Ooooo... shiny!

This blogpost brought to you by Walmart, Loctite Naval Jelly, and WD40.

Here is a rundown of the progress made on the 66 Red Eye.

Saturday evening:

You can see what's left of
the treadle cord hanging
down from the flywheel.

With the help of Meredith, I extracted the machine from the attic and got her out of the treadle (thankfully with no little critters or creepy-crawlies running around...), and subsequently inhaled 92 years worth of dust. I was both happy and sad because she looked better than I thought she realistically would, but sad because in the back of my mind, I was praying for that rare "imaculate-looking antique." I should have known better because she was bought to be used and not looked-at so of course she is going to look rough. Sigh. Her treadle cord (which was leather) was completely gross and fell apart in my hands. I had a grand time throwing pieces of it at Meredith trying to freak her out. She was not amused. (Yeah, I am 24 and she is 21 this week- we are still acting like we're 8 and 5.)

We looked up the serial # on Singer's website and discovered that it was made brand new on December 24, 1919. First clue that perhaps my prediction of the original machine owner was off. (More on that later...)

I began the dismantling process which involved a can of WD40 to help dissolve grime and loosen the screws, countless ziploc bags, sticky notes, and photos taken on the camera in hopes that I could figure out how to get her back together.

The rusty and dusty bobbin casing
before the makeover

Sunday:

After church, I started the "de-rusting" process and killed probably a good portion of braincells from inhaling oxides and various fumes all afternoon. With the help of this amazing substance called Naval Jelly (or as I have called it: "hot pink miraculous wonder goo"), I got most of the rust off of the "show pieces" (like the face plate and back medallion), and then I started the reassembly process, which involved some moderate cursing and more WD40.

Example 1: WHAT DOES IT MEAN!??!?

I got started and thought "Oh I am so crafty, I took those photos and will be able to figure this out." I suppose I was high on fumes Friday evening because my photography skills just flat out sucked. I started panicking thinking that this was all a waste and that Mom was going to kill me for ruining the antique sewing machine that she never used or even looked at, but then, I was the recipient of a great miracle from St. Clara herself. (the patron saint of sewing and needlework; let's face it, I think the Father and Son have enough going on than to bother with sewing machine construction, and the Holy Spirit went out for a smoke the minute I started yelling naughty things, so...)

http://www.tfsr.org/publications/technical_information/sewing_machine_manual/


Anyway, it has been a life-saver. If you ever decide to restore or repair a Singer 66 or 99, look there first.

To my delight, I got her put back together and working. I can't test her actual sewing ability until I get a needle screw and a hand wheel (Oh yeah... about the hand wheel. I read on a blog that boiling water and oxyclean will remove rust and grime. It removes grime, but not rust. Also, it removes enamel. I was really stupid and didn't read the entire paragraph which stated that and subsequently took all of the enamel and chrome finish off the handwheel. Luckily, I can get a reproduction for about $12. Grrrr.)


Today:

The "Family Heirloom
Fairy?"

First big thing was I discovered that Fleta didn't belong to Fleta. I suspected that she didn't come from the Harper side because the money was on the Oliver/Branscome side (Don't ask who the Olivers are. Aside from their family plot being behind the Branscomes in the cemetery, there is really no familial relation. :-P). After my initial research led me to find out that this machine cost as much as a Model T, I had doubts that a cotton farmer and his wife in the middle of Texas would have had the finances to procure such a thing. But who knows.

We think she belonged to Estelle Oliver Branscome, and for purposes of not confusing everyone, I won't go into who Estelle was or how her machine got to my grandmother, Lucille Harper Branscome, and then in turn to us. Oy. We'll just say it was the magical "family heirloom fairy." Yay!


So now I am simply calling her my "Red-Eyed Girl," which no doubt sounds creepy, but as soon as I think of a good old lady name, I'll call her something different. :-P

In terms of actual progress, today had great success in the cosmetic department. I have so far put 3 coats of lacquer on her and she looks FAB-U-LOUS! I tried to wax her yesterday, but apparently when you put car wax on naked cast iron, it turns white. Good to know. So, she is getting her gleam back. Her decals, while still warn, look much better. I predict she will need at least 2 more coats as I am not really happy with the finish on the machine bed, but she is really starting to look good!

So shiny!!!