking lever for the drawers). I think many of the drawers will need regluing, possibly more.... I can hear stuff rattling around in the drawers so I hope there are bobbins and needles.

What products do you like to use on old wood? Should I clean it good first, then decide if I want to refinish it?

I have had the head for several years. Partially cleaned. I didn't touch the tension mechanism. The wheel turns and the shuttle thing moves. So I think there is hope for it.

Please PM me if you are familiar with Free No. 5's. , especially in MN.

You need to look up Glenn's fabulous tutorial on this...

Could you point me in the right direction to find Glenn's fabulous tutorial?

I went to the top of the page and searched "Glenn" Then I found his profile and looked for started threads and found:
http://www.quiltingboard.com/vintage...s-t193635.html
and
http://www.quiltingboard.com/vintage...ts-t97670.html
and
http://www.quiltingboard.com/tutoria...s-t109859.html

You can also ask Glenn questions by private message - go into his profile and then use the private message feature.

Thanks for the post! i was going to ask the same questions when i rescue my gm's treadle sometime in June. :D

Presuming it's oak, if I wanted to totally strip/refinish it:

denatured alcohol and heavy paper towels, rags, brushes, steel wool to remove the old shellac
0000 steel wool to rub it down smooth
(I would not actually sand anything unless there was a problem with chipping or splintering, or I needed to actually sand off an ink stain or something)
oxalic acid to bleach any blue stains left on oak from water getting through the shellac
Minwax chestnut or red oak or walnut stain, depending what color I wanted it
clear shellac over that
(perhaps a brown or yellow shellac if I wanted to do something to alter the tone of the stain, or if I didn't stain it)

I would paint the metal treadle base with a black satin paint, just because I want it low maintenance.

A 50/50 mix denatured alcohol + lacquer thinner removes almost any paint or stain. Very aggressive, and flammable. Work outside away from heat, electric devices, cars, cigs, etc.

Meant orange shellac, not yellow.

Sometimes I use a small wire brush, very gently, to work shellac or paint out of the grain.

Paint removal: The best paint stripper is one that is methylene chloride based. I don't know if they still sell that type of product. There is no respirator made that can filter out methylene chloride for more than a very short time. Work outdoors and upwind of it is required. Caustic strippers work very well for removing paint, but they burn the heck out of you if they spatter on your skin. These things are why I usually try 50/50 alcohol + lacquer thinner first. The primary hazard of it is flammability, provided you are wearing gloves and a respirator. I'm not one for huffing solvent, so I have a respirator.

if drawers are locked try a very narrow screw driver to trip the lock, worked on mine

Thank you so much! I have my shopping list for the hardware store this afternoon.

I'm guessing that stripping it will be a good route to go. Next will be to decide if I want to replace the veneer on the top... Grandma often had the machine in front of a window with a plant on top.

Thank you!