Singer Redeye Part 2 - The one with the wood cabinet.

Well,  I assume if you are here, you came by yesterday to see the restoration of the Singer 66 Redeye from 1910? If you didn't, you can go here to see it.  Since then I've done some more work on it, and located the chrome polish...you'll have to see it.

Here's where we were last:  You can see some beautiful wood in this picture, can't you? That was my sneak peak.

Today, I promised you the wood cabinet, and that's what you'll get.



This was a labor intensive project.  It's not for the faint of heart.  It wasn't difficult...but it required motivation and perseverance.

So I purchased the machine in cabinet for $40.  I told you I was uncertain about the purchase yesterday - and this is why:

The table has water rings, old potted plant rings...it's missing the drawers...the veneer is chipped off in a large section on the front right (this is the picture from the back).  It was a mess.

Here's a close-up of the worst of it, just after one of the prepping steps.

I didn't know if I could bring it back, or if it was even worth it, monetarily.  There's the cost of the products, as well as the cost of locating new drawers.

But I started this project, so I was going to take it as far as I could.

Over on TreadleOn, there's a Wood Shop section - which will give you an in-depth description of the steps involved in restoring, and even refinishing wood, if necessary.

I chose to restore it, and here's the basics.

Gather these materials. Okay, this is what I needed for EVERYTHING, but you get the point.

 For the wood, I used Murphy's Oil Soap, to clean off a century of grime. Dilute to directions, scrub grime off with a clean cloth.  I used blue shop towels or old rags to do it.  I went through a lot of shop towels this week.

Then, I used Old English Scratch Filler.  I used the lightest color, which I think was Golden Oak. This is my new favorite thing.  I'll be posting on that product alone later one.  Basically, this smooths out the surface a bit.  Apply with clean cloths, let sit for a few minutes, and wipe off.

Next up is a coat of Howard's Restor-A-Finish.  I used the Golden Oak color, because I didn't want to darken my wood.  You apply it to a medium or fine steel wool, and rub into the surface of the wood, all over.  You are trying to buff out imperfections in color and surface.  You'll leave this on for a few minutes, according to directions, and wipe off.  You may need to repeat this step.

After that is my other favorite new product - Howard's Feed-N-Wax.  This stuff smells fabulously of fresh orange peels.  I love it. And it does a wonderful job of shining up and moisturizing the wood.   Here's an example - the drawer section on the right has wax - the one on the left doesn't.  See the difference in richness?

Apply with more cloths, then let sit 20 minutes, and wipe off.  This I needed to repeat multiple times. I also used the scratch filler on top of it to work up the surface a bit more, and then applied more Feed-N-Wax.

This took me a couple of days, altogether.

But I am thrilled with how it turned out.

Ready?

Before:

After:

The top - with stains removed. The grain show beautifully.

Here's the full top - you can still see the missing veneer section on the front right, but the color blends in much better.  

And the inside leaf - there's one section of veneer missing. But otherwise, the inside is gorgeous.

See that shine?  Gorgeous.

I'm still adding Feed-N-Wax coats here and there, to get the sheen fully restored.  I'm still a bit unhappy about the chunk of missing veneer, but short of installing a new bit of veneer, it is what it is, and shows a bit of the life of this century old furniture.

I have drawers being shipped, which I found on Ebay. They are missing knobs, but I plan on refinishing them according to what I did here, and adding some nice clear glass knobs in place of the wooden ones that are missing.  What do you think?

What's next on the blog?  Getting the treadle function working, locating a treadle belt, and removing the century of grime on the cast iron.  99% of that is done already, and I have some great tips.

I'm thinking that will be Monday - we have our company Christmas party tonight, and I'll get to wear my vintage party dress.  I can't wait to share those photos too!

Thanks for following along! I hope you have a fabulous weekend!

Jess