Adventures with a Treadle Sewing Machine: Days 2 and 3

I have been making some pretty good progress over the past 2 days considering the rough condition this treadle machine was in. Yesterday I took some photos of how everything looked after the wood hardener had dried over night. 

I used wood filler to fill a lot of the cracks but do not have photos yet as I will be sanding everything down tomorrow. I then proceeded to wood glue a piece of the table that had lifted apart. 

Luckily, the wood glue worked like a charm. Everything looked great when I took the clamps off this morning.

I also spent last night cleaning the iron legs and pedal. I thought it would be an easy project. I started by scrubbing every last inch with some baking soda paste and a toothbrush. I then wiped everything down with a wet sponge followed by an immediate drying with paper towel. But it still wasn't clean. It took 8 more wipe downs before everything was finally clear of years and years of filth. Poor machine. 

Here are the before pics:

And even a during pic:

And the after pics! The right side is pretty badly chipped but all the rest looks great. I figure the right side just shows its aged charm. The bottom still needs to be polished but I am saving that for last. 

I called it quits for the night after all of the cleaning but I was right back at it today. During the little man's nap time I decided to start tackling the filthy machine! Here is what I was looking at as I sat down today.

I decided the best way to start would be by tackling all of the removable pieces. Here are before pictures of the items I decided to tackle today. 

And here is a during pic. This piece was in really bad shape. Even after cleaning it has little luster left to it. :(

It took baking soda paste and a toothbrush, then a desperate attempt at soaking in some Coca-Cola, and finally some WD-40. I then decided it was time to take a break again so I polished all the pieces before placing them back on the machine. I am not sure if any further cleaning on these specific pieces will do anything but I may try one more bout. If anyone has any advice on what to use to help these really come clean, please do share!

Here are pictures of the pieces after some elbow grease today:

I also used sewing machine oil on a cotton ball to clean all over the decals and the machine itself. So far I did 3 wipe downs and the machine is looking much better. A few more times and it might finally be clean. 

And that was all I had time for today. I still need to tackle all of the pieces that did not come off. I also have to clean the bottom of the machine as well. Quite a rewarding project so far though . . . I just am dying to get this whole thing sewing again! Such a beautiful machine . . . it's so sad to see how neglected it was. Hoping to stain the cabinet tomorrow! 

Stay tuned . . . 

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