Golden Era Things You've Revived Or Repaired For Use

[MPicciotto]

Hmmm. I'll have to take a look at that company. There is a need on older woodworking machinery to redo rubber rollers like on large belt sanders and the such. I might have to pass that onto a large forum of antique woodworking machinery people.

Thanks
Matt

 

[LizzieMaine]

They do seem to be quite interested in doing one-off custom jobs, and they're nice people to deal with, so I'm really looking forward to seeing the end results. They promised a quick turnaround, so we'll soon see.

 

[ingineer]

This is my Nephews doing, not mine, but putting it here in the spirit of things.
Pretty darn good for a young pup.
Early 40's fishing boat

Richard

 

[1930artdeco]

WOW!:eeek: And I thought restoring a car was tough. Nice looking boat.

Mike

 

[MissNathalieVintage]

The main issue with television sets is standards conversion. Few places in the world still use analog systems for over-the-air broadcasting, so the big obstacle is converting modern digital signals to an analog standard compatible with the set. I use a black box about the size of a deck of cards, provided by the cable company, and feed that into an old VCR with a built-in audio-video modulator. Hook the output of the VCR to the antenna terminals of the set using a balun adapter, and tune the TV to channel 3, and there you go. You use the tuner on the VCR to select channels, but otherwise the TV functions as normal. There are devices available for converting not just digital to analog, but to your choice of various obsolete TV resolutions -- UK users can get boxes to convert modern signals to 405 or 625 line analog, American users can find boxes for 441 line or 525 line NTSC.

The other option is to use a device called an "Agile Modulator" to broadcast the converted signal on your choice of analog channel and tune it in using the TV set tuner. These devices, commonly made by the Blonder-Tongue company, were formerly used by cable TV companies to feed signals into their cable line, but since the digital conversion they've become very common on the surplus market. You feed your signal from your analog converter box, VCR, or DVD player into the "Agile Modulator," and attach a set of common rabbit ears to the output. You'll generate a signal sufficient to go room-to-room in your house, but not strong enough to set off detector trucks or government monitors. Tune in the signal, again using rabbit ears, and there you go. These "Agile Modulators" are sufficiently cheap that some people have several of them operating on different channels, giving them a choice of programming to tune in.

The main disadvantage of the "Agile Modulator" system is that you need room to set it up -- the units are rack-mount, meaning they aren't small, and for best results you should have the system set up in a spare room, office, or workshop to keep it out of the way.

I don't know the legalities in the UK, but the US permits low-power home broadcasting as long as the maximum ERP of the transmitter is not over 100 milliwatts. Anything more than this and you risk a visit from Uncle Charlie.

Interesting, I never heard of an Agile Modulator, worth having a look see. I never bought the converter box and have no plans to get one. When I was subing at another work location they had a TV in the breakroom with the converter box. I got the chance to check out the digital box and boy I am sure glad I never bought one. Some of the TV channels never brodcast and sometimes there was never any picture only sound.

The TV in my home is digital I bought it from a thrift store for $19.00 a table top model with built in closed captioning for the hearing impared, which has come in handy. I am able to watch regular network TV from, I only get one channel. Just as you mentioned I too have my TV hooked up to my VCR and use the VCR remote to watch my one channel. Which is great since this TV station plays all of my favorite old TV shows. I just have to remind myself to put in the VHS tape so I can record the shows that come on late at night. Some nights are DVD or VHS watching nights because the network runs western TV show marathons.

 

[rjb1]

I just finished putting a 1938 Rolleicord TLR camera back into service.

Concerning digital broadcasting:
"I got the chance to check out the digital box and boy I am sure glad I never bought one. Some of the TV channels never broadcast and sometimes there was never any picture only sound."
Getting a decent signal from your antenna is a real pain and a neverending battle. It literally is back to the golden age with all the wires, coat-hangers, tinfoil, and standing and holding the antenna sometimes. I can get one of the local stations in the living room and not in the bedroom and another station I can get in the bedroom and not in the living room.
It's only worth the battle since the shows are free, and some of the stations show programs and movies of the Golden Age (like your station). (And I am always happy when they have a Western marathon.)
If you wanted to do some antenna-experimenting you might get more stations. I can get about a dozen stations (or more) here in Nashville.

