5/1/13

She’s here!

She came in the mail yesterday.

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For today, her name is “old rust bucket”.  Here are some before pictures and then pictures after 2 hours of cleaning.

Before

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after…

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The spool case is still in pretty bad shape, tho.  But, I knew I was going to have a lot of work here.  That spool of pink thread is what came in her.  I have plenty of those little wooden spools, but might try to fit a plastic spool that has a thinner spindle and holds more thread in her, as well…when she’s feeling up to it and after that spool case is shiny and smooth.

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Before

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after.  I may eventually replace the end plate because there’s still plenty or rust and the chrome plating is a bit pitted, but not for now.

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Before…enough lint to make a sweater.  That’s not just my hand shaking in excitement that makes the picture blurry.

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after…ooh, sparkly!

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And here’s the outside, after some dusting and cleaning.  The only missing part I’ve encountered so far is the needle clamp and I’ve found one of those and just need to order it.

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She was completely frozen when I started.  Locked up tight.  So, I started pouring on the oil.  I nearly saturated the two heavy brown paper sacks that she was sitting on by the time I was done.  And, I was cleaning and wiping and gently trying to turn things.  I worked a while and then the handwheel moved just a fraction of an inch.  I kept working, and then I could turn the hand wheel half way, so I cleaned some more.  And then, suddenly, it just broke loose and went all the way around, roughly and slowly.  A little more work and then I found where it was still dragging and I cleaned and scrubbed until it is going almost smoothly.  I’ll get all the way there, but no hurry. 

The stitch length regulation is still tight, but I’ll get that solved, too.  Working, working, working.  Slowly.  Careful not to break or bend anything.

Honestly, I thought it was going to be much worse than it is.  Seems that most of the problems have rubbed away, but there’s still some more old gunky oil and lubricant to clean away.

My tools?  I’ve used a quarter of a bottle of sewing machine oil, a handful of cotton swabs, a rag, and a screwdriver.  That’s it.  Oh, and one thumbscrew was tight and needed a pair of pliers to loosen it.  But, that’s all.

It isn’t my intention to take her apart any more than I absolutely have to.  I’ll be removing the handwheel and getting behind there because I can’t get it out of gear.  The stop knob turns correctly, but the handwheel is stuck to the drive shaft and that will have to be worked out.  No problem.  But, that’s about all I plan to do.  I can already tell that somebody had tightened the upper tension all the way, likely thinking they were just tightening a screw, and it had been left that way.  But, that might have been a good thing because it kept the tension disks from getting rusty.  I know how to adjust tension. 

So, I’d love to call in sick from work today and spend the day picking up supplies and getting her all ready to rumble.  But, it is not to be. 

Off I go.  I think I’ll stick her spool case in my pocket, tho, just to be near.

Be well.  Have a great Wednesday.  Sydney had an appt with the surgeon yesterday and he bragged on how well she’s doing.  She still has work to do, but she’s far enough along in her range of motion that she can start working on strength training now.

Lane

10 comments:

qltmom9 said...

Yeah, Sydney!
I love the way you describe working on the machine. I try to do this in a similar fashion. Every now and then, I wish I was stronger to loosen a screw or unjam something. I need you for a neighbor. I have a VERY pitted plate for a featherweight I wish I could figure out a way to make-do. /-:

Lucy~

lw said...

Your National is cleaning up beautifully! And I feel your "having to go to work when I'd rather get this machine working" pain.

So glad Sydney is healing well-- she'll be able to join in with her teams in the fall at this rate!

Peter Lappin said...

Wow -- it looks like you're progressing fast! I envy you your patience; I don't think I could do this (I still haven't gotten the feed dogs to drop on the vintage Kenmore I've been sewing on for nearly two years!) but I love following your adventure. Can't wait till she can sew!

Peter Lappin said...

Wow -- it looks like you're progressing fast! I envy you your patience; I don't think I could do this (I still haven't gotten the feed dogs to drop on the vintage Kenmore I've been sewing on for nearly two years!) but I love following your adventure. Can't wait till she can sew!

Laura said...

I can't wait to see how she turns out, Lane! And congrats to Sydney!

Rebecca Grace said...

What, you couldn't call out "rusty" from work? They would be so confused... She's a beauty, Lane, and I think it's cute that you're bringing the spool case to work.

Does sewing machine oil actually clean off tarnish, or does it just get things moving again? My Featherweight has dingy brown tarnish in a lot of places that I want to make bright and shiny again, but I know that if I start disassembling her I will never get her back together and properly adjusted again!

Michelle said...

Don't forget the hair dryer to soften old gunky oil and grease!

Elizabeth said...

New toys are always fun. And you taking the spool case to work in your pocket makes me think of a little boy who brought a snake in his pocket to church one Sunday and took it out during group time.

xo -E

MQuilter said...

Congrats! Looks like you have fallen in love already with your Two Spools. Enjoy!

Susan Entwistle said...

(I'm just catching up). I'm so excited for your new toy. I entered the drawing at our quilt show to win one...my intent was to take it to someone like American Restorations and have it painted red and white polka dots--but that's just me. :) You must be very proud that you've almost got her operational. It's that good Dad nurturing instinct. Glad to hear Sydney's doing well.