Sanding Metal

As just about any fan of vintage machines will tell you, once you start taking them in they start following you. People are so happy to find someone who knows what to do with them. So it was that I ended up with three vintage/antique sewing machines which needed some work. The model 127 was the worst so I started there.

The Sphinx decals were worn off completely in places and rust was everywhere. I looked around for the same decals but was sorely disappointed in what was available. So I decided to start over and paint the whole machine. That meant sandpaper. The jappaning was quite damaged and had to come off almost down to the metal. I used sandpaper from about 150 grit to 3000 grit. Gotta love the multi-packs.

Once everything was broken down to the degree I felt would work, I placed screws and other small parts in crud-cutter rust remover. It worked OK but the sandpaper was simply better. To get into the tiny spaces I used Dremel tips in my electric screwdriver. I find the Dremel a bit excessive for just removing rust. I was pretty pleased with how the parts were looking at this point. More to come.