miriam

You might be surprised at how it cleans up... I thought I had a front pic. So here is what I have:
Before:
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And some of the work done:
The slide plate was replaced. The rusted bobbin area cleaned and working. The nose & tension cleaned and working. The machine's finish is still not where I want it to be and I'm not sure what that will be. The bottom of the machine was in very nice shape. The bobbin winder cleaned up but I'd like to figure out a HC or treadle. The big fat wheel that could go on it doesn't match the bobbin winder. bummer... no motor.
Here is after some of the TLC:
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Mrs. SewNSew

Wow Miriam! You give me hope! I nicknamed her the Silver Lady and figured there is always hope ..remove the rust, unfreeze the parts, replace what is missing and you are most of the way there! *Of course this is all in what I've read...in actual practice I have an education ahead of me!

miriam

You could start with one of the worst ones - if it doesn't work it is not a great loss. It is likely though that it could be made to work - it will never be show room looking unless you were to strip everything down a lot more and re-chrome and repaint. It might be fun.

Mrs. SewNSew

Well for now, I have more than I should cracked open..before taking these machines on I had a White on my table waiting for wiring and now I am halfway through Rain's series on potted motors so I open up the motor on the green 15. I seriously need to focus on one thing at a time!

miriam

When you get a bunch like that it IS hard to know where to start. I wish you were close - we would all be over to just look and stroke them all. I was lucky, my sister came up from Mesa and spent a week and we went through a lot of them and cleaned and oiled - I didn't say repair... I just wanted to see what moved and what didn't. I sort of made notes what each one needed as I did that. Some will be ok with a little TLC and some will need major work. At that time we didn't want anything to do with the really derelict machines. Now they are my favorites. Today Wilbur who is 4 came over and we worked over a 1980s White. Then while we were waiting for Daddy we looked at before and after pictures. I think that put things together for him. He knows the guts of a machine as much as a 4 year old can. He has seen a machine that wouldn't move perk up and move with Tri-Flow. He knows lint needs to go away. Today I let him take apart a bobbin area and put it back. His little fingers don't have enough co-ordination yet to do it all but he gets the idea. You may find a young friend who would benefit from learning and would love to help you with some of the cleaning and oiling. You may decide to part with some of the machines rather than keep. You may have to decide whether to sell them as is or all fixed up. Parts machines are very nice to have. I have some for parts and they save lots of time & money compared to buying on line from who knows why something was parted out. You may find some will do up rather quickly and could be sold and gotten out from under foot. Then some that need extra TLC can just wait until there is more time and space.

sdhaevrsi

Oh, my, Mrs. SewNSew, what fun it has been to read this read thus far! You have a lot of followers living vicariously through your posts and photos. Thank you for sharing!

And reading about CD's bounty was fun, too! Wow.

I am new here and excited to read and connect with all of you, and to learn more. Thanks for telling me about this place, Mrs. SewNSew!

SD

miriam

CD isn't the only one - I got 60 some once. We loaded them in a van in 2 loads. It was hard - DH is a loading genus - there are 40 machines plus some cabinets in there:
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miriam

They were layered with plywood on top of machines - the machines were wrapped in t-shirts
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miriam

After getting them home you have to put them some place....
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miriam

Then we went after the other load....
It is easier said that done to get that many machines. First you have to locate some - and I don't think it is an every day thing. Then you have to figure out prices and all that. Then you have to haul them and store them. Then most of the time they need TLC. I will say you learn a LOT just working on what you have.

I missed out on getting 62 or so at an auction but I did get 12 that time. Then a few months later I got my 60 but I haven't seen that many for sale around here since that time. I still add to the hoard when ever I see something. And I have been known to let some go. We are prohibited from selling & promoting on this board so if you plan to sell you will need to try ebay or CL or something.