The Singer finally sings

On Saturday, the Singer was tuning up. I had finished the re-assembly of this wonderful piece of American ingenuity. After a final oiling, the treadle belt was fitted and the moment of truth had dawned.

We had carefully move her (I cannot bring myself to call it "it") to "Gail's Room".

On Monday morning Gail was ready to re-learn the skills of her childhood. After some final adjustments and spooling shuttles, she (Gail) was ready. "It's like riding a bike", she said.

The look on Gail's face as she got back into the swing of treadling was worth every minute of the restoration. I like it too, as I can get easily irritated by the sound of modern appliances, including her electric sewing machine (I know, I know!), but the sound of this little beauty is like comparing the sound of a Rolls Royce to a clapped-out "cash-for-clunkers" wreck with a broken muffler.

The Singer is now in full song and at 88 years old is ready to give many more years service.

Now to find a suitable chair to restore. You can tell, no doubt, that I'm really into this. But first I must complete a neglected project, Gail's doll house, otherwise I'm sure I will feel the heat of female wrath.

I must acknowledge the invaluable help from Captain Dick (Dick Wrightman) of the excellent Treadle On.net and to my dear friend, Mike King of London, England, for his advice. Finally sincere thanks to our dear friend, Pauline Nease, who wanted the Singer to have a good home. Rest assured Pauline, it has.

The Singer, not the song - 2

I've had a busy couple of days, but have managed to nearly finish off the table of G8824661.

After completely drying, following the application of the oil soap, I used a liberal application of dark Old English Scratch Remover to do just that. Then, having given it time to soak in and cleaning off the surplus, it was down to using Howard's Restore-a-Finish Golden Oak. This is basically a mild stripper and I needed to repeat this before moving on to wiping any residue off.


Things were looking much better now, so it was time to apply the Howard's Orange Feed and Wax. I did this twice before reassembling the major cabinet parts. I will repeat this several times over the next few months to build up a good and lasting finish.



Following a thorough clean and greasing, the treadle mechanism is in great shape, so I'm now ready to tackle the crucial stage - the machine itself. After ninety years of accumulated grease, grime, lint and fluff to remove, moving parts to clean, re-lubricate and adjust, this will likely be a lengthy and fiddly job. It is the most important though - after all, Gail wanted a working machine, not just a piece of furniture.

You can click on the photographs to enlarge. Okay, I'm now off to the auto parts store. I'll let you know why in the next post.

The Singer, not the song

As mention in the previous post, I regret not taking a "before" photograph. I shall, from now on, take a few for the records. These photos are after taking the actual machine out of the table and spending some time removing the grime, oil and dust accumulated over many years.

After brushing, I used Murphy's Oil Soap on the table and most of the wood. The drawers (not shown) and their runners looked to have been treated with some type of shellac many years ago. They cleaned up reasonably well so I decided not to strip this off.

The effects of the oil soap with copious amounts of "elbow grease" made a remarkable difference.

Although I'm currently concentrating on the table and the treadle mechanism, I did take some tentative steps on the cleaning and de-greasing of the actual machine. Using Formula 409 I gently cleaned the steel cover plates and then, even more gently, tried the main body taking extra care over the decals. I am pleased that these seem to be in good condition under the layers of grime, although more work on this is required after I finish off the woodwork.

My first research into the date of manufacture was incorrect. I have now discovered that serial number G8824661 was manufactured c1922. Still, it's getting on for 90 years old and is a credit to American manufacturing. After all, the Singer sewing machine was very likely the first " home appliance."

At last, another post

I've just realized it's over a month since my last post. It's not that nothing has happened worthy of posting, indeed just the opposite.

With colder nights, including some which resulted in early frosts, our thoughts have been with those who have no homes. Gail and I have gradually become more aware of our good fortune in having a roof over our heads and food in the pantry, something which many do not have. This can be for a multitude of reasons, which, to be fair, many of us cannot (or do not want to try) to understand.

I've started a new project. Gail was given a Singer treadle sewing machine, a model similar to the one she learned to sew on by her mother. She has been hankering after one of these for some time, not only as a "piece of furniture" but for a more practical reason - she has never really got on with electric sewing machines. We had looked at previously "restored" models for which the sellers were asking ridiculous prices as well as wrecks which would be beyond my capabilities of restoring. This one, built in 1910, is a little beauty, it's just in need of some TLC. I spent ages on the Internet researching the practicalities of restoring it before coming to the conclusion that, "Hey! I can do that". It will not look like new (I've watched too many "Antiques Roadshows" to fall for that), but will, I hope, look like it has been well used in it's nearly hundred years, but also lovingly cared for. Long story short (that's a first for me) - I'm hooked! I have, however, made a huge mistake - that is I didn't take a "before" photograph. As it is now all in pieces, it's a mistake I regret, but I'm going to have to live with. At least we can remember what it looked like.

I appreciate that blogs can only be of interest if (a) they have something interesting to say; and (b) they are updated regularly. I cannot help it if the former is not to every one's taste, but I'm going to make more effort to make sure that latter happens. There - it's in writing.

And for the record - Gail's Doll House is still "work in progress" (albeit slowly).