Machines for sale at the NC TOGA

TOGA TOGA TOGA

It's that time of year again.  Time for what my friend Art calls "sewing machine summer camp".  The NC TOGA, Treadle On Gathering and Academy.  Think swap meet plus classes.

Activities at DragonPoodle Studio (the silly name for my basement sewing room.  and living room where the antique treadles live. and the dining room which houses a dozen or so machines. and the back bedroom where the tools and un-repaired sewing machines live.  basically my whole house.)  have changed fairly radically in the last few years.

The new knees require lots of time in the gym, and lots of walking (giant thrift stores meet that need now that the summer heat is here).  Much more time out and about, much less time working on sewing machines.  And my current craze in sewing machines is for painting them, but none of those will be for sale.  So I don't have tons of new machines to offer.  But I do have a few.  And I have a few left over from last year too.

I also usually re-check everything out before bringing them.  Not this year.  I will go over anything I bring during Susan's Tuesday class and share the results with potential buyers.

Miscellaneous

Kenmore 1040 case with rose pattern

Kenmore 1040 case
Last year I bought a case for a half-size Kenmore 1040 (its original case was slightly broken).  The seller threw in another slightly broken case.  If you put both of the slightly broken cases together they could make one good one.  Speak up if you want me to bring them.  It is possible that this would fit any of the Kenmore 10xx series but I cannot promise this.  Not on the price list because there is no charge!

In addition to the machines there will be vintage sewing books, vintage and vintage-y sewing accessories.   And some fabrics.

MACHINES

Treadle

Wheeler & Wilson No. 9, unrestored but sewing perfectly

I sold the big van and bought a SUV, so only one treadle will fit!  but this one is a potential gem and deserves a blog post all to itself:  Wheeler & Wilson No. 9

Treadleable zigzaggers

Both of these Singers should fit in any Singer treadle.

Singer 177

Budget model basic zigzagger.  Budget model means no light and a directly wired and somewhat underpowered motor.  But if you want to treadle it you can remove the motor easily.

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a Singer 237

Singer 237

This is a favorite model for treadling because of the zigzag capability.  Reliably all-metal except for two plastic parts (that I know of).  This arrived in the studio recently and I have not serviced it yet, but if you are interested I will have checked it out before you buy it.  and the photo is of last year's 237, but this year's looks just like it.  It does have a spool pin.

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(A photo of the really cute New Home 671 will appear here if anyone is interested in seeing it.)

New Home 671

a lovely cam machine.  one problem:  the zigzag cam is NOT present.  Instead it has a blind stitch cam. Anybody want a blind stitch machine?

Non-treadleable zigzaggers/multi stitch machines

Singer 337, zigzagger

Singer 337.  It straight stitches and zigzags, what more do you need.  And it is turquoise! 

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Singer 348, cam multi-stitch machine

Singer 348.  Another in the same family as the 337, but takes the flat black Singer cams (zigzag cam included).  I bought one of these (not this one) in 1968 and sewed on it until 2000, so this model has a special place in my heart.

Straight stitch machines

Singer 66, rust bucket edition

Singer 66.  Plenty of rust.  It wiggles rather than turns but it wiggles enough to make me think that it MIGHT be repairable.  No bobbin cover.

Update on the rusty 66.  I oiled it up and it is now turning, proving once again that it is hard to kill these old girls.  I'm bringing it whether anyone asks for it or not.  If no one takes it it will get imposed on someone via the raffle table!

At the time of writing this post, the Singer 66 bobbin slide cover is available from sew-classic.com for around $6.

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Singer 66 with motor and godzilla finish

Another, much nicer
Singer 66, crinkle or godzilla finish (pick your favorite nickname), with motor.  Missing bobbin slide cover.  turns freely.  treadle-able, but no motor mount--the motor is bolted to the frame in a different way.  so, not hand-crank-able.  The motor runs very slowly, no idea why.

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Singer 27 BEFORE the front slide plate went to another machine

Singer 27.  No motor mount, so treadle-able, but not hand crank-able or motor-able. No front slide plate, but it does have a shuttle and bobbin.  And the price is really just for the shuttle and bobbin.  Turns very freely and sews well.  I did service this one and planned to re-paint it but I already have one no-motor-boss 27 already painted and don't see any need for another one.

sew-classic.com also has the 27 slide plates

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the infamous Singer 285

the cute 285 case will also hold any other 3/4 size Singer

Kitty has dibs on this one.  Singer 285, in a case.  Richly deserves its reputation as the WORST cast iron machine ever made by Singer.  Fascinating mechanism, you might want to buy it just to study it and shake your head.  The nice case will fit a Singer 99 or 185.  And the price is really just for the case.  If you just want the case let me know and I will donate the machine to the landfill.  No kidding, I would never let this puppy loose on the unsuspecting thrift store public.

