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| Here she is all full of suds after some elbow grease... |
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| And here she is after wiping her all off and rinsing away the suds... |
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| And after a slight buff with a buffing cloth... Not much difference after the buffing cloth, I'm going to need to give her a full polish... |
1 - She has quite a few knicks and dings... Especially around the edges
2 - The part I thought had been bent was actually just loose. Tightening the screw straightened it!
Her metal parts are all clear of rust, there is no rust anywhere on or in her that I could see. Her movement is smooth (meaning there are no "catches" or "ticks") but she is stiff (meaning it wasn't easy to turn her).
So I gave her a good oiling and after only a few dozen rotations, she started moving much more easily. The motor runs very smoothly, with some minor squeaks. Based on the gook I cleaned out the bobbin case I imagine the electric motor has some crap in there too that needs to be cleaned up. I will open up the motor and clean it out next.
The belt looked horribly warped when I opened the box, but after removing the belt cover I realized that the belt was actually fairly new, but it had been twisted under the cover. I took the belt off and laid it flat on the bench for a few days and the twist seems to have disappeared, and it seems to be working just fine now. (I'll probably buy a new one anyway...)
She has enough knicks and dings on her front edge that I probably won't use her until I have smoothed out her front and back edges enough so fabric won't get caught and snagged. If it weren't for the edges, I think she'd be fine with a good polishing job, but the knicks of missing paint are large enough, and plentiful enough that I may have no choice but to strip and repaint her.
I don't know yet what I'll do, BUT, I do know this: It was $15.50 well spent!!!
Until Next Time,
Paul
wow! she's lookin' good! Wish I had your machine-abilities! (new word -just now coined it! lol)
ReplyDeleteI had a machine that had some nicks but I didn't want to strip it because I wanted to keep the decals. In the end I used a dremel to sand out the nicks, used a automobile nick paint pen to fill in the paint, then gave it a good coating of automobile wax and buffed it. Came out great!
ReplyDeleteGood luck with you project!
My friend Jimmy has resolved my naming issue... It has now been determined that it is definitely a Masculine machine and it has been christened "Leonidas" after the King of Sparta!
ReplyDeleteIF I wind up stripping and painting him, I will forgo the traditional graphics and instead of "Spartan" he will bear his name...
Thanks Jimmy!
I have a Spartan that I LOVE! I have the motor, but, I converted her to a hand crank when I got her (for free). She has been my main machine lately. I have pictures on my blog http://cherylsteapots2quilting.blogspot.com/2012/05/aprils-newfo-connors-quilt-so-far.html Have fun with your. BTW, who says a machine has to be a 'her'. Some are 'him' instead.
ReplyDeletePaul, next time you restore a machine, use Goo Gone to get the gunk off. It is a gentile degreaser and gets off the grime withoug hurting the finish. I have not put it over the decals yet so be careful of that. I hope you got your money back from the seller. If not Ebays buyer protection will pay you back including shipping. Enjoy you're new toy! I just purchased a Singer 301. It's gear driven with no belt and it's portable too. I plan on a good clean for it too.
ReplyDelete