Best domestic machine ever?

I've fallen in love. About six months ago I bought a brown 1950s Singer 201, in mint condition.
It sat in the shed for, well, six months. Got it out when I was having trouble several layers of sewing denim (the 66 couldn't handle it easily). It went through it like a hot knife through butter. Afterwards, I imagined it saying "so what else ya got" in a Brooklyn accent. This thing is tough.
Last weekend I had no hesitation getting it out again. Someone I know had some blouses made by a sample machinist, who charged the Earth, but refused to finish with buttons and buttonholes! The buttons were easy: The 319k is made for button sewing. Looked at the 319 instruction book for button holes too. Yes it can do them but it's all very manual. I pulled out my vintage buttonholer, attached it to the 201 and started practising. The combination is just about unbeatable. Buttonholers are very cheap but sooo sophisticated. You can do a buttonhole on any straight stitch machine. How? The 'holer grabs the fabric and moves it, keeping the needle moving straight up and down. Instructions tell you to keep it slow. Hmmm... why's that? I went fast and the heavy fabric dragging on the needle pulled it far enough from its normal path that it went down on the plate and broke. Well, that's why!
So, I don't have any pictures, but here's a link to a demonstration by a guy in NYC, Peter Lappin.
I did take pics of doing the button on the 319, though. Very quick. Bummer (or otherwise) thatone machine can't do everything, isn't it? Could probably attach the buttonholer to the 319, but that'd be less fun, wouldn't it?

Might as well face the facts

I'm far more interested in collecting and fixing sewing machines than I am with sewing. This is not to say that I'm not interested in sewing, but the machines make my heart race.
So I was strolling lazily through ebay a few days ago and someone had a really nice looking machine from the 1920s up there. He said "Antique Singer Sewing Machine Head, Machine is seized, Electricals untested". The machine looked really nice (lotus) and the serial said it's a model 66 from 1924. No cabinet of course, and it came with a motor. Starting price was $15.
OK, what are the chances of anyone else bidding? Well, there was a chance even though it sounded pretty bad. I read the description: "Antique Singer Sewing Machine Head. Machine No. Y1657881.  Machine is seized and has some rust, globe, bobbin and bobbin cover plate is missing. Electricals untested pedal attached. The drive belt is missing too". Yes, he's really sexing it up. Even better was that it finished at 10:05pm on a Wednesday night, was in Geelong and postage was listed (cheaply, IMO - it weighs quite a bit) as $26.50. Nobody else placed a bid, surprisingly :-) Picked it up today and it looked like this:

He was right, it really was seized. I tried oil and a little persuasive rocking, no dice. Decided after taking half the mechanicals off that the Internet would be a good resource here. Hmm, yes, a good WD40 soaking followed by a good wipe and a good lot of oil. The WD40 didn't free it up! I disconnected everything the hand crank connected bit by bit until I found the culprit: The needle bar was completely rusted to its mounting. Tapped a screwdriver directly downwards on the top and it moved. Gently placed the pliers on it and moved it round (it was disconnected completely at the top). The bar was covered in orange WD40 now and it seemed no amount of wiping was going to remove it. Eventually, though it did.
Re-connected everything and plugged it in (I had disassembled and reassembled the motor too) and the motor worked. It was so pathetic (probably because I'd removed the brushes) that I decided to treadle it. Into the cabinet it went, and I even had a new belt for just such an occasion :-) She's probably not sewn a stitch in 50 years, but she did several hundred this evening. Yep, she's a beauty, and I'm just going to apply some shellac to protect the decals.

In her new home

That lovely decal

DIY Vintage Machine Japanning 2

About to get hot

I decided that the Japan job I'd done wasn't up to scratch. Put it in the oven for the requisite three hours. The smell in the kitchen (the machine wouldn't fit into the BBQ) and the subsequent attempt to rub it down was unsuccessful.

After the oven, not very smooth

  So I stripped it all again and painted it with enamel. Well, I have to say that the enamel's biggest downfall is that it's so damned thin! The Japan from the methylated 78 was very thick and was indeed quite suitable for the job but it was a bit lumpy. In retrospect, I should have just filtered it through a stocking.
I think I'll probably have to make a mixture out of shellac and asphaltum and re-Japan the machine.