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3/4 size Morse

Di has dibs on this one.  3/4 size Morse.  It sews well, it's cute, it's 3/4 size.  I had hope to fit a hand crank to it, but the motor mount is in the wrong place, so no way.

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Singer 301, short bed

this is the cradle that allows a 301 to snap in and out of a cabinet

I refinished the top only of this cabinet and it looks good, but no photo of the top

binder, 3 extra bobbins, zipper/cording food, narrow hemmer, all slant shank for the 301

and a real GEM
Lynda has dibs.  Singer 301, black short bed.  In a lovely cabinet and with additional presser feet shown above. Buttonholer in pink Jetson case also included (but no photo).  If you don't know the 301, you should!  Same basic mechanism as the pricey Featherweight in a full size machine.

I will also sell it without the cabinet.  Price is for machine, cradle and cabinet.  If you want the machine and just the cradle the price will be the same.  If you don't want the cradle I will adjust the price.   the cradle lets you snap it in and out of the cabinet easily and quickly, making it great for taking to classes and events.

Now for the same not-so-fine print from the last post.

This will ONLY be for sale at the NC TOGA or at my home in North Carolina.  I will not ship under any conditions, so don't ask.  (Every year someone reads this and then pleads for an exception.)

I will only bring it if someone is seriously interested in buying it.  Seriously interested means that you really think that you WILL buy it if it lives up to the description.  You are NOT making a commitment in advance.  I WANT you to see it and try it out first.  If you change your mind there will be NO hard feelings.  This has been my policy every year and it works well.  It saves me from hauling heavy stuff to the TOGA and then back home again.

The asking price will be listed on the NC TOGA Yahoo group page but not here.  There are a lot of really good reasons for doing it this way. 

I always offer a 30 day guarantee but you would be responsible for getting the machine back to me within that time frame.  And not by shipping it!   So the guarantee policy is really for my local CraigsList sales but if you can get it back to me I would certainly honor it.

see you in Monroe!

Wheeler & Wilson No. 9, NC TOGA

This Wheeler & Wilson No. 9 has been waiting patiently for me to restore it.  And it has the potential to be a really dandy machine.  Just haven't gotten to it, and in the meantime more and more machines come to live here.  So I am going to offer this for sale at the NC TOGA.  See end of post for the fine print.

This machine, cabinet, and irons have NOT had the full 20 to 50 hours of spa treatment.  I did make sure that all was up and running well and stitching perfectly.  So maybe 5 to 10 hours, including test stitching.

Here's what has been done to the machine

I vacuumed off the spider webs and cat hair (not much but mysteriously appearing both on the top AND on the underneath side of the machine.  I'm picturing the machine tipped back for oiling and up jumps the cat to rub against it.  How else would cat hair get under there?  Leave your theories below in the comments.)

Oiled the machine and the treadle irons and installed a clear plastic belt.  With Singer irons I figure that if you get them turning and  they continue for 10 rotations after you take your foot off the pedal, they are turning freely enough.  These continued for 15 rotations.  Nice.

Removed the needle and polished it with 1000 grit sandpaper.  Did you know you can do this?  In this case it took off some light rust.  It will also remove burrs.  It will also take the modern coating off of a modern needle, but it is a handy thing to know if you have vintage and hard-to-find needles.

Sandpaper is even a quick fix for the modern needles if you get a burr and don't have a replacement handy.  And it is after midnight and you are finishing up your kid's costume, due tomorrow.   Or something like that.

Put a rubber band around the treadle belt groove in the hand wheel, a standard move for me.  Treadle belts are supposed to be loose-ish, just barely tight enough so that they don't slip.  The rubber band provides some nice traction.  They don't last forever but it is really easy to replace them.

Printed out the manual (Google it, the Needlebar site has it).  Threaded it up and started tinkering until I got a good stitch.  Adjusted both upper and bobbin tensions, and the presser foot pressure, and all three were way off.  I find that presser foot pressure is an easy thing to overlook.  In this case it was contributing to puckering (as was the too-tight upper tension).  I loosened up the presser foot pressure until a strong tug WOULD pull the fabric out from under the lowered presser foot.

