JennB just sent me one of those which is frozen solid so I can "play"....
It should be here this week. muhahahaha

here is a sequence to show what I've been able to do with the movement arm of Sandy

Sanding after the first coat dried. (Notice the paint in the depths of the worst crevasses)
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Then a coat of paint.
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Then another sanding pass. (Notice more paint in the depths)
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Then more paint....
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One or two more passes and it should be smooth. Then it will be a final extra coat for depth, goldwork, then clear.

Notice the right side which has been getting each coat without the sanding, two more coats and it gets sanded

ok, Sandy's arm is done with the base coat.

Here is the front. Remember that the long side was sanded between each coat, and the short side was sanded only before the final coat.
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here is the back, which has had the same number of coats but no sanding at all.
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Here is a reminder of what it looked like.
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Wow!! Amazing work!! What a difference!

Where is the best place to get the Howard Feed-N-Wax?

Wow Sandy is looking good. *grin*

It gives me confidence that i could probably resurrect my grandma's treadle machine. I haven't looked at it in forever, since i was a kid. From the family gossip it was in a house whose basement that flooded multiple times. *shakes fists at cousins* I have to procure the poor machine from them, I'm shuddering at the thought of how the wood on the cabinet looks. This weekend i'm making the 8 hour drive down to 'visit' for a family reunion *coughmachinerescuecough*. ;)

I'm hoping that maybe by Christmas it would be up and running. So i can give it to mom, she's an avid quilter and often times will tell me that her mom would sew her dresses on it while growing up.

Now.. how does one restore paint. what kind of paints: canned spray paint, air brush. *grin*

I am a mere babe in the woods and do not have a tiny bit of the skill you all have to rescue these machines , but I sure love reading about it!! You guys rock!!

updates on "Sandy"

This part took me 3 days to get loose from the body....
Then 1 evening soaking in Evaporust left this...
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Looks "ok" but when the screws were removed you can see where the Evaporust did not penetrate.
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They are now soaking in Evaporust again today.
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Now to decide: Do I resurface them and then buff them, buff them as is, or leave them as is.

If that is the take up arm and is visible, I would at least buff them and see how it looks.
Just my 2 cents.
~G~

Bondo.

"Can it be refurbished?" is kind of a NASCAR question: The answer is always how much time and money and work are you up for? LOL Anyway, it's an interesting hobby and it's certainly great to see the rare antiques refurbished and the not-so-rare oldies get interesting new paint jobs.

I'm not an artist, but I've always loved the English tea services and English bone china. I'd love to be talented enough to paint up a sewing machine with something like this.
from http://www.phyllismcelhinney.com/sho...o=12&gallery=2
http://www.phyllismcelhinney.com/ima...21_267x400.jpg

I wanted to post a couple of before and after pictures here of my latest "SAVE IT" project. It isn't a grand old lady, just a SS Singer that was destined for the scrap man if I didn't do something about it. It took me ten days. And yes, I have the spool pin and slide plate for it. They just are not in these pictures.
~G~

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That is amazing! I never would have thought it would clean up so nicely. That must have taken a few cotton balls and Q-tips :D:D Nice job Grant.

Lol Judy, Yea, I used a couple of cotton balls and Q-Tips on it. I hope I can break even on my Q-Tip and cotton ball bill. :D
Caroline, It sews really nice stitches now. Believe it or not, it wasn't seized up but it did make some strange noises when I turned the handwheel.
Thank you both for the compliments. I really bought it for the cabinet but just couldn't toss it out. I was going to part out the machine but thought that I was going to have to clean the parts that I took off of it anyway, I might as well clean it all. I am glad now that I saved it. Did you see my Facebook photos? It was a real nasty mess when I got it. The link is below.
~G~

I love it when I find a dirty one that has good guts. I have been working on a rusty one this week. I should shoot some glamor photos. Mine is by no means done. All I got done was to clean her nose. Here is the before. After will have to wait. But I was amazed at the results. It will be a job to get the rest of her to work at all. She is one bad rust bucket.
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Nice! A good rubdown with WD40 and 0000 Steel wool will polish that plate right up! (the only use I have left for WD40)

Grant: Awesome job. Did you do any bleaching or paint cleanup directly? or was this just elbow grease?

