Gertie refurbished

She sews beautiful! I had to break in the belt though, and THAT was a lot of foot peddling! I heard you could stretch the belt before you put it on, but I didn't want to end up with a floppy belt. The belt worked great when winding the bobbin, but with sewing it was very stiff. 

I did some reading and found out that using violin Rosin  would help! I had no idea what it was and luckily we have a music store within a couple of blocks of us! It was about $5, so I was ok with that. This is what it looks like:

 It is like a little puck that looks like a deep red color. It is very hard. You hold this little puck behind the leather belt and treddle until it coats the back of the belt. What it does, is helps the leather grip the wheel. Gripping the wheel, helps to make the needle go up and down. How is that for a very simple explanation! I think those experts out there are laughing at my explanation -- but as long as someone get's it, that's all that counts! This little puck was NOTHING like I imagined it would be! This is what the puck looked like when I was done:

After peddling for a bit, it loosened so it was easier to peddle! I figure if it take a bit of work, it will count as exercise! Hah!

You will notice on the first photo of Gertie, the finish looks ok. When you get closer, it seems to be a matte finish! I did the best I could with my limited knowledge. I read quite a few blogs of vintage owners taking apart everything, but I was terrified to do that! Remember when I took my mom's machine apart when I was little and no one could put it back together and an expert had to be called! $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$

so.... I did the best that I could!

  First I used Autosol Metal Polish

... then followed up with 

Finally I used an auto polish to buff. Trust me, There was a lot of elbow grease and I was impatient to work on her. Photo below is a closeup of the finish. It's been worn through the years. I tried a few different products.

This photo is with the flash. you can see little mottled spots. They were more prominent before the deep clean. 

This photo is without the flash and you can see there is finish that has flecked off.

The last bit was followed up with auto polish from our Auto Body friend. I'll have to keep trying, but as long as she's clean and smooth, I'm not too worried!

From a distance she may not be brand new! But she's brand new to me and I love her! She will be in the family for many years to come and I am sure that my dad is happy that I adopted her!

I took a week vacation this coming week so I can do some quilting! I have been quite tired lately when I get home from work, so this week is a chance to re-charge those creative cells and spend some time with Chef!  I'll try and update my progress!

If there are any vintage owners out there, I would love to hear your input on how to get your babies shiny!

Happy quilting everyone!
Margo