Watcha Makin'?

[WV Sawmiller]

Tom,

  The treadle and wheel do not move on the set I bought today but I am confident with a little WD-40 or Blue Creeper it will not take much to free them up and I will do that before any sanding or painting and well before putting a top on it.

  Maybe I should market it to the various sewing and cloth shops my wife frequents. It would look good there I bet. You may try that with yours. I'll have to check on the inserts. Since I only plan on adding a top and no shelf or stretcher the fasteners will not show anyway.

[thecfarm]

I seen many singer machines, but none like that one. 
Tom you did a great job.
I have one in the women cave that I need to do that too. Been there for more than 10 years.

[Tom K]

Old Greenhorn - I would agree that HERE that table would probably sell around the $250-300 range. I've come to the conclusion over the years that on smaller projects like that, at least around here, it's extremely hard to make a decent hourly wage making one-of projects. The only way to optimize your time is with multiples. If you pump enough of the same thing out you can get efficient enough to make a decent hourly wage (if you can sell them all.) The small projects I do I just look for a little extra coin in my pocket and don't look at the hours it takes to get there. More to help someone out, keep myself busy, or built something I've always wanted to.

The only projects I can manage to make a decent hourly wage on seem to be custom built-ins. When I compete against other craftsman instead of big box or furniture stores I can increase my pricing. There's too much cheap furniture out there and most people don't know the difference. Between that and the amount of "Amish made" furniture in this area it's just not a market I want to compete in. I stopped doing spec. work years ago for those reasons. That and I have a hard time finding the line between good enough and how I want it. I can pour hours into a detail that only another craftsman will notice, and they aren't buying it.

Some guys can make a table like that and sell it within an hour for $2k, I don't have that market and I'm not that kind of marketer. 

One suggestion I might offer. If you haven't yet, try a matte finish on your next project. Most higher end houses I've been in lately don't tend to have a high gloss finish on any furniture. 

[Don P]

There was a retired gentleman here that restored those old sewing machines. He had a machine and wood shop and it was filled with old machines. He passed a year or two ago and that is the last person I knew of who restored them. I kind of hate to see them repurposed, I remember pumping my grandmothers, but I've sure worked off of a sheet of plywood screwed to more than one. I guess I'm not the right customer, I've never looked twice at buying one.

But if you want to motorize it, I think I have the upgrade kit  ;D

[Old Greenhorn]

Well Don, I knew you would take that angle on this stuff because your are a 'restoration guy' and always will be. I agree. My dad (and me too a little) restored a LOT of stuff over the decades to full functional usage as original as possible. I have seen a lot of these machines in complete condition going for very cheap at estate sales, the price was more than tempting, but I just could not get myself to throw out the machine so I could make something else out of it. I would leave it go in the hope somebody would restore it. My wife already has one treadle machine in fine shape and about 3 or 4 other modern machines she uses (that I know of). We don't need another. But these legs were all we were given, there was nothing else. SO I felt fine just using them as is. I could not keep the "original patina" as 21 suggested because most folks will not buy something that is all rust. They really needed paint as they were pretty bad. 21 seems to have a very specific set of aesthetic requirements and although is suggestions would certainly work and might appeal to someone more, I just just to use materials I had available rather than add more expense and time. I do not have a running lathe right now and my available steel is limited and I save it for real needs. Ironically, the woman who looked at it long and hard made a positive comment about how that stretcher added to the contrast. I'll have to look into that matte finish. Never thought of it that way. Most folks want something shiny that's easy to dust and looks clean. Matte would be easier I think.

 I understand everyone's pricing theories stated here and certainly, we all agree, the market area you are in is the biggest single element. Consignment shops can be good outlets, but lately it seems they all want at least 40% of the sale price and many have time limits and other restrictions or add on costs. One local one we have with great traffic and location I contacted had a very provincial attitude (actually borderline snotty) and only wanted a particular type of stuff that was poorly defined. It boiled down to what struck the owners fancy and did not compete too closely to what he built for sale. Those conversations did not end well. I later learned from other folks that had tried getting work in there that he is snotty to everyone and hard to work with and those folks also walked away. So having done this show and learned what I did, I think I have to find another couple of shows and put in the effort, but it sure is quite an effort.

