Tuesday, October 8, 2013

The refinish job commences

    Ok, what I really wanted was a treadle to put a Singer 237 in. What I got is some pretty filthy irons and a cabinet, beautiful, but yucky finish. Today, since it was gorgeous, I decided to get dirty. I bought some GooGone for outdoor grills and ovens and sprayed it all up. Great stuff, no odor, nice clingy foam. I let it sit for almost an hour. Then I scrubbed with a new stiff plastic bristle brush and toothbrush. What a lot of thick, disgusting, dirty crud lifted off. I wore old clothes and gloves, but I was covered in yuck. I don't usually mind getting dirty or messes, but this was pretty nasty.

   I rinsed it all with blasts from my garden hose. I scrubbed a bit more. I can actually see gold paint on the decals. It took everything off down to the metal. Now, how much do I have to wire brush? Can I just lightly sand? How about it experts?



     Not satisfied with gook and mess, I started on the cabinet. I did parts of the top and one drawer. Below are photos so you can see the difference between cleaned and not. I used Formby's Refinisher. It kind of melts the finish, removes some and evens it out. I have to get some more muscle and bulk up or I won't finish this until 4th of July. This stuff stinks, so I have to do this in the garage which means when it is warm so I have to hustle.





     All I wanted was a treadle stand and a 237 to sew on...

2 comments:

Elizabeth said...

Oh Linda You are AMBITIOUS ! I tried that Formby's stuff. I found that Denatured Alcohol did the same thing. Try a test area and see if you agree. The irons look good to me. If there is no rust, just prime them and paint them. We aren't building pianos here.

Jan said...

Looks beautiful. I have the metal stand only in the garage and was always going to make a table out of it.....