I really like looking at all of these machines being restored to their former beauty, or as near as possible. I am learning a lot by reading all of your postings on the rehab of sewing machines. Someday...... I just might try doing something like it, but in the mean time, I'll enjoy and applaud all of your success stories and pictures.
Janis

Thank you Steve, you know I respect your opinion. All elbow grease my friend. I thought I had gotten all of the "Mouse Presents" out of sight before I took these pix but if you look close,.... But no Mice, Petrified, Electrified, Mummified, or even deep fried were found in there. Thank God. LOL.
Miriam, If all else fails, I know a place to get Nickel or even Chrome plating done. And they do good work. It takes about 2-3 weeks but is not super cheap. PM me and i can pass along that info for you if necessary.
~G~

Grant,
What do you think caused all the mess, it looks like it was buried in an out house.

BTW did you post pics of the cabinet?

Joe & Elaine

Joe, LOL. It DID look like it was stored in the Basement Apartment of that outhouse!:D I don't know where all of that gunk (as nice as I can say) came from. All I know was that it was someone's grandmothers machine. She passed away and it went to the mother. The mother passed away and it went to a daughter. That daughter didn't want it and dropped it of at the other daughters house that didn't have room for it. She saw my Want Ad for sewing machines and contacted me and I got it from her. Who knows where it was stored along the way.
I can take a picture or two of the cabinet tomorrow and post them here (maybe a new thread?). It isn't fabulous but not bad. Even the mice thought so.:D
~G~

It is just part of the hobby - mouse poop and spider webs. As long as I don't bring home a "live one" I'll be okay.:p

Great job, looks almost new again
Skip

Here you go Joe.
~G~
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Grant,

I have a theory. Grimy filth like that "could" have come from filthy little fingers messing with it. Kids body oils are magnets for dirt and turn to that kind of filth. Whatever the cause that machine is lucky to have survived intact. It looks great and deserves a chance at a new home now.

I have the same cabinet. Simple and good looking, yet quite useable. My Singer 338 is in it. The only thing I don't like about it is no storage drawers.

Joe

I am going to find it a good home.
This one has a drawer on the left side. if you look close you can see the outline.
I posted a story about the machine and this cabinet here. http://www.quiltingboard.com/vintage...3881-4168.html
~G~

Wow, that Singer was filthy! I've cleaned some dirty and yucky machines, but I think that one wins a prize or something! Great job getting it cleaned up.

Grant, are you the one I see advertizing to buy sewing machines on craigslist when I am up at my daughter's home? I see them all the time when I'm there in the NW suburbs of Chicago.
And I see Miriam selling her rehabs here in IN.

I was wondering if anybody was reading the CL ads...

Yes, that is me.
~G~

It's nice to be able to put a name to a listing that I see on CL list when I see them. At first I thought that Miriam was buying all of the machines on the local CL list. Then I saw that she was selling a lot of them. I can recognize which ones are hers, and say a silent 'hi' when I read them. So Miriam, let this be known that someone is talking to you at times. I've bought only one machine off CL, and attempted to a couple of other times, only to have someone beat me to them. But I keep watching...... Good luck to both of you on the buying and selling of the machines.

I've had the same ad up for one machine for months. People come over and buy a different machine sort of like it. LOL

Well I am pleased to say that I was able to fix the motor on the National Rotary I have been working on. I test ran it and it is running strong. You can see the updated pictures and a video of the motor test too on my page with the link below. But I will show a pic of the damage that was inside motor. The bare wires hanging out of the top of the pic is the problem. These wires were as a result of mice in the machine. Normally this would be a terminal problem. But I just don't give up that easy. All of those wires had to be reconnected to the other half that were broken.
Further proof that they CAN be rescued with some work.
~G~

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The machine was one I won on line. I couldn't see it real well so I figured all those nice attachments would be worth the money I spent.
1) The attachments don't go to the machine.
2) The manuals (note plural) don't go to the machine.
3) The machine does not turn.
4) The machine does not have a power cord or foot control...
5) Fred Flintstone might have serviced it...

