I found it at Advanced Auto. It's near the naval jelly.

Thanks Christine. I'll check out our auto supply when I go into town...... 30 miles from town so we don't go often.

You might call to make sure they carry it. I tried 3 hardware stores and 1 other automotive store before I found it at Advanced Auto. Everyone carries naval jelly, but you can't use naval jelly on chrome. Evaporust is safe even for bare hands. And it does a great job on the rust, I was amazed when I saw the results.

I get mine at Auto Zone, Skip

Is there a method of treating the cracked paint on an old machine? I found a 201K (with the light mounted on the back :thumbup:) and it must have been in the heat at one time in it's life. The paint is japaning (why is it called japaning, by the way?). It should arrive in a week or so.

Is there a method of treating the cracked paint on an old machine? I found a 201K (with the light mounted on the back :thumbup:) and it must have been in the heat at one time in it's life. The paint is japaning (why is it called japaning, by the way?). It should arrive in a week or so.

I want to fill in the cracks where bare metal is showing through.

Yes there is and it is not hard to do. When you get the machine post a pic here and I will show how to repair it. In the meantime you can collect your supplies. Boiled linseed oil, denatured alcohol, clear shellac and aniline dye stain that is mixed with alcohol(any wood workers cat will have it.)

I have been pondering this issue.

I am finding that lacquer stabilizes and fills in cracks better than the shellac. That is not to say that the final coat can't be shellac to give the machine all the authenticity that is desirable. I am working and nearly finished with a 201-2 that was in horrible shape. I will post but I like the results. The main issue is the decals. I don't trust the french polishing with them, and yes, I did see your strategy for dealing with them. If you lacquer, they are safe forever and then you can shellac over the lacquer. Let's keep in mind that these machines are 50 to 75 years old on the average. I think that you can get a nicer result if you don't have to worry about the decals, and also the finish will be very smooth. I'd be interested to know your thoughts. I know that a purist would probably disagree with this, but we are doing reverse engineering. Clearly, Singer put on the decals after the machine was shellacked and hence the problems we now face. To shellac over them really is not authentic either, so I err on the side of preserving the decals as best I can. Lacquer is difficult to use. I spray it with a compressor and get decent results, then sand, then will apply the shellac. Just some thoughts.

Dan

Dan, I see your points, but disagree. The decals are exactly that...decals. If they were put on after the clear coat (shellac) you would have the edge ridges, ever so slight, but still there.
If you look at where the decals are most often missing, it's on the cross bar, where people either had a pin cloth wrapped around it and/or grabbed the machine to raise/lower in and out of the cabinet (or lift it for whatever reason), or on the bed where hundreds of yards of fabric passed.

Shellac can and does protect the decals and the finish on the machine. In most cases, I'm not a purist, but I'll stick with Skip's method. Shellac is extremely forgiving!! :)

This is a great debate...

But...Shellac, especially French Polishing can be touchy. especially for the beginner. If, and we have all gone through a bad shellac experience, it has to be removed, the process of removing to shellac to redo will fade or destroy the decals because they are not happy with shellac being "rubbed" off of them. Then you have nothing but a mess and destroyed decals which in most cases cannot be replaced. Glenn is an expert....so the likelihood of this happening is lessened, but for the average person trying to restore a machine for the first time it will end in disaster. If there is a lacquer base, you can rub shellac off and on the machine all day with no fear of damage because lacquer is not dissolved by the alcohol. With that said, I do very much respect Glenn's expertise and he could work on one of my machines anytime :). I also agree that shellac is very forgiving. Just one note as well, by lacquer I do NOT mean automotive clearcoat which is basically plastic. I mean regular lacquer. As noted, I will post my latest project as a hybrid of Glenn's technique.