Answer: e - I wouldn’t have even went this far with it. I’d have removed the loose paint and rust, cleaned it with sewing machine oil, and put it to work. I don’t see the need for paint on the bed of a machine that gets regular use anyway.

Answer: No, probably not.

Answer: b & c - and put it to work.

CD in Oklahoma

66s are great. Rewire it, put it together and use it for a patching machine.

I might be tempted to do a repaint if I could find some candy apple metallic red paint like they used on the hot rods in the 50s and 60s :D

Joe

Love your description "map of the world" ! :D

e leave it and use it like it is. b and c treadle or handcrank and use it. But in reality I always try to make them pretty without painting. I have a 66 that I will repaint and add new decals but don't know when this will happen. I am going to try for the summer to do this. I will keep you posted.

She looks like she has had a hard life. Even I am two years older (less a month) and I look to be in better shape than she is. Good Luck with your restoration.

I've been removing what ever that finish is - it is very hard to get off - it does not soften at all. Right now I have linseed oil setting on it.

If you've built up the shellac some you can carefully wet sand it with a sanding block and fine sandpaper to flatten the clearcoat a bit then add more shellac. I use mineral spirits as a lubricant for sanding. That way you can build up the finish in all the pits and low areas to smooth it out a bit more. The danger is you can sand through the shellac and into your decals and japanning.

You mentioned the clear coat doesn't soften. I wonder if Singer switched to lacquer or varnish instead of shellac on later machines.
I tend to want to save everything. I would at least flatten out the finish on the bed. It's easier to slide your fabric around on a slick smooth surface. Being a 66 and common I don't think anyone here would be offended if you repainted it either.
Rodney

Miriam,

Forum settings allow for 10 pics per post. I've done that a couple times. I don't know what is going on with your computer or what ever thingy you're using. But I doubt it's the forum that's the problem.
It might be a size factor too. A 640x480 pic is only around 55 KBs, your pics are all more than twice that.
Just some thoughts.


Joe

I thought I minimized my pics. argh

I'm having some luck softening it by putting a lot of linseed oil on it. right now it is covered in it and in time out to see if it helps. I would like to keep it from getting down to bare metal if I can. This stuff is very hard and yes I wonder if it has lacquer mixed in with shellac or something. It may wait until spring - it stinks in here. So far I have about a fourth of it looking a lot better out side of places scratched through the black. I'm done worrying about decals on that machine - I want smooth.