Polishing my vintage machine with TR-3
 

I just finished cleaning and oiling my newly acquired 201-2. It purrs. I decided not to spend a whole lot of time working on the finish. I'd like to polish it, however. Can I just use TR-3, using the directions on the can? It does have some spots of oxidized(?) shellac, however, and I don't want to do any harm.

bk

You can test it on a spot, avoid the decals to begin with. It might not improve the finish to be to be worth it, but it should leave a protective film. Shellac is actually very hard an durable, I guess any damage often comes from damp storage or more mechanically. The line seed oil method described in this forum does a good job. It is a bit of work, but you can put it off until later when you are up to this kind of job, and still use the machine.

If the shellac is compromised, TR3 will remove it. It happened to my 201-2, but only on the top of the arm, not on the bed. I just went with it and let the bad stuff be removed. The TR3 is a protective product though, and I've not had any more shellac come off other than where it was bad to begin with. I've not had it damage any decals on the machines where I've used it, but all were still protected by the shellac. The biggest advice I can give is to start in a small area and follow the directions on the can. Don't let it dry until you're satisfied the machine is clean enough, and change your cotton ball often. Once no more dirt/grunge/whatever comes off on the cotton ball, then you let it dry and buff it off.

Cari

For the best results follow Glenn's tutorial for shellac repair and then use the TR3. I've done it both ways. There is a fine line - and I don't know where it is - between needing that extra bit of cleaning and shine from the French polishing and just using the TR3. I tried it on a 201 and was happy with the results but not as happy on a different machine. But it didn't shine as nice as with French polish first. If there isn't enough finish TR3 will remove decals. Your results may depend on how much finish is left to begin with. I have the best results with TR3 with the machines in colors. BUT on the old tan singers the rag looked like some color came off the Singers.

I was told by a gentleman that has sold Featherweights for about 40 years to use a carnauba wax paste. Just don't rub too hard around the gold detailing. I used it and it worked fine.

Another sewing machine repair person was working on another one of my Featherweights and there was a rough spot on the bed of the machine. It looked like someone in the past had put some masking tape on the machine and the residue left had hardened. He took some regular oil, that you oil your machine with, and used it to get rid of the spot. I was really impressed when it all came off, because I had tried to remove it myself with a mild soap and water and it hadn't worked.

Miriam, I used it on my tan FW and it didn't take any of the color off, and left it with a nice shine. I've used it on my 201-2 and it looks like it's taking off a lot of shellac. The finish is really cloudy anyway, so maybe that's not so bad.