Here's what has not been done to the machine

Lots and lots of cleaning have NOT happened. 

The next owner can decide how much (if any) cleaning to do on the decals.  They are really nice and I would hate to mess them up. Sometimes we have to know when NOT to restore a machine.  This may be one of those cases.

There is a strip of veneer missing from one side--and missing pieces are in one of the drawers. Not positive they are all there. Once this is fixed a quick session with Howards Restor-A-Finish would be great.  But I have not done that.

The once-lovely metal accessory box has some missing paint chips and a few dings.  And a magnificent collections of accessories.  I have made no attempt to sort them out, identify or test them.  Note the five extra bobbins (and one in the machine)

So, if you are looking for a restoration project where YOU KNOW IN ADVANCE THAT THE MACHINE WORKS and you will be at the NC TOGA, this could be the machine for you.  Not to mention that this is a legendary model, but you probably already know that.

Now for the not-so-fine print.

This will ONLY be for sale at the NC TOGA or at my home in North Carolina.  I will not ship under any conditions, so don't ask.  (Every year someone reads this and then pleads for an exception.)

I will only bring it if someone is seriously interested in buying it.  Seriously interested means that you really think that you WILL buy it if it lives up to the description.  You are NOT making a commitment in advance.  I WANT you to see it and try it out first.  If you change your mind there will be NO hard feelings.  This has been my policy every year and it works well.  It saves me from hauling heavy stuff to the TOGA and then back home again.

The asking price will be listed on the NC TOGA Yahoo group page but not here.  There are a lot of really good reasons for doing it this way.

I always offer a 30 day guarantee but you would be responsible for getting the machine back to me within that time frame.  And not by shipping it!   So the guarantee policy is really for my local CraigsList sales but if you can get it back to me I would certainly honor it.

see you in Monroe!

Paint Along 6: Painters Tape and Toothpicks

Believe it or not, this is the LAST post before we actually paint the machine.

All we have to do at this point is cover everything that should NOT be painted.  This includes any remaining shiny metals bits (we removed everything removable in a previous post).  It also includes all holes, even the extremely teeny ones.

When we get to the painting part I will be using a can of paint and a brush, and you may be using a spray can.  If you have a steady hand with the brush (and some tiny brushes) you can skip plugging all of the holes.  Just don't drip paint into the screw threads of any of those little holes.  Or, better plan, go ahead and plug them all.  You're going to need those plugs at the end anyhow when we spray clear coat over the whole machine.  But that is a story for a future day.

Tools

Blue painters tape.
Razor blades or exacto knife (better, if you have one).
Scissors.
Toothpicks.
Bamboo skewers (like for shish kebab).
You could go all upscale with an assortment of small dowels, but you really don't need them.
A cutting board or scrap piece of wood, not shown in this photo, but visible in later pics.

A few more removals

You have already removed most of the removable shiny bits.  Here are a couple that will sometimes come off easily.  I had mixed results, as you will see.

The first thread guide (at least on my vintage Singers) can sometimes be wiggled back and forth and persuaded to come out.  Be very gentle in your approach to this--the last thing you need is to snap it off.

It worked this time.

The spool pin on these old Singers were just whacked in (not screwed in).  If you have a screw-in spool pin, lucky you, just unscrew it.

Do not do it this way.

If yours was whacked in, you can try to gently persuade it to come out.  Sometimes they are loose anyway.  I do NOT whack it with the big hammer shown.  I tap it gently all around with a little hammer.  Tack hammer for instance.  No luck with this one and I gave up on it quickly.

Tape.  And sticks.  And sticks with tape on them.

You want to use blue painters tape and NOT masking tape or any other kind of tape.  There may be other painters tapes but it has to be painters tape because it does not leave a residue when you pull it off.

Now we start covering up things in no particular order.

Below is a shallow indented hole.  Use your fingernail or the pointy end of the bamboo skewer to press firmly around the rim of the hole.

And then carefully trace around with the razor blade or exacto knife.

I don't use the exacto knife very often and it was only when looking at these photos that I realized that I should have put in a new blade.  Later in the process I used fingernail or skewer to create a crease in the painter's tape around the rim, then peeled the tape off, carefully cut around the crease and then put the painter's tape back on.

But because I have done this before I have a sense of what the quality control parameters should be.  This is good enough, I think.  Find out later for sure....

