I don't know who did this but thanks. It will save QBer's time from searching for it and easier for me to answer any question. Thanks.
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Glad you got the hang of it. I knew you could do it. I want to see before and after pics please.
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It will be a while. I have one more coat to put on, then I will put her back together. I want to wait a couple of weeks thinking if I put the pieces together too soon they may stick onto the machine.

Mine are never sticky after a minute or two.

Hello Everyone, I'm new here! I enjoy quilting AND VSM's. Hubby just kindly drove me into the nearby state to acquire this little Singer 12, and I'd love to get her as pretty as she can possibly be. I've read Glenn's advice on repairing the shellac finish, but just want to query if that is appropriate for a machine of this age (we're thinking 1882). If regular SMO isn't cleaning the worst of the grubby bits, is there anything else that is safe to use?[ATTACH=CONFIG]502031[/ATTACH]

1st, welcome to the Board!!!
2nd, Welcome from a fellow Californian!

I am a person who only collects machines from the 19th century and I would strongly suggest that for the painted parts you only use sewing machine oil for cleaning that one. It looks to be in very nice shape and would probably shine right up.

Glenn's cleaning solution would work very well on the wooden parts.

congrats, those Singer 12's are great little sewing machines. (I have several variations)

Also you can post the serial number from the stitch length adjustment plate (the larger of the two numbers) and we can tell you when it was made.

or you can look it up yourself here
http://ismacs.net/singer_sewing_mach...l-numbers.html

SteveH, thanks for the welcome! I just looked up the serial number (1775033), so she seems to be from 1884. In looking for the number I needed to use a flashlight (that plate is pretty grubby), which pointed up lots of scarring in the finish. And what looks like clear coat in some places and flaked/worn away in others. Do these machines have shellac?

whoops, that was 1874 on the Singer 12!

Glenn is taking it easy a couple days

Yes it is Shellac. and 1874 is a REALLY nice early one. I am surprised that it would have that design set that early...

I hope all is OK....

All is okay here, just having cataract surgery this week and next. My WW box also has the reversed N. It is so nice to see well again. Ellpea I would use only sewing machine oil on the cleaning of the head and as Steve said polish the metal with Brasso and Fine steel wool. You decals on the 12 are in good shape and sewing machine oil is all you will need.

I wish you the very best of luck with your surgeries.

I work for a company that makes retinal surgery tools as our primary product, but we are also make cataract cutters. This week I am part of a group here helping with some of the R&D testing of a completely new design for Cataract cutters.. In the process I get to do "actual" surgeries on pig eyes to test the tool!

That sounds like one of those “in a pig’s eye” stories to me....

CD in Oklahoma

Ouch... lol I can provide video's if needed. (we do most of the work looking/filming through a microscope)

I was hoping that you got the humor in my little "play on words" there. Video won't be necessary, but I do think it's neat that you get to do that as part of your job.

CD in Oklahoma

yep. I think they figure if an IT dude can make it work then anyone can...

I didn't figure folks would actually want to see them. ( i would never post them in a public forum anyway, they can be "uncomfortable" form ost folks to watch) I took a few home and my DD's decided that "we will listen to your warnings about the graphic nature in the future" lol

That is really cool, eye surgery on a pigs eye. The right eye is done and it is amazing how well I see with it. I really did not know how dark it was getting until this new implant. The lights are on and it is great. I was cleaning on a machine before the surgery and now I see I will have to go back over it. I missed a lot of grud. LOL I can now see all my wrinkles this part I did not miss... Can't wait to get the left eye done.

That is awesome!! So glad to hear. I started wearing glasses when I was 10 and the first thing I apparently said when I put them on and looked at my mom was "mom, your face isn't smooth..." LOL

I had laser correction about 12 years ago and it is starting to get to the point where i should consider a "tune-up" myself.

Good luck and I hope your next procedure goes as well or better than the first!

Glenn, thanks for your advice, and good luck with your other "ocular upgrade"! I'm enjoying all of your wonderful advice here, and am working up to restoring the base of the little 12, as soon as I get another machine whipped into shape (that smoke-stained, grubby Singer 319). I think I'll be lurking here a lot!

Best, "Ellpea" (Pamela)

SteveH, the seller said it had been in her family since 1913. It originally had a treadle stand also, but that was lost in a fire (along with any accessories). This was in its bentwood case, so she managed to get out with it. It had been on CL in Southern Oregon for two months, so I was surprised to discover it was still available. It was worth a six hour round trip to get her... made more interesting by driving over to Medford for a 319. All in all an 11 hour day, bless the DH for driving me!

Glenn, I forgot to ask you. This has a bentwood top that needs to be cleaned and restored. I want to use your wonderful technique to do this... do you have any advice about the decal on that? Some of it is gone, but I'd like to preserve the rest. Any advice is appreciated!

Ellpea,

That is so cool!!! I am very familiar with road trips for machines. My record so far is a 36 hour round trip form the SF bay area to Walla Walla for an 1862 Grover & Baker (they were willing to ship...shuddder)

FYI - a dealer on the ebay is selling very nice reproductions of those round top decals. so, in the worst case scenario you could remove and replace.