Damn, the "asphaltum" I ordered from Jacksons turned out to be lump rosin. I'll be sending it back of course (I assume they'll want back, since it costs twice as much as asphaltum), but it meant when I decided to redo the Japan, I used the dissolved record mix again. This time I practically poured it over the base of the machine. I'll leave it four or so days to dry (or longer if necessary), sand it back then fire it in the BBQ (after making a bit of room there, or turning it sideways) since I'll probably die if I use the kitchen again (from either fumes or being subsequently murdered). Haven't taken any photos of the new Japanned surface - it looks pretty much the same as the last time, only a bit smoother. This time I also mixed some Shellac into the mixture and filtered before pouring. Brushes must be used only within a few seconds of the pour or else you'll get definite brush strokes appearing and staying on the surface. Yes these can be removed later, but it's not easy, particularly after firing the machine, when the Japan is really quite hard. I'll also attempt to remove more of the mechanical components beforehand - it scared me when after it was last fired the machine was completely siezed. I've bought some tri-flow oil now in anticipation of this happening again.
OK, more later, but I'm convinced that the dissolved record will give the most accurate surface now. Alternative is to proceed with enamel, giving it about three or four cans worth, or about 30 or so coats to build up enough paint to exceed the depth of the casting marks. If the surface remains dull as it did the first time, I will shine it using more shellac, dissolved in metho and applied using a cotton cloth.

DIY Vintage Machine Japanning

The 1891 Singer, I decided, needed a lick of paint, particularly since the decals were almost gone.
What I discovered was that the stuff that's on there is not actually paint at all, but Japan, named from the country that made it famous. It's very much like enamel, but is made from shellac and lamp black. The latter is, I believe, just fine charcoal and the acceptable substitute is asphaltum. Asphaltum is available today, lamp black not as much. When the sewing machines were painted with this, they were (as with enamel) placed into an oven overnight, and this process repeated twice more. Is it any wonder sewing machines cost so much?
Anyway, I decided that instead of replacing the Japan with enamel, I'd have a go at the original finish. To this end, I decided to try an experiment: Japan made from a 1920s record. Assuming this will fail, I've ordered and received shellac flakes and asphaltum (from Jackson's art supplies in Perth). See Woodworking forum for the basis of my research.
The record was from the tip shop. When I told him what it was for he only charged 50 cents. Bargain! It takes almost a whole week to dissolve a record, so last weekend I smashed it all up and placed it in an ice cream container, like so:

Pretty stupid to put it in this for two reasons:
1. What if metho also dissolves vinyl?
2. I'm supposed to shake it each day!
So, after covering it with cling film for a day or two and stirring very carefully, I transferred it into a clean, empty, dry morello cherry jar. Shook it at least once a day and now, six days later, it's very thick, smells like tar and about as painty as it's going to get.
Stripping the VS2
I stripped the "bright work" off, and the sewing machine looked like this:

Applied some paint stripper, waited 15 minutes and washed it off. The tin suggested applying it 2-3mm thick but I didn't want it to eat my precious old lady, so it went on thin:

Painted with stripper

After hosing

Still a lot of old Japan there, but the stripper meant it was thinner and easier to remove (although by no means easy). I used a scraper, wire drill attachment (essentially useless for removal but good for removing the newly formed rust) and sandpaper (don't use a machine on the curved surfaces or they won't be for long).
Eventually it all came off:

This is also after cleaning with metho which got a lot more black stuff off. I kept wiping with clean cloth and metho until there was no more black stuff. Sent a photo to a friend who said it looks raw and industrial. Yes, it does now, but if I didn't coat her with something, she'd be orange by the day's end.
Also mentioned to my friend that I never thought I'd get excited by a naked old lady (122 years old, in fact). Another thought was a guilty one: This is porn to a sewing machine collector.
OK, enough humour. You'll probably notice I've removed a lot more stuff as I've gone along: It became obvious that if I have to bake this in the oven (or hooded barbecue - apparently the tar smell gets much worse once it gets hot and I do love my oven) I don't want anything to go with it if not necessary, so I took a lot more things off. It'll possibly be difficult to get them back on, since they include the shuttle race and work clamp, but I know I can do it.
First coat and she looks like this:

I was very disappointed that it's so dull, but I had a look at the discussion pages again, and someone mentioned that it's dull and rough until it goes into the oven, so I'll wait until after firing to decide on its success. I will leave it to dry overnight then rub it with emery paper before giving it another coat. I will also add some boiled linseed oil to the mixture, as this was also mentioned to stop the Japan from becoming brittle. The linseed oil will add to the smell, too, so the BBQ's the prime contender for firing at this stage.
And that's as far as I've got. Will update when there's something else to report.
EDIT: Something else to report. I added boiled linseed oil, then gave it all a second coat:

Yes it's looking rough, but as I mentioned I'm not expecting great things (like it even working) and the finish goes smooth once it's in the oven (BBQ).
I also found that it's so thick that it covers the oil holes (notice they're all gone). Will have to take to it with a small drill bit and carefully (by hand) scoop off the 'Japan'.
Will give it today to dry (it's cold and extremely wet in Melbourne right now), or until it's slightly tacky to the touch.

A couple of new machines

It's getting a bit beyond a joke now. I've bought two more machines and was given one. They are:
1891 Singer VS-2 Fiddle Base.
1950s (serial number unlisted) Singer 227M, and
1950s (probably) Liberty (Japanese Singer 15K clone).

