Meeting her this morning, she winked and said she had a surprise for me. I blurted "You found the bobbins and case!" "Yep, they were under the machine the entire time." (I had asked her to check under the machine.) I then mentioned the initial price but she refused, saying (with considerable vehemence) that it belonged to a former boyfriend. She was dumping her boyfriend yet again, symbolically.
It was really, really oily. I mean covered in the amber haze that we've all seen, every square inch of this thing. There is some light rust eating at some of the nickel plating, too. I need to take all the nickel bits off and polish them. Someone had taken an old paintbrush and slathered it with a really cheap, viscous shellac. I am in the process of taking that all off, most of it is gone now (took me all morning and early afternoon). And someone (probably a child) had poured yellow latex paint into all the oil ports and had dripped some all over the front of the machine.
It doesn't yet sew (yellow paint, old oil, etc. inside) but I'm working on it.
I have discovered that one of the best initial treatments for those chrome pieces is a soak in a bath of OxiClean and Dawn dishwashing soap mixed together with some warm water. It takes almost ALL the gunk off, and it's way less toxic than the mineral spirits and other solvents that people sometimes use. Occasionally, I will have to scrub at the stubborn dirt with a toothbrush, but for the most part, I just leave the pieces soak for a few minutes. A quick rinse and air dry and they are bright and shiny again.
ReplyDeleteCool little machine. I am trying to stop buying machines. I am up to 18--which seems like a paltry amount compared to some collectors--but I think it's time to stop.
Hey, Janet -- thank for the tip! I haven't tried OxiClean on any sewing machine parts but I think I have some around here somewhere. I normally don't use soap and water on sewing machines but sometimes have found water to be the best solvent. Some sewing machine guys I know do kerosene baths, soaking the machine in a tub of the stuff. It's nasty, but it apparently works. I use kerosene sparingly.
ReplyDeleteI'm following the One In, One Out rule: for every machine I acquire, I must sell one. While it's not hard to acquire, it's sometimes hard to let go.
No, I don't use it on the machine itself, just the parts I can take off and soak on their own. My husband has a big parts washer and he said to just dump everything in there, but I can do the OxiClean soak in my kitchen. :)
ReplyDeleteI've been tempted to get an ultrasonic cleaning machine. Lots of other metal items can be cleaned in them (jewelry, silverware, stainless, tools, etc.). I've seen the results some sewing machine techs have achieved with an ultrasonic and they're impressive.
ReplyDelete