 

[HadleyH]

Just an old, medium-small 1930s art deco mirror. I bought it at St Vincent de Paul in a mini auction .... it has a blue glass strip surrounding the frame, very pretty I thought.

I took it to pieces (unscrew it and clean it) and now it hangs in my bedroom.

 

[this one guy]

I restored operation to a "sold as is - not working" clock I bought at an antique shop. A clean & re-lube got it running like a champ.

 

[Shangas]

Buying things "as-is", or "for parts" or "display-only" or something like that, and then getting it fully functional again and using it, is a lot of fun. Extremely satisfying.

I bought this Singer 128k V.S. machine at a flea-market in London in 2012. That's what it looked like when I bought it. Grimy, dusty, gunky. Missing almost everything you could imagine. I don't even remember why I bought it. I think because it only cost 15 quid! The guy I bought it from said that it wasn't working. It was good for display, or parts, and that was it. That's why we got it so cheap.

I'm still restoring it, but it looks like this, now:

Not bad for something sold for 'display-only'.

 

[LizzieMaine]

Excellent work as always. I think unless an old Singer has been immersed in salt water for fifty years and corroded into a solid mass, there's no such thing as a "display only" machine. With a little patience and a lot of elbow grease, they *can* be brought back to life.

 

[Shangas]

This machine was made in 1936. So it's almost 80 years old. And it is absolutely bomb-proof. I broke at least three needles on it in one sitting once, while trying to sew on buttonholes, and it just shrugged them off. I'm currently using it to make a patchwork quilt using scraps of fabric left over from previous projects. It's a lot of fun.

Although I understand that apparently, you can't do free-motion quilting with long-bobbin machines. A little disappointing. I could see quilting becoming a hobby of mine. A practical and fun use for my machine. I'm also hoping to get some extra long bobbins for this thing. I have a couple of friends who have them (or have what certainly look like them), but have no use for them. And I'm trying to arrange a date and time to pick them up and add them to my collection. I currently only have four bobbins.

You can see three bobbins in the puzzle-box, and the fourth one in the winder. The shuttle is empty in that picture. I hope that the bobbins my friends have are Singer-compatible. I've heard bad things about the reproduction long-bobbins which you can buy on eBay, and as such, refuse to invest the money in them.

Using extremely fine steel-wool, today I polished the decals on this machine. The results are quite spectacular:

I'm not removing any paint or anything. What's being scraped off is about 75-odd years of dust, grime, gunk and nicotine which has dried and caked up on the machine, obscuring the original colours of the decals.

 

[this one guy]

I just finished putting a 1938 Rolleicord TLR camera back into service.

That, with a roll of , say... Pan F+, and you are ready to catch some real beauty.hoto: :thumb:

 

[sheeplady]

Although I understand that apparently, you can't do free-motion quilting with long-bobbin machines. A little disappointing. I could see quilting becoming a hobby of mine. A practical and fun use for my machine. I'm also hoping to get some extra long bobbins for this thing. I have a couple of friends who have them (or have what certainly look like them), but have no use for them. And I'm trying to arrange a date and time to pick them up and add them to my collection. I currently only have four bobbins.

Can I ask why you cannot do free quilting with a long bobbin machine? Is it that it stresses the mechanism? Or the feed dogs don't go down?

I would think with the correct foot (not sure what the feet are like on your machine) you could do it. My machine (the newest one) is sold as a "quilting machine" (the poor man's version) but as far as using it for free motion it simply lowers the feed dogs and requires a different foot.

I'm wondering if there is some way if the feed dogs don't normally lower that you could lower them mechanically, or possibly remove them all together just for the time you are quilting. Granted, my mechanical knowledge of machines is a little dim.

 

[Shangas]

Well according to one source I read, FMQ can't be done with a long-bobbin machine due to the way that the stitches are formed. Although after some thought and talking with others, I'm thinking that it probably can be done. I mean, the stitches on a V.S. machine are formed the same way as any other lockstitch machine, so...But yes, I would need a new type of foot.

Also, my machine is really old, so it doesn't have a drop dogs/stop dogs setting. But I do have cover-plates which will do the same thing for me.