Liberty is here

Best thing about it is that it's a hand crank machine. Thought that it might just fit the VS-2 but the mounting isn't there for the older one. Still, after lubrication it goes like a beauty. That said, just winding a bobbin was initially fun but quickly became exhausting.
The VS-2 is next

As you can see the decals are almost non-existent. Also, that motor had to go. It was a conversion, probably in the 1950s, had no controller at all, and had no plug "for safety reasons". Does one really need anything more? Out it went, with all its accompaniments (brackets, belt). You can see that the original coffin top came with it, so I'd really like to restore this machine back to its original state. Kind of expensive, considering. The metal parts all need re-plating (in nickel), so I got rid of all the old stuff and polished it up. If it looks crappy later, I'll do it, but the cost is getting up there.
The 'paint' you see on these old machines is actually not paint at all, but "Japanning". This is a mixture of asphaltum, shellac and boiled linseed oil which is painted on then fired at about 140C for several hours. I think this machine deserves a new covering after 122 years of service.
So, I was on the look out for a treadle table for it, and found one. $50 later and I had a 1950s table. OK, not time matched, but it'll work. It also came with a Singer 227M. Straight stitch machine with no booklet, attachments or anything else (deceased estate, the family threw a lot of stuff out, as they do). The machine is quite a good one, but with no ZZ plate or attachment, or light, motor etc it's pretty useless. Anyway, have to go, but I'm going to melt an old 78 record in methylated spirit and add some boiled linseed oil (the records consist mainly of asphaltum and shellac), a common practice apparently and onto the hooded BBQ it goes for three hours. Let you know how it turns out.
EDIT: Here's the 227M:

Sewing machine cabinet quick restore

My Singer 319K came in a cute little 1960s cabinet. However, the cabinet had seen better days. It looked like this:

I decided during the holidays that this little cutie deserved a new lease on life.
Sanding it down seemed like a lot of work, and a scraper usually achieves the same result only much quicker. I used a scraper (I call it a wallpaper scraper), in fact this one:

You can clearly see the state of the cabinet lid. The top of the lid copped the worst of the sun, being on top of course. It was so bad that a lot of the varnish was gone completely, leaving large patches of exposed wood. The remaining varnish must have felt a bit lonely or even suicidal, since it barely held to the wood at all. I scraped it all onto the floor, vacuumed the floor, then unscrewed the lid to take it outside (it was obvious even to me that doing this inside was just unnecessarily messy).

Bare wood, before filling

A quick trip to the hardware shop and I came back with a brilliant Aussie varnish, Cabot's Cabothane Clear. Bit expensive as were all the urethane finishes. When the varnish was off, it was sanded using a machine, filled with liquid wood then manually sanded all over with some fine steel wool (00).

Steel wool, about to rub down the filler and bare wood

The urethane requires three coats, and here's how it goes:
First coat goes on the bare wood. You have to do this inside in a non-dusty environment, unfortunately (it smells pretty strong). If not you'll have dust, insects, pollen etc. under your beautiful polish. After six hours, rub it lightly with some 300 emery (dry), put the second coat on, wait another six hours, rub lightly, third coat, leave for 24 hours, rub lightly (I used steel wool grade 0000) and use car or furniture wax to leave a deep gloss.
Here is how it ended up:

Top of the lid is now as beautiful as the machine it contains

I put two coats on the underside of the lid, and three on the top of the cabinet:

Top of the cabinet

Only two coats for the lid's underside

Didn't really want that deep gloss for the underside. Seemed like a bit of a waste of effort and it didn't really get much sun exposure.
I still have to do the rest of it, but that was probably the larger amount of work. The legs are only just holding the varnish, too, so it shouldn't take much to get them looking like new (albeit somewhat rustic) again. It will possibly have to wait until the end of term 2.
Most of the time went into waiting for the stuff to dry, so this was what I'd class as an easy job, or "low hanging fruit".
The lid's underside took a lot more work to remove the original stuff that the top (it wasn't as damaged). Also, be careful with your scraper: It's not that difficult to scrape the wood off if it's soft.

Pinnock Sewing machine user manual

I couldn't believe it when one kind lady scanned this and sent it to me.
I don't actually have a Pinnock 404, but I'm sure it will help someone out there.
Can't comment on copyright, but seeing as Pinnock stopped manufacturing in 1966 and there are a heap of people selling pdfs of Pinnock manuals I came to the conclusion that totally free distribution of this is reasonable.
I have several Pinnocks and they're all very similar up to the time Brother started using the name in the 1980s, so if you have a genuine Pinnock, this is likely to be helpful.
I disassembled the original pdf, cut it in size and re-saved it to reduce the file size. It is 1.67MB and available here.