The attachments will go with some other machine around here and were worth the money I paid - I hope so anyway.
The manuals - well - I have to see if they go with anything in my hoard... but I fear it is the one that goes only in reverse...

Then the machine. This is a 1995 Kenmore with all kinds of bells and whistles... I dug through all the papers. Yes there were papers. This machine was taken to an AUTHORIZED SEARS SERVICE place. They charged $30 - doesn't say what they did - I think I know... The complaint was that it wouldn't sew over heavy material... I figured I had nothing to lose. Why not crack it open and see what there is to see inside a plastic wonder. Nothing to lose, right? Well the first thing I saw was a LOT of very hard gummy dried on oil - I'm thinking 3 in 1 oil... Tri-flow to the rescue. After I got the top of it oiled the machine reluctantly turned. I figured I should clean out the bobbin area - at first I didn't see one tiny little bit of lint.... then I probed. It was packed solid under there. Turns better... I noticed up in the needle bar area that there were threads wrapped around things that move or supposedly move. Almost every thing that moved up there had thread and dried up 3 in 1 oil. I worked on the stitch selector and got it moving. The button hole switch is still stuck ON. No cord so I don't know if it will run or not but I learned stuff.

I just wanted to share something here on the same machine I have been working on. This is the underside of the National Rotary. Everything is Rust, Rust, Rust under there. But Rust can be cleaned off and the machine restored. This is from my FB page. All is not lost. And this is just a comparison from how it was found to the "In Progress" stage. I hope this gives the incentive to anyone that might be looking at a boat anchor like this was to just give it a chance. More of them are able to come back from the grave than you might think. This one was going to be meted down and be a car fender (or something) if I didn't grab it. And all of that history would be gone forever.
~G~
"I didn't want to have to go this far but it had to be done. This morning I completely gutted the underside of the machine. Thankfully, everything came out without much of a problem. It still has to be cleaned and polished before going back in. And while it is all out of there I am going to clean the bottom too. I already started when I took this pic. I have polished up the rusty bar to the far right and wiped off the first layer of filth underneath the bed. I removed the pink insulation "mouse mattresses" and "presents" too. Still a long way to go." But it is getting there.
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Nice! Great inspiration!

Well I got brave and decided to see what I can do with the Frister and Rossman. I currently have it soaking in ATF in a tupper. So my question is - do I try to immerse the entire machine or just the bottom of it? One jug of ATF pretty much covers the bed of the machine but doesn't get much higher than that.

Here's the picture of it right after I brought it home.

She's already looking better and a few parts started moving after just a good dose of the Dritz oil I had on hand.

Discovered that among the miscellany in the picture is what appears to be two bobbins and a spare spring for underneath the bobbin area. The other spring I don't know where it belongs or even if it is for this machine. It almost looks like a stretched out ballpoint pen spring.

Mom-6, Way to go. The pen spring might be a foot pressure spring. The Singer 66 used one like that as well as several other Singer machines. It would be next to the needle bar.
I am looking forward to seeing more updated pictures and wishing you luck.
~G~

I would begin by giving the whole machine a wipe down with a sewing machine oil whetted cloth. Every surface and nook and crannie cleaned. Then to the same to the underside. Use Tri-Flow on EVERY single place where two objects move or look like they should move.

Then I would discuss the ATF solution.

Thank you Steve. I have never used ATF on my machines and felt that I could not comment on what I did not know about first hand. I was waiting for a comment on this.
There was a comment on QB recently about using CLR to remove rust and was waiting for comments on that as well as other things used and never found out the result. I think a tips and tricks thread might be in order as well as a Do and DON'T to a machine might be good too. I have seen a lot of mistakes made and I for one would like everyone to have good results. You, Joe, Miriam the Cathy's, Glen, and so many others that have advice one way or another would be most helpful to everyone I think. I know I could learn from, and have learned, from people here on QB. We all, and others have learned and shared. There should be a place for the do's and dont's. Don't you think? Is there one already for restorations and repair? If so, direct me with a link. If not, let's get one going and have a link to it here. I think it is needed. I have a lot to share and am more than willing. And I know I am not alone.
~G~