Pamela, Use my solution #! to clean the top, make any repairs if needed. Don't clean the decal or you may loose it. Carefully clean around it. You order a new decal if needed. Shine up the metal parts and then give the wood a coat of paste wax. Do the base the same. And Thank you so far so good on the eyes

Oh thanks Steve. I had the laser correction and have not worn glasses for years now. I will have to get some reading glasses this time. The Dr's can do lots of things but they can't fix old age LOL

Road trips for machines
 

I wonder what the record is on this board.. who drove the most miles to get a machine? I'm sure SteveH has me beat with the Walla Walla round trip... anyone else?

Is this stuff really named "Plast Buster"? I can't find anything online that looks like that...

Wal mart or auto zone has it. Easy to get. PB is on the sray can. It is in the auto department in WalMart.

Glenn, I thought this tutorial was in a sticky in the VSM menu, but now I can't find it. I know I've read it, I've even recommended it to people on the VSM Facebook group! Where, oh where?

If it is the stuff I use it is called "PB Blaster"

This is the one item on Glenn's list of necessities on which the label can't quite be discerned. ;)

Why don’t you start a new thread called “Longest or Most Interesting Roadtrip” or something like that? Several of us have briefly mentioned an unusual road trip on several threads. Maybe you can get a nice group of tales in one thread. I’ll repeat my longest and most interesting road trip in your thread if you do....

CD in Oklahoma

Yes BP Blaster is it. I have two tutorials one for the head and one for the cabinet. The sticky is for the repair of the shellac clear coat on the machine head. Go to my profile and go to my threads and you will find my tutorial there for the cabinets.

OK, CD, new thread started! (thanks for the nudge to keep topics on track!)

best, Ellpea

I'm embarking on this shellac repair with a Franklin Rotary-- off to purchase materials in a moment. Here's the before pic:

[ATTACH=CONFIG]502639[/ATTACH]

The White FR behind is a donor/parts machine, though when I moved it to the bench I saw that most of the parts don't actually match the Franklin.

The partially disassembled Free behind them is also a parts machine; I saved it from the dump for its irons, but am retrieving spares for my nicely restored one. I'm planning to go back and French polish the Free eventually; lots of machines on my to do list. :-)

Be really careful with the decals on the Franklin, there is not much shellac on them to protect them. I see they are in very god shape to. I was not so lucky with the one I restored in this Tutorial.
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do the scrap one first so you can practice

I will be careful. I can see they are raised off the bed, which suggests they aren't very well covered with any sort of protection. I'm going to touch them as little as possible.

I've used traditional finishes on wood, generally shellac and old school BLO without the drying agents. I was taught by my dad and granddad that 30 coats of finish was a nice round number. Ten coats on a 24 hr cycle, 15 coats every other day, and the last 5 with 3-4 days drying time and sanding/steel wool between them. If it gets tacky I know I put it on too thick and need to clean it off and take a step back. I expect two - three months for a good finish, so I'm prepared for the level of commitment this will represent. :-)

I'm seriously considering restoring the original color I see on lots of Franklins-- the green and purple. This one is orange and brown, which blends into the gold. I've done model and decoy painting in the past so I know what I would be in for with that sort of project. I kind of feel like if I'm putting in the effort to get a good shellac on the machine I may as well re-color the decals while I'm at it.

Does anyone make replacement ruler decals for the cabinets? Since the Free and the White cabinets had the same decals I'm assuming there was a common supplier.

If no one does, do you think there would be interest in them? It seems like they would be an easy decal to work up and get produced in bulk inexpensively since it's just a long rectangle. I could easily work up repro art that was a good facsimile of the original. I looked into getting decals printed and I can't justify the cost for the couple cabinets I have, but if a dozen or so folks wanted them I could figure out getting them designed, manufactured, and mailed out.

miriam-

I'm going to do some testing on the bottom of the machine. :-) I'm pulling the useful parts off all my donor heads to make room in the shop. I currently have almost 30 machines, and that's way too many! I've finally gotten good at saying NO to free ones, but I got a bit overrun before getting to that point. I've been having a hard time wrapping my head around scrapping old machines, but I'm getting past that.

Glenn- one more thing. I am not willing to use Naptha in my shop because I don't have good ventilation and don't want to deal with a gas mask. I don't have any rust and very little gunk to deal with on the Franklin, so I think I should be ok for everything except cleaning off oil. Do you have any suggestions for alternatives, or am I on my own? I have a good citrus de-greaser, but I've been a chicken about getting that close to the decals on prior heads.

If you don't want to use naptha the alternative is wipe the machine down with a damp cloth of denatured alcohol. You can go buy a small bottle of lighter fluid(for cigarette lighters) and use it . The machine only needs a quick wipe and you will not use it again. Don't use citrus de-greaser it leaves a residue that the shellac will not stick to. the naptha will evaporate instantly when you wipe down the machine. Other than this I know of nothing else that will remove the sewing machine oil from the surface of the machine. It is important to remove the sewing machine oil from the machine so the shellac will stick during the french polishing. You will use such a small amount of naptha I would not worry about it, you know best what is good for you. Please post pics when done we love to see other peoples work.Skip