[WV Sawmiller]

Tom,

  As I mentioned I found a complete machine and stand that could be bought at a reasonable price (Around $50 I suspect) but did not have the heart to repurpose it and hope someone restores it. Mom has/had one but I don't know why as she never really got beyond the iron on patch skill level. My wife has high end Bernina machines and can sew anything including prom gowns, wedding dresses, 3 piece suits, etc. but mostly now she quilts and sews some BOP (Bureau of Prisons) logos on my  sons work clothes and some for his friends. She has a 120" quilting frame so can do King sized quilts for herself and an occasional friend.

  I still remember many of this old foot pedaled machines in use in little shops in Africa. In fact a co-worker (Our project security manager and his wife) who was looking for ways to help the local Cameroonian/African workers was considering providing machines to individuals so they could start a career and earn a living. He said you could not give them start up money as family and friends would con them out of it. His big concern was them simply selling the sewing machines for immediate cash.

  My roomie was talking to a lady Wachenhut guard we had hired at our apartment. She worked 72 hours a week (6 - 12 hour shifts/week) for about $50/month and asked her what she wanted to do with her life and she said she wanted to be a hair dresser but she could never save up enough money to buy a hair dryer to get started. The next trip home on R&R Jack bought her a hair dryer for $25-$30, she quit Wachenhut, set up a hair salon on a street corner and the last we talked to her she was making about $200/month working 4-5 hours a day doing what she wanted to do with her life.

  Anyway right now I just don't have the heart to destroy a rebuildable sewing machine to use the legs for a knick-knack table. If I make big money off this one I might become more mercenary and change my mind.

    BTW - I enjoy the shows but it is a lot of work to load benches and wood pieces carefully so they do not get damaged. I use a lot of HF moving blankets for that purpose.

[Old Greenhorn]

Oh I agree. I have enough to do already and don't need to be further destroying things that could be restored. I have a bunch of stuff I have picked up cheap at flea markets and yard sales just because I would like to put them back in original working condition. Most of these are the big crosscut saws (I think I have 8 now) plus a pit saw. But adzes, broadaxes, drawer knives, and anything of that ilk are fair game. 
 There's always legs on C/L if you want to pay their price, no need to rip a machine apart and scrap half of it.
 In this case, all I had were the two legs and nothing else, so I worked with that.
 'Do what you can, with what you have, where you are.' That's my motto. :D

[WV Sawmiller]

Tom,

People like us have the disease which keeps us from getting rich. We keep thinking how to repair and restore things while others just look for the profit and have no concerns about history or nostalgia or such.

I read or heard the tale (May or may not be true but illustrates the point) about a failing railroad who just could not make enough money to break even. The owner finally sold it. The man who bought it cheap took the equipment and resold it to other railroads to recover what he had already paid. Then he ripped up the rails and ties and sold them for a tidy profit. When done with that he sold the land to real estate developers and became filthy rich.

Its all how you look at an object sometimes I guess.

If we saw an old sawmill we'd want to fix it where an outsider would see it as worth more for parts, scrap metal, or artwork. :

EDIT-UPDATE: I sprayed the contact points for the moving parts on my new to me Singer frame with WD-40 and spun the wheel and everything rotates and such as designed. The foot pedal sticks but it moves so that is good to see.

[Larry]

I went to a estate sale for a deceased woodworker last Saturday.  His daughters and granddaughters were running the sale.  Somehow they found out that I made hand mirrors which was a perfect fit for their plan.  They approached me about a little trade.  There was a maple tree that had died in the front yard.  It was sawed into lumber for woodworking but nothing was ever made.  As a memento from the home place they each wanted a hand mirror made from the tree.  So.....

These are the six mirrors I made.  I usually spray maple with CAB lacquer to keep the white but they wanted an oil finish.  I used the Sam Maloof finish.



I hope they will be happy.

