Janice, I too have never heard the term 'asphaltum' before!

Wow Glenn, you say we can replace that protective 'shellec' outer surface fairly easily? That is amazing! Why have you been keeping that a secret all this time? You mean we don't have to strip our machines and have them repainted? I am in shock over this whole concept! That would be so amazing, to actually get a finish on these old girls to protect what is left of the decals. I wonder why none of us have found this information out by doing all our searches on how to clean and protect a vintage machine? This whole notion is just so cool, but I have to admit I am a little skeptical. I am not skeptical of your knowledge, just whether replacing the shellec on these old girls can really be done without further damage? I can't wait for your tute, but I will try it on a not so nice machine first! Just the thought that the 'brown' look over our decals is not 'gunk' still amazes me? Why has this never surfaced before if there is a way to take off the brown/orange gunk and replace the protective coating when we have all asked over several years how to get these machine clean and protect them? I am still in shock over the whole thing!

Nancy

To the person who needed a Spartan manual here is one you can download from ISMACS.

http://www.ismacs.net/singer_sewing_...ine-manual.pdf

Nancy

Irish, Singer resurrected the Sew Handy in the 1970's, but it was an enclosed version of the earlier Sew Handy machines. If what you have is the resurrected Sew Handy, it may be fixable if the machine is complete, but if what you have is a more modern plastic wonder - probably not so fixable!

Nancy

I just found the post about the Spartan! Sewfine, that is a great little machine. It is just the stripped down version of Singer's 99 - no light on the machine. That little Spartan is a great machine nevertheless! It sews great, has a reverse, a great kids machine - but, it is very heavy like Miriam told you. That machine will last your kids lifetime and their kids lifetime! Enjoy her! I have one as do a lot of the people here!

Nancy

You know, it is great that Cathy, Pat, and few others keep joining our group - and that they contribute. We have lots of people who just lurk and never contribute! We need knowledgeable people here along with the rest of us, who are still learning so much!

Charlee, did you know about the asphaltum and shellec thing from Needlebar?

Nancy

Nancy, I learn something on here almost every day - if we all had to learn it at once we would be so overwhelmed...

No...I didn't. It may be there somewhere, but I've not seen it! There is so much information on the Needlebar site that there's no way I can read it all! I learn as much here as I do there...most of what I pick up there is "year, make, model" kind of stuff!

I'd never heard it before either, till I found it in the recipe. :)

http://www.woodcentral.com/cgi-bin/r...cles_117.shtml

(Here's the short version: "Add turpentine, boiled linseed oil, and asphaltum together. Paint it on. Bake it. Done." Except that I think that for sewing machines, this process was repeated several times.)

pat

Thanks for the nice welcome; this is a very friendly group! Cathy is the expert on getting things running; I'm just a sewing machine voyeur. :D

pat

Pat,

Looked up voyeur and found this on the internet. "The term comes from the French voyeur, "one who looks".
I must say that I have caught you touching machines, even petting them, and I once saw you
sewing on one. So I say you are more than just a sewing machine voyeur. :D :D