Cleaning a Singer 306

[Roger]

Hi all,

The eBay 306k arrived in one piece and reasonably well packed. Weighs a ton, upset the delivery guy, I opened it up and it definitely did not come from a smoke/pet free home... it smells like it has a 20 a day habit, and was a cat nest for a bit... not as bad as pfaff tho that had a 40 a day habit.

The cables scare me... it has manuals and parts! And stuff! Very exciting! It’s in basically good nice the decals are a bit worn near the needle plate, and a little odd on the top, all needs a good clean as it’s sticky. Also has a sheet of newspaper from 1987 in it... and a copper coin jammed in the case! 

I’ll keep a bit of a log of me cleaning it here.

Here’s a few pics

[wrenkins]

That looks like a luck penny to me. 
I'm looking forward to this. 

[Addiscomber]

You tease!  What did you get in the way of accessories? Did you get the cover plates for embroidery and so on?  Come on Roger, nosey people want to know these things.

[Radiofan]

Looks like it's in good condition. Some scuffing of the decals and the pedal probably needs rewiring, but I'm sure it will end up being a very sturdy machine. How much was it?

[Roger]

It was £50 including postage, it’s a 1954 one slightly older than my father!

[Roger]

So...

I’ve had a rummage, I have 3 boxes 2 green ones with parts, an insane number of somewhat rusty hand sewing needles a lot of them for embroidery, manuals for a 201 cast iron, a 306 (phew) the parts possibly for both. A red vinyl box that is frankly huge! Some really unusual buttons, some very fine crochet hooks with little cover by Barin.
3 double needles that might be for the 306 1 is marked 14, the other 2 look finer.

I cleaned the foot pedal this came away yellow brown... the electrics are terrifying, there is cloth insulation, and rubber insulation, and string, and gaps between the insulation and the plugs... etc! I can’t believe the seller tested the motor!

On the whole tho it’s looking good might try and triflow it tonight too.

[Roger]

Ok... I stayed up late and wiped the outside of the machine down, it was filthy... mostly tar I think as it was yellow and very sticky... I used baby wipes!

Amazingly it’s free moving,there’s some caked on lube in the workings and in the oil holes so I’ve added triflow to all the holes and screws to loosen them up.

Found the bobbin case and 2 Bobbins. Phew!

I’ve never encountered such a filthy machine the balance wheel was gross! I kept wiping and yellow and black stuff kept coming...

It now has some shininess to the paintwork. However it has a lot of little chips, and the enamel has bubbled a bit in a few spots too. Any tips on fixing these?

[Radiofan]

You need to be careful with black vintage machines; before a certain date they were finished with a coating of shellac (which is yellow) over the decals. Shellac comes off very quickly with alcohol and those Huggies baby wipes contain some strange ingredients:

Aloe Barbadensis Extract, Polysorbate 20, Caprylyl Glycol, Sodium Benzoate, Coco-Betaine, Malic Acid, Parfum, Sodium Citrate, Tocopheryl Acetate.

I'm no chemistry expert, but some of this might affect the shellac. Shellac'd sewing machines should be cleaned with sewing machine oil, gently rubbing it until the dirt comes off. It gives the machine a nice lustre too.

For re-touching spots, you might try shellac mixed with carbon-black or lamp-black.

[wrenkins]

None of those ingredients are particularly harsh cleansers. They are mostly emollients and vitamins. I've just checked and Huggies are all alcohol free so your shellac, if present, should be ok. I think 1954 is probably too late for shellac anyway. My 28k is 1937 and isn't shellaced.

If as you say the thing was stinking you're probably dealing with tar and general gunk.  My dad had a 120 a day habit and it used to run down his windscreen. Lovely!

Personally I wouldn't do too much with the chips and bubbles unless they are likely to deteriorate more. Look on them as character. 

[b15erk]

I've had one or two machines that stunk of smoke too, but it was pointed out that one of them was about a 100 years old, when coal fires were the norm, so probably unfair to blame tobacco products.

Regarding the decoration though, my machines are for sewing on, and they reflect the sewing that has been done on them, so I don't mind a few battle scars - it adds to the story.  I would try to do something, if the flaw was likely to catch on fabric, or stop the machine running smoothly.

Lets face it these older machines have had a life!

Jessie

[Addiscomber]

Roger,

If your foot controller still has capacitors, please can you give me a clue as to what I need to be looking for as mine were thrown away about 6 years ago, and I have no idea about these things. Also were there 1 or 2?

Thanks, Addiscomber

[Roger]

Hi,

We’re at the in-laws (who take a dim view of cleaning sewing machines in the lounge) so progress has stopped... however I’m taking comfort that the Triflow is sinking in.

I’ve used baby wipes on a lot of machines, their combination of alcohol, moisturiser, light fragrance, gently abrasive but tough ‘tissue’ works wonders on dried oil, stuck lube, general grot, foul smells, mould, dust, etc, and doesn’t seem to damage decals, I think it’s because the ingredient are very diluted. I also patch test before I crack on, on the enamel on a hidden edge or similar.

The paint work of this machine was very sticky and dull, which is a stark contrast to the workings which are really well maintained and clean and free running despite not being used since 87 I reckon. The machine smelt strongly of smoke, so I think it was tar and soot. After a bit of a wipe (not a scrub) I got to the enamel, which is hard and shiny. So it looks polished now, the yellow I think was tar, and the black disintegrated belt dust.
This machine definitely has a clear (slightly yellow) layer on it that might be shellac, but it would be quite late for shellac. I actually have lamp black and shellac that I keep handy for older machines.

I agree that old machines should have some sewing scars, but at the same time I do like a smooth bed, and don’t like catchy bits of varnish. I like to get them to their best and take care of them a bit

When I’ve encountered capacitors in the past in old machines, they tend to be silver tubes/cylinders that are on an additional spur of circuit.

I’ll do some pics of all the parts so we can play spot the accessory...

I need to get a new belt for it, but I need to do a stock take of anything else it might need first.

Next I need to finish cleaning the case, and start on the internals to get any lint and dried lube.

[Radiofan]

If your foot controller still has capacitors, please can you give me a clue as to what I need to be looking for as mine were thrown away about 6 years ago, and I have no idea about these things. Also were there 1 or 2?

There is usually one in the foot controller with a value of 0.1uF and rated at X2. Connected across the switch/carbon-pile.

There are potentially other capacitors elsewhere in the machine -it depends on the model.

[Addiscomber]

There is usually one in the foot controller with a value of 0.1uF and rated at X2. Connected across the switch/carbon-pile.

Thanks, I have no idea what any of that means nor where one buys capacitors anyway. 

[Addiscomber]

It now has some shininess to the paintwork. However it has a lot of little chips, and the enamel has bubbled a bit in a few spots too. Any tips on fixing these?

If the chips are really quite small, but could catch fabric and threads, I am sure that I read a suggestion to use layers of clear nail varnish to fill them up and smooth them out. I'm afraid that I cannot recall where I read it though. I don't know whether you have come across the vintage machine pages on https://www.quiltingboard.com/vintage-antique-machine-enthusiasts-f22/  but there are 1000s of posts.