[doc henderson]

 

 

 

 

 

 

got the charcuterie board made for my neighbor, who just graduated form trinity HS.  Oak with some character.  she got to help make it.  Had the power outage had not fried my hard drive, I would have had it done for graduation.

[doc henderson]

Larry, where do you source the mirrors and how do you fit/fasten them in the wooden part.  can we see a pic of the other side.  very nice.

[Larry]

This is my mirror supplier.
Beveled Glass Mirrors
Some suppliers sell mirrors that are not round, have rough edges, or vary in diameter up to 1/16".  The one in my link is good and fairly inexpensive compared to others.

I turn a recess in the wood to hold the mirror.  The mirror can be glued in with lots of different types of glue.  I use silicone caulk which holds the mirror just fine.  If it gets broken its easy to put in a replacement using caulk.






The recess is not complete in the picture.  I take out as much wood as possible to make it light weight than the mirror seats on a small rim of wood.

The blue tape is on my shop made vacuum chuck.  The chucks lets me make them on a production basis.  I've made a few hundred.



A few more from the past.  I've made a lot of different designs.  The mirrors have been surpassed by technology.....most girls use their phones instead of a hand mirror these days.  For that reason they are slow sellers and I seldom make them anymore.

[Wlmedley]

Made a table a couple years ago out of a bent poplar tree that had died behind my garage.Made the frame out of walnut that had been in the barn for at least 35 years.At the time all I had was a large hand plane and I got fairly flat and finished it with some sort of tung oil finish.Top wasn't very smooth and hard to keep clean.Recently bought a Dewalt electric hand held plane and decided to redo it.Finished with 3 coats of spar urethane and it looks a lot better.Not perfect but plenty good enough for my back porch.

 

[WV Sawmiller]

 

 
I picked up this old sewing machine and stand at our local flea market this morning. I'll take the top and the machine off. I guess the sewing machine will go in the scrap pile. Not sure what I'll do with the wood. The round top has the Singer logo on it.


 
The sewing machine is an electric Singer but the stand is a Climax brand. I never heard of a Climax brand sewing machine before.

   I will put a live edge wood slab on the stand to make a table out of it.

[Old Greenhorn]

Well, a quick search and I found this Howard:
"The Climax sewing machine company was a sub company of the New Home Sewing Machine company of Chicago, Illinois.  They were manufactured from the Mid 19th to the early 20th Century.  Singer bought out New Home in the early 1920's."
SO are you going to keep the original patina as 21incher prefers, or paint the legs? That table I made gets a lot of attention, you should be able to get a good price for it.

[WV Sawmiller]

Tom,

   Thanks for the history.

   I am inclined to clean it up and paint it a glossy black. I will reconsider once I get the legs separated from the body. 

   BTW - purchase price was $15 so I am not going to be out too much no matter what happens with it.

[Old Greenhorn]

Holy Cow! 15 bucks? You would never find that around here. I would buy a bunch at that price and do a line of tables. Around here there are none under 65 bucks, for just legs. Full machines run about 150.

[WV Sawmiller]

    Yeah, he first asked $20 then I asked if that was his best price and he said "How about $15" and I said that sounded reasonable, paid him and told him I'd pick it up on the way out.

    Now I am torn with what to do with the sewing machine? Throw it in the scrap metal bin or see if anyone wants to buy it? Maybe I need to put it on the "Do You Need" board here.

[Don P]

The portable part does look like the one big sis bought in a pawn shop before heading off to college, it was an antique 50 years ago. The cover was looking like 2 curve top radio cases... if you were needing another project.

[WV Sawmiller]

   The curved top has the SINGER log on it and has little ears and locks into the frame on the stand so it was built for this use and not something someone modified if that is what you are wondering.

[Don P]

Ahh, hers had that top on a portable bottom. It was a portable "suitcase".

Procrastinating in the gloom, off to Lowes, we're going to biscuit 2 slabs together to make an island top to match a peninsula we made last week.

[Larry]

Finishing a little wall art this evening.  The last step before putting on a finish is too take the piece outside and sand/examine in raking sunlight.  