To protect a hole, you need to fill it up.  Some of the holes were just the right size for the bamboo skewer, and I cut little bits off of the straight end of the skewer.  The right size, by the way, is just a smidge smaller than the diameter of the skewer.  You want to slightly force the skewer into the hole.  If it is loose in there it will fall out, and it won't reliably protect the hole from getting paint inside it.

To create a stick just the right diameter, wind a length of tape around it.  Add more until it is just a bit larger and can be snugged down into the hole.

One width of tape cut in two made the pieces you see below.

There were holes too big for this method and dowels might be useful.  But what I did was wind a tube of tape sticky side out and (again) just the right size to wedge into the hole.  The one below got cut in half also.

Progress so far.

I always plan to photograph EVERYTHING and always manage to forget at some point.

The take up arm is wrapped individually.  then I just started laying pieces of tape into the interior.  I want the paint to wrap around the edge of the opening so I don't just tape straight across.  I just keep stuffing tape pieces in there until all the workings are securely covered.

The opening to the feed dog region was taped, carefully burnished in the groove that the plates slide into, and then trimmed with the exacto knife.  You want the tape to cover the groove that the plate slides into.

I also forgot to photograph the taping of the remaining bits of the tension that I did not remove.  I will tell you that this is the biggest pain in the neck of the whole taping project.  The spring is very fiddly.  It's awkward to wrap tape where it needs to be wrapped.

But you are bigger and stronger than a roll of painters tape, so here's a tip for conquering that tensioner:  just keep pushing more tape at it until it submits.

Same process for covering both the gold Singer logo and the serial number:  tape, burnish, cut.

Ah, that dull blade.  it looks worse in the giant photo than it does in real life, but it looks bad enough in real life.

and to some extent you can clean it up a bit with the skewer.

More wrapping and stuffing of tape.

and here we are.  about two hours later.  ready to paint.

and I was excited.  Until I remembered the bobbin winder, the hand wheel, and the hand crank.  Oh, well.  A week later I got back to it.

The bobbin winder is way too complicated to tape before painting.  I will carefully paint it with a paintbrush.  Then I will use clear fingernail polish as a clear coat.

Another option with the bobbin winder is to strip off all the paint and leave it a silvery metallic color, again clear coated with fingernail polish.  I did this on an earlier machine and it worked well.

The hand crank has lots of fiddly bits to cover, but here is one that comes off easily.

I wrapped the metallic finger and its screw in painters tape so that they would stay together until we are ready for reassembly.

In the gear section of the hand crank, I shoved bits of painters tape down into the space until all seemed secure.

The hand wheel rim is lots of fun to cover.  Think about the sewing technique of clipping curves.  Lets you wrap a straight piece of tape around a curved surface.

That's it, all ready to paint.  I will probably find a few more tiny things to cover when I actually begin painting.

Because Nellie, future owner of this machine and age 6, has requested a pink and/or purple machine, I will be experimenting with mixing some paint colors.  (No pink or purple hammered paint available last time I checked.)

and the next few posts will focus on the upcoming NC TOGA, Treadle On Gathering and Academy.   If you don't know what a TOGA is, the link will explain.

Drop a note in the comments if you have or will attended any of the TOGAs, and especially let me know if you will be at this year's NC TOGA.  See you in Monroe!

Paint Along 5: Sand Before Painting

hey there, good to be back.  have you all been on the edge of your seats waiting for the next installment?  sure you have.

Here's the Singer 99 I will be painting, with all the easily removable bits removed, and all nice and clean (free of grease and oil).

I've created a post titled Paint Along.  How It Works.  Check it out for details of how the paint along will operate.  It is NOT too late to join in and everyone is welcome.

It has been a LONG time since the last time I gave my usual disclaimer:  I am no expert.  I am a person who likes to mess around with vintage sewing machines.  My current craze is to experiment with painting and decorating machines.  I have painted a couple of machines with hammered Rustoleum and found it to be relatively easy and very forgiving (if you follow the directions on the can EXACTLY).  I am no expert.  Yes, I know I said that already.  I can't say it too many times.  Grab a beat up old machine (hopefully in good operating condition) and join in the fun.

Just don't get uptight if something goes horribly wrong.  Every old machine has a unique life history and every surface of every machine is different.  What works for one machine may not work on another.  End of disclaimer.

This machine is for a little girl named Nellie, and will be painted pink and/or purple and possibly have sparkles.  I won't know for sure until I start experimenting.  And all of that will be reported here of course.

