66 is finished!

The day I thought would never come has come! The 66 is finished and operational! I can't believe how after 102 years, it's still such a pleasure to use. So quiet and smooth and precise! And I also can't believe how well the restoration turned out. It was truly an amateur operation and quite the learning experience. It's not something I see myself doing again. Now without further ado...

Can you see the very obvious scratch I made with a screwdriver blade?

You can see the uneven printing of the decal. These are the original cover plates. They are pitted but usable.

An early rear clamping shank. I managed to find a set of attachments for it but I may replace it with a normal shank so I can use buttonholers and and other articulated attachments with it.

I had to replace this upper thread guide because I thought it was a friction fit and ended up damaging mine. It is NOT a friction fit and is sometimes necessary to use glue.

And here it is back in the skanky table it came with.

Now about the budget. Let's just say it's blown. And then some. I ended up buying a new balance wheel because I wanted the shiny chrome and I couldn't do it myself on my old one. As I said in the previous post, I had to buy new bobbin area parts. Here's why:

Just like sandpaper

Let's see...in addition to copious amounts of painting supplies, I also bought new etched covers and a stop motion knob. A new belt...decals...plating kit...We're probably looking at $300 easy. I guess that's not too far out of line with one in good condition but those usually come with a decent table. I hate that the decals don't have that sparkle like the original gold did, but I guess that's my only complaint about the whole project.

Well, that's all folks. I can put this one to bed. I wanted to show more photos, but I didn't want to make this post too photo heavy, so I made a web album. You can view it here.

Parts are plated

Plating went well with the electroless plating kit I got from Caswell. I was apprehensive about getting one shot at it and screwing it all up, but that wasn't the case. The process is virtually fool proof and if something does go wrong, it can be fixed. Unbelievably, nothing went wrong during this process. Unfortunately, however, the quality of the plate is dependent upon the quality of the surface before plating. That is, a polished surface will get a mirror finish, while a rough one will get a dull finish, and any flaws are still visible. Makes sense.

Here are the results:

You can see in the close ups how the condition of the part affects the outcome.  You can plainly see all the pits and flaws. The plate is too thin to hide flaws but thick enough to cause tightness during reassembly. Some of the tolerances are so small, I had to get creative during reassembly. I actually did this weeks ago and have been reassembling the machine over the past month.

The hook is badly pitted and I doubt will be usable. It isn't smooth in the slightest. And the bobbin case has a sandpaper like texture that would not buff away. It was virtually useless in the machine because it would grab the thread rather than letting it pass over. I've ordered replacements.

Here is a close up of the assembled bobbin winder and stitch length knob:

The stitch knob turned out beautifully because its finish was relatively undamaged. The toothed wheel of the bobbin winder still had most of its mirror finish, although pitted, and it is shiny and smooth after plating. All the silver parts in this photo have been plated.

The machine is back in the treadle base now and I'm just making final adjustments and waiting for the replacement parts. Overall, I'm quite pleased with how this project is turning out. I was expecting it to look more amateurish than it does, even though it is certainly amateurish. It actually looks quite good and stands up fairly well to inspection. I'll be making a final update and cost recap once the job is completed.