preserving decals

I want to preserve the decals on my sewing machines after I clean them. I asked in  treadleon how to do this but I only received 2 answers and they conflicted. I guess I will be experimenting to see what works for me. It doesn’t seem right to work so hard to clean these machines just to let one of the reasons I like to restore them get ruined by use.

Hello!

I havn’t written on a while I know. I wanted to concentrate on my college homework now that class is complete and now I want to get my sewing machine repairs back on track.

I have a parlour cabinet I am very interested in getting the color back into as it was left in the sun. I was given lots of great tips from treadleon and want to start testing those very soon.

have a great day!

Shuttle Trouble

 

I caught a cold 3 weeks ago. I  just started coming out of the fog of that a couple days ago. So,now we are Marching forward into warmer weather. I have a lot of sewing machine work ahead of me.

Here is the first thing I worked on.

The nightmare tension issue has been fixed. I tried to contact a person who I have purchased a vintage sewing machine part from previously to purchase a new shuttle. I cannot seem to get an email through  for some reason.

So the issue with the poor tension was exactly what I thought it was. The issue was with the shuttle.  I took the shuttle apart and used my  dremel to grind down and buff out the worn out spot inside the shuttle spring. This was suggested to me from someone on treadleon 

but I cannot remember who. If you read this and it’s you please feel free to leave a comment to take credit for this awesome suggestion.

I am so happy this actually worked. Now I just have to work on the cosmetic issues it has.

Camera charger

I have a new camera charger which I like much better than my old one. Now I can start posting pictures of my work.
We went to an estate sale yesterday and we were looking at a sewing machine. The man there asked me if I was interested in it. I said no because it had a tail. He said oh I see those all the time in the summer at garage sales, so I gave him my card. I made up a bunch of business cards even though it’s a hobby not a business. It seems to work so far.

White Sewing machine H2

This is….

H2

Model – White

Serial- FR486142

Color- varies from bright to chipped/fading

Chrome- clean

H2 cabinet

clean/contains all drawers

I want to put something on the wood so it isn’t so dry but I don’t know which product is the best to use.  i want to use something that does not darken the wood.

This is a great machine and I bought it at a garage sale. I didn’t know anything about White sewing Machines at the time. The woman who sold it to me had to show me how to close the cabinet up. I had only dealt with Singers up to that point.

I really enjoy the White. I was not sure I would keep it until I changed the Needle and now it sews like a dream.

 

Still Missing Charger

I am still having trouble locating my camera charger. I gave up and ordered a new charger.

I did not do any work on sewing machines yesterday because I had other work I had to do. Today we should start getting a huge snowstorm and maybe tomorrow I will be snowed in and I can get a lot of work done.

I guess I did get a little sewing machine work done I sent the serial number and date into Singer for model number and manual. They are so nice and have helped me with 2 other sewing machines. I found that the sewing machine I am currently working with was made in 1889. I was very surprised it was that old. Happy restoring!

Losing a day

Today I cannot find the charger for the camera and I need to get some pictures of the oil wick area on T12 Which is the sewing machine with the nightmare tension issues. I also want to get a picture of leather belting to talk about how I used to install belting compared to how I am installing it these days.

I also cannot find a small screwdriver to take the shuttle apart and see if there are any internal issues.

Hoping today is more productive.

tracking system

I keep a written journal of the work I do on the treadles. My husband (DH) asked me to do this so I know how much money I am spending on treadle repair. So far I haven’t kept track of the money spent. I have kept track of things I learned about my treadles and things I have learned about repairing treadles.

One of the things I have done in my journal is to label the sewing machines under two categories. The first category is T1 through T14 these are the treadles that are being repaired (if possible) for resale. The second category is H1 through H4 these are what I am calling home treadles which I have defined as treadles I am interested but not committed to keeping.

Here is an example of an entry.

T1
Model- Singer 66 – Red Eye
Serial – G901886

Paint – Bright / no pin rash
Lacquer – cracking / peeling
Chrome – rusty /dirty
Machine turns freely

T1 Cabinet
Cracked peeling – Water Damage?
Contains all drawers
Small amount of rust on irons

Being Brave…Maybe in the Summer

http://www.ehow.com/video_4418244_gluing-veneer-furniture.html?cp=1&pid=1

This is a link to a series of videos about repairing veneer on antiques. I don’t know if everyone would agree with his tecniques but it makes me less afraid to tackle veneer. Almost all of my treadles have veneer issues. I have bought some quatersawn veneer from the plywood store and some “real wood” veneer from HomeDepot. I have some glue and I am ready to go.
Maybe in the summer. First I want to get the machines working. I have had it easy with getting machines running until the one I am working with right now. I am having a nightmare tension issue. I am looking into why this would happen.

gingerbread

This machine came from New York.