Midnight: Singer 404 Restoration
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| Midnight |
How
do you like this for a complete restoration? I think he's beautiful!
It's
been a while since we restored and painted a sewing machine. We
bought this guy from Goodwill for $45 in December 2021. It was a
cabinet model manufactured in May 1960. The motor was frozen, paint
spotty and filthy with dings and chips.
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| Before |
My
resident repairman went over it, replaced the handwheel clutch
spring, oiled, lubed, cleaned and polished. After that TLC, the motor
freed up. He took the machine completely apart, ordered a few parts, and
worked on it off and on between other projects in 2023.
Fast
forward to May of this year. We decided to paint since I already
have a nice Singer 404 (Elizabeth) in original condition. Jerold filled
the chips, sanded, keyed the finish, and primed the whole machine.
Wet sanding the primer makes a really smooth finish for paint.
He
used three coats of Rust-Oleum 2X Ultra Cover in Midnight Blue and Silver. After a week, wet sanded to smooth before layering
three coats of Ultra Cover Clear. Two days under a heat lamp, then a
final clear coat for a mirror finish.
After two weeks of curing, Jerold reassembled, wired and fine tuned bobbin
tension. He did the majority of the work on this machine and it's certainly a
job well done.
Midnight sews great now! I'm happy, loving the classy
color scheme and can't wait to stitch a quilt or two.
