SteveH

got all of the hinges removed and got about 1/2 of the top finished last night.

Glenn's #1 to the rescue!
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Anyone who is familiar with woodworking have any suggestions on the best way to resolve this separation?
(NOTE: it is only the top board and the base of the folding top that have separated, not the vertical part of the woodwork)

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This pic of the uncleaned side also shows how the separation caused the folding top base to begin to separate as well. I think I may be better off removing the irons before i try this...
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Rodney

Wood shrinks more across the grain than with it. It doesn't shrink much if any with the grain. Tables are usually designed to compensate for this by having room for the top to move, usually using something like elongated screw holes. In this case, either no one built the top to compensate for the movement or it moved more than was allowed for. Something had to give.
The fix? The typical woodworker fix would be to take it the rest of the way apart at the splits, plane the wood straight and flat at the joint(s) and re-glue. You may need to add a thin strip of matching wood in the gap to maintain (or restore) alignment of the top and all the pieces attached to it. I would also be inclined to see what could be done to compensate for more movement in the future. The downside is all this work will effectively destroy the patina of the wood.
Glenn may have better ideas. The piece is a true antique and not common. Sometimes it's better to live with the results of age than it is to try to correct them.
Rodney

SteveH

100% in agreement on that!

Glenn

The slit is the glue joint. Original to the top. Just two pieces joined to make a wider blank. Clean out the joint of all old glue and dirt. Reglue with hyde glue and clamp. Yes remove from the irons first. Hint warm the joint with a hair dryer and then apply hot hyde glue and clamp over night. It will work better if you have lots of clamps clese together for even pressure. This will not hurt the patina. You still may see a small crack but it will be secure. If you separate the two and plane them for regluing you will change the size of the width of the top and the machine may not fit in the cut out.
The original is hyde glue and is water soluble so you can use warm water to soften the glue to clean it off.

KenmoreRulesAll

My very inexpert suggestion is to clean out the sides of the separation, then stain them, oil them, then brace the two sides to avoid further separation. You have more than enough wood for screws and a bracket. I wouldn't try to repair (fill, etc.) the current separation -- you're very skilled but I suspect it would wind up looking like a modern repair. However, I would definitely repair the sewing machine base's separation as this might increase due to the machine's vibration, among other causes.

My $0.02 based upon what I see in the pictures and my level of woodworking skill (which is nil).

SteveH

so, I am sure we have all had THAT screw.....

You know the one. It is the ONE screw on a machine or cabinet that just will not budge or has a slot so messed up you cannot get a screwdriver to bite...

On this machines folding top, there are 12 hinges with 4 screws each and two hinges with 6 screws each.

60 Screws....

59 screws that were like a good fishing experience. Not easy but with patience and persistence, you get results.

1 screw that was being THAT way.

That screw really thought it was all that... No liquid helped, no gentle tapping with a hammer to loosen, no manly amount of strength, nothing.

I even considered surrendering and just polishing the hinge in place and letting it go at that........

But wait!!! I live in the 21st century! I can use power tools!

and if you are going to use power tools, use POWER tools!

so here is a picture of my buddy and I at work yesterday using our cheap bench mill at work to re-machine a new slot. (It helps having access to a mill and 1/32" end mill bits)

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Worked like a charm, the screw is actually reusable. Not that I'm gonna, I bought a supply of brass slotted screws.
(but I am keeping the originals with the machine)

Last night the board and hinge were cleaned, and tonight I will do the final assembly and have a working folding top treadle!!!

Pics to follow

SteveH

Here we go! We started here.
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now we are here!
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CLOSED UP!!! (First time in lord knows how long...)
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Mrs. SewNSew

I am dumbfounded. Who knew? How could you even guess at how beautiful this would come out? Just fabulous! Thank you for sharing the journey too. It's so cool to see how it all comes together. It gives me hope for some of my own projects.

Did you do anything with the irons?

SteveH

They are next.....

and I wanted to add to that the understanding that this is not some magic I'm doing, this is just using people like Glenn's experience on how to clean things and it's the quality of the materials underneath that allows them to come back so well from even such horrible treatment.

SteveH

UPDATE: I got the slide plates removed and got most of the rust off.

Patent number plate with Serial number!!!
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"Wilson" logo
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