I'm ready just to take off what I put on there, touch up the decals, and just spray lacquer on it......I'm at wits end, bad enough the lower part of the cabinet was ruined from a flood in my basement, refinished that myself and it came out great, that's when I started to clean the machine.....

Take a break, step back away from the machine and try it another day. Whatever you do, don't take it too hard, everything is fixable! I've seen some pretty bad machines that were rescued and made to look brand new. Have you found someone to help you yet?

Joe... Glenn.... can one of you help? :)

I think Glenn is having a yard sale in the cold & rain today. Be patient he'll be around. Christine is right chill a bit. Can you give a bit of details - what is going wrong? Pics? We successfully did a couple - using Glenns' method on the paint/shellac for a finish. It is easy to work with and you don't have a big mess with spray when you are done.

I am here again. Can you send a pic of the machine. It sounds as if you were a little agressive on the cleaning of the head. You need to use very little alcohol and more linseed oil. You will never be able to get rid of all the crazing because if you do you will silver the decals. So once you clean the decals with machine oil you can fill in the crazing some with more shellac and linseed oil but it will go slowly.
The old brown stuff you think is smoke is shellac that has yellowed and turned brown with age. This is the normal result of natural age and the patina that comes with it. I really need to see a pic so we can see what is going on.

Skip

Most people try to make the old machines look new but you will not be able to. You can clean them up and make them look good but you will not be able to hide the age. This does affect the sewing. Most be try to over restore and they end up with more trouble.

Hi! I just bought a Domestic Treadle this week and want to restore the machine and the cabinet. I can't find the thread about restoring the cabinet and was hoping someone could point me in the right direction. Also, once I take the rust off the 'shiny' metal parts, what is protecting it from rusting again? The Brasso? Or just routine rub down it machine oil? Will cleaning the rust off remove the engraved numbers on the front bobbin plate? (Some kind of chart?)

Eggie search cleaning reviving sewing machine cabinets and it will list my post to read. Cleaning the rust off the plate will not remove the numbers. Soak the rust off in Evapo Rust then polish with brasso or your fav chrome polish. If you keep it clean and dusted and polished every so often the rust will not return. Sewing machine oil rub down is very good to. Post a pic and I will give you some help if I can see the machine and cabinet. Have fun with the machine

Skip

I can't upload any pictures from my computer, only URL. Maybe I'm too new? Here's the whole cabinet from my Facebook page.
[ATTACH=CONFIG]376911[/ATTACH]
Edit: Uploaded machine to FB, then linked URL...
[ATTACH=CONFIG]376912[/ATTACH]
Has original instruction book (flaking apart), accessories + box, and moves freely.

Very nice cabinet and machine. First the decals are nice so only clean them with sewing machine oil and cotton balls this will take a while. Now for the cabinet it needs to be cleaned with the solution one in the tutorial. Then repair any loose veneer if any. Then we can add shellac in the areas it is worn off and we will do this with a rag shellac and linseed oil. The tutorial will explain if you have question just post them and I will glady help you thru it. But first the cabinet has to be cleaned good so we can evaluate the finish but it looks pretty good in the Pic.
Skip

This is a WONDERFUL post Glen, but now how do I keep it so I can refer back to it later when needed? :)