Remove loose or flaking stuff

A good surface for painting is one with NO oil, grease or dirt on it.  And one that has NO loose material getting ready to flake off.  We took care of the oil, grease, and dirt in the last post.  Now we have to get rid of the loose stuff.

What we DO NOT want to do is sand everything off down to the bare metal.  Bare metal is another painting technique for another day.  A day AFTER I feel I have mastered it.  I have tried it and now I know what else I need to learn before I try it again.

Two most likely candidates for loose stuff are a flaking clear coat or loose paint.  The surface may have chipped paint also, but the missing chips by themselves are not a problem.  Scrape over them with a metal tool like a screwdriver--does it feel like more will come off?  Take it off.  No?  Leave it alone.

And here is where our machines will begin to diverge.  There is a big difference between an 1880s machine with a baked on black japanned finish with decals and covered by something like shellac (out of my depth here, feel free to chime in if you know more than I do), and a 1950s machine with a clear coat made of modern (and very tough) materials (and chime in again, ditto).

If you do have a "late" vintage machine with a tough-as-nails clear coat, I have no idea if the hammered Rustoleum will adhere or not.  Let us know if you try it.

The shellac-y clear coat on the old machines disintegrates over time.  When you scrubbed the dirt off of your machine, did you notice tiny golden amber flakes coming off the machine?  That is the clear coat.  So much of that may have come off with the cleaning process.

So how bad is your problem?  If the only problem is flaking clear coat, a good scrub with steel wool followed up by a light sanding might do the job.

Sanding

I use 220 grit sandpaper to scuff up the surface of this machine in preparation for painting.  The clear coat was not loose or flaking.

As I said above I have already painted a couple of machines with hammered Rustoleum.  BUT those were much older machines where the clear coat was gone, the decals were mostly gone and even some paint was worn away.  This machine is different.  See how sanding resulted in a brown dust?  That is old and discolored "clear" coat, folks.  Not dirt, the machine was thoroughly clean.

The purpose of sanding is only to scuff up the surface so that the paint will have little tiny grooves to flow into and grab onto, therefore adhering better.  I did NOT make the slightest attempt to do anything more than this.  I did not sand off all the clear coat.  I did not sand down the edges of the numerous chips in the original paint job.  (I did make sure that there were no loose flakes around those chips).  The Rustoleum method is the EASY method because the textured surface will hide small irregularities.  So no further surface preparation is needed.

I think.

BUT when I paint this, I will be applying paint to a scuffed up clear coat.  It won't be the same as the earlier paint jobs.  How well will Rustoleum work over clear coat?  How well will it hold up long term?

I DO NOT HAVE THE SLIGHTEST IDEA.

Every machine is a new adventure.

Time to get rid of that dust.  First I wipe off most of it with a dry microfiber cloth.

then I splash some Rustoleum Wax & Tar Remover on a clean corner of that same cloth and wipe off the remainder of the dust.

As always, I mention brand names only to be helpful.  This one was recommended at my auto parts store, apparently it leaves no residue.  Other products probably work just as well.  Nobody pays me to endorse anything.

Sanding Metal Parts

In the last paint-along post I talked about getting the metal parts clean and shiny.  I found a few more things that needed attention as I sanded the paint job.  The working area at the needle end of the machine gets oiled frequently (or should) and after 50 years or so can get quite gunked up.

The metal parts at the needle end of the machine, sanding in progress.

A very fine grit sandpaper may be what you need to finish cleaning up the metal bits.  Some dried oil "varnish" may have stubbornly resisted your attacks with alcohol and a toothbrush.  Rust is impervious to alcohol, sandpaper is the only way to go with that.

Start with 1000 grit because this will leave the metal the smoothest.  If you have rust that is not coming off with the 1000 grit, you can use 400 grit (or anything in between obviously.  1000 and 400 are just what I have on hand).  the larger particles will scrub off the rust, but they will also leave a fine patina of scratches.  you have been warned.  personally it looks fine to me.

The bar that controls pressure on the presser foot comes out easily for cleaning.

And looks much better after a little sanding, don't you think?

And after I had all the sandpaper put away I remembered that the hand wheel and bobbin winder also needed to be sanded.  I had sanded the hand crank earlier.

The bobbin winder dis-assembled itself while I was cleaning it.  I would have preferred to photograph it as I took it apart.  But all of a sudden there it was in pieces in my hands.  Shouldn't be hard to figure out though.

80% of any paint job is the preparation.  Think we are done with that now?  LOL.  See you next time!