wow. I wonder what the seller would say if they saw the dramatic transformation you've brought to this! I think Mr. Howe would be proud. :)

I am totally in awe of the talent you and your DD have. What a beautiful restoration. The last set of pictures actually brought tears to my eyes, it was like seeing something reborn! Thanks so much for sharing this journey with all of us.

Steve I am just amazed. This is a best restoration job I have seen in a long time
Skip

I blame the spirit of this board and its inspiration for the results...

I AM sending a picture once the lower half is assembled to the original seller (dealer) on EBay....muhahaha

But, I'm not done yet.

I have paint touch up to do.
I have the take up to manufacture (TONIGHT hopefully)
I have final "polish" then clearcoat to do.
I have to swap out the "replacement" feed dog arm when it arrives
I have to find an appropriate needle
I have to get the correct shuttle and bobbin in house and cleaned up.
I have to build a portable case for it
I have to arrange the 3:1 hand crank mechanism to work the belt pulley.
I have to learn how to sew with it... (insert goofy grin)

Last night as I was sitting in bed and "spinning down" I was playing with the tensioner (yeah, I know...) and i was able to feed thread through it as per the manual description...
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The end result is that the tensioner spins when the thread is pulled through!!!

THAT will be cool to watch!

kinda makes you wonder how they came up with the whole process!

yes, it does... It appears that the intent was to establish tension as early as possible in the process and manage it through the whole cycle. As I get through the whole process of threading it correctly it'll be interesting to see how it "flows".

ok, Last night I was only able to take flash shots which screwed up the image, or non-flash which were too low-light to be useful.

Today Heather took "Ej" out back and took some modeling shots

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wow. That is one amazing resurrection. Color me impressed...and jealous!