Month: October 2022

Besides the mechanical and aesthetic restoration work that gets done here in the shop there is also a fair amount of wood restoration that has to be done.

After 100 plus year those wooden crank handles can get to looking pretty worn and quite unlike the highy highly polished handles they started out as.

Some varathane with stain really brings them back to looking original.

When this machine was received I first thought it was only good enough to be a parts donor due to the deterioration of the clearcoat, and for a time it did just that, lending a piece here and a piece there to save another one of it’s sisters.

I decided to strip the old clearcoat from the bed, which is a laborious and delicate process as once the clearcoat is gone the decals are exposed and vulnerable but that went well and besides being able to presere the decals found the base paint was in very good condition as well.

After that it has been a process of applying clear polyurethane to build up a protective coat following by fine and finer sanding, more applications of polyurethane, more fine sanding, and you just keep repeating the process to build up the clear layers until the machine starts to shine.

After this, which is still ongoing… it will get a really good buffing.

I also need to touch up a few areas on the top and on the light cover but will do that separate of the bed.

In looking at thise machine it is hard to believe that it is one hundred and two years old, she has a few wee nicks and the lightest of marks on the slide plates which will polish out nicely.

In my opinion, the La Vencadora decals are among the prettiest ever, (and they were unique to the 128), and so popular they sold in vast numbers, so much so that we see almost as many of these than we do the plainer black and gold models.

People may complain that the vibrating shuttle machines only hold half as much bobbin thread as a round bobbin machine, and the unitiated may find them a little different to use but the stitch quality is simply amazing, and they will sew whatever you can put under the foot as they are virtually indestructible.

We also picked up an 1891 Singer VS2 “fiddle base” this week, a model that preceded and evolved into the 28 and 128 and just like it’s little sister, it still sews beautifully, despite her well worn condition.

Happy sewing.