Quiltingboard Forums - Cleaning and repairing the shellac clear coat on vintage sewing mcahines

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When did machines change from shellac to enamel? Are all black machines the japaned finish? I wouldn't think so.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dianna77984 (Post 5154941)

Thanks for all the hints about the shellac, but I am wondering has anyone ever use polyurethan on the cabinets?

You can use poly but all the shellac must be stripped off first or the poly will not stick good and will flake off. I recommend you stick with shellac since that is the original fisnish. The Water base poly will give a plastic look and will not have that amber glow of old furniture. You can use oil based poly but it will take days to dry and will collect dust will drying. Shellac will dry tack free in about 30 min or less.

Ok....so here's my Singer 201-2...before and after:

These are the "before" pics...

[ATTACH=CONFIG]329356[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]329357[/ATTACH]

And after....still not perfect, but MUCH better, and at least the decals are protected!

[ATTACH=CONFIG]329359[/ATTACH]

Thanks Skip!! :)

Quote:

Originally Posted by irishrose (Post 5157334)

When did machines change from shellac to enamel? Are all black machines the japaned finish? I wouldn't think so.

A rule of thumb is if the machine is black with decals it is japan with a clear coat of shellac to protect the decal. The newer machine that are green, brown, tan, white. pink or multicolor are baked enamel and will have no shellac on them. So if you have a machine with decals the clear coat is shellac. I will have to do some research to find the cut off dates of japan vs enamel. This is a very good question.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Charlee (Post 5157997)

Ok....so here's my Singer 201-2...before and after:

These are the "before" pics..

[ATTACH=CONFIG]329356[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]329357[/ATTACH]

And after....still not perfect, but MUCH better, and at least the decals are protected!

[ATTACH=CONFIG]329359[/ATTACH]

Thanks Skip!! :)

Charlee you did a great job and the machine looks much better. Keep practicing this tech and you will be amazed at what can be done with these old ladies. Pat yourself on the back. Skip

Quote:

Originally Posted by Glenn (Post 5158002)

Very interesting info. Thanks.

Charlee, your machine looks wonderful!

Thanks for the tip. I'm going to write it in my 'everything' notebook.

We have a 1925 Singer with wood case intact. But the wiring in bad shape. Can a person get into the motor to put in new wire or do we need a specialist. Also we have a treadle with blond table. The table looks like either someone tried to sand it a little at one time or finish is worn. We wondered about a light sanding with super fine sand paper, but what would you recommend we use for finish?

Can I save this thread somehow so I can find it when I need it?

Quote:

Originally Posted by Silver Needle (Post 5160623)

Joe and I are going to be doing a tutorial on that pretty soon. I have a ton of machines to do - he says he is coming over to Indianapolis from Illinois and we are going to document what we do. Rain has information on his blog - good information. You can also join his blog as a follower and he will send email when he posts - I love his work. http://vssmb.blogspot.com/ dig around - he has done a LOT!!! He visits QB once in a while - I wish he would come to the vintage sewing machine shop and chatter with the crazy people there.... I mean the really nice people who also work on sewing machines. Myself included.