Singer 66: Cleaning and Sanding

We made some progress cleaning up the Singer 66 the weekend before Thanksgiving. Andrew sanded down all of the wood surfaces, while I began cleaning the machine head. It was somewhat cold then, but not nearly as cold as it is now. The back porch is not insulated, but is warmer than just being outside. Plus, the table weighs about one billion pounds; no one was volunteering to carry it downstairs and then up again! :)

Sanding

 The finish came off pretty easily since the table is so old and had been sitting in a basement for so long.

 Andrew did a great job evening out the finish. He was able to put on two coats of stain, but we haven't finished that part up yet, so no pictures.

 Meanwhile, I was sitting at the dining room table cleaning the machine with sewing machine oil. I decided to start with the bottom and work my way up. It was pretty grimy, but the machine moves and the parts turn. I just removed screws and cleaned it up with my toothbrush, some cheesecloth and the oil.

Before the scrubbin'

After the scrubbin'

Though it may not look monumentally different, I took off a LOT of black gunk and goop. 

Then, Thanksgiving and being super tired last weekend got in the way, but I hope this weekend we can maybe finish this up! Next Friday we will be in Oregon to visit my parents for Xmas! Yay!