 

[sheeplady]

Well according to one source I read, FMQ can't be done with a long-bobbin machine due to the way that the stitches are formed. Although after some thought and talking with others, I'm thinking that it probably can be done. I mean, the stitches on a V.S. machine are formed the same way as any other lockstitch machine, so...But yes, I would need a new type of foot.

Also, my machine is really old, so it doesn't have a drop dogs/stop dogs setting. But I do have cover-plates which will do the same thing for me.

I'd try it. It would be pretty obvious if it wasn't going to work I would think. All you would be out is a foot. If they take "standard" modern feet, Nancy's Notion's has both high and low shank feet at some of the best prices I've seen. I've sewn on older electrics, and I believe (if I remember correctly) they can take some version of a modern foot. I'd venture a high shank foot, but it has also been close to 20 years since I sewed on one that old. Yours is a true beauty and you are so lucky to have it.

Quilting is addicting though... so watch out!

 

[St. Louis]

Speaking of sewing machines: a charity thrift store near me has a cute little "Apartment" brand sewing machine, with cabinet, for sale for $75. The manager doesn't know whether the machine works and is unwilling to try it for fear of blowing a fuse. Here's a link to a similar machine, though the one I'm interested in has a cabinet as well: http://s81.photobucket.com/user/mloyet/media/Apartment Sewing Machine/SDC12174.jpg.html?sort=3&o=4

I know nothing about repairing machines, but from some things folks have said here it may be worth taking a chance on it. What do you think?

I was thinking I would wait until the next time this charity shop has a 20 percent sale for its members, in which case the machine would cost $60 (there's no tax.)

What are your thoughts?

 

[LizzieMaine]

I don't know this particular machine, but there are some good general rules to observe for any electrical apparatus before plugging it in. First, inspect the wiring -- if it's old rubber wire and the insulation is visibly hardened and cracked and you shouldn't try to plug it in before replacing the cord. If there's a motor you should smell it -- if it's burned out, you will smell an unmistakable stink of burned wiring. It's very acrid and very noticeable. If the motor smells like oil, that's normal, but if it smells like burned pitch, stay away from it. If it smells OK, try turning the motor shaft -- if it moves freely, it isn't siezed up, and it should be safe to plug it in and give it a try. Be alert for any signs of smoke coming out of the ventilation holes of the motor housing and any smell -- at the first sign of either, pull the cord, your motor's shorted and will need to be replaced. If not, the motor should run. It will probably need lubrication, which you should do according to the manual, but otherwise it shouldn't have any issues.

 

[Shangas]

St. L, a machine such as the one you've shown would be up to 50 years old (and even up to 100 years old). It could easily be converted to run as a treadle or a hand-crank, if the wiring and motor are shot. That would be no issue. Then you would have to clean it and lubricate it. That's also very easy. Once that's done, it would run forever and a day. And certainly for the rest of your life.

The machine you see there is an old Vibrating Shuttle machine. They came out originally in the 1870s and 1880s. Singer produced V.S. machines into the 1960s if my memory is correct. It will work the same as my 1936 Singer. But with a machine like that, you want to make sure that you have the BOBBINS. Original bobbins are tricky to find. There are modern reproductions, but for various reasons, they're not as good as the originals. So if you do buy it, make sure it has at least two bobbins. One to use, and one spare, so you have at least two options of thread.

My grandmother's Singer 99k from ca. 1950.

My Singer 128k, from 1936.

The two sewing machines which I have are from the 1930s and the 1950s, but both designs go back to the 1880s and the 1910s respectively. They both share the same attachments. So finding the appropriate foot for quilting (what would that be, by the way?) shouldn't be too hard. There's a sewing-machine shop in the next suburb that I visit on occasion, and I reckon they would have what I need.

 

[sheeplady]

Free Motion or Darning foot. (They are the same thing, different names.) It looks like a small loop on the end of the foot. Basically it doesn't press down as far as a regular foot when the presser foot is all the way down (it doesn't grip the fabric as tightly as a regular foot) but allows you to move the fabric in any direction if the dogs are lowered.

 

[Shangas]

Can't drop the dogs, but I can put on a cover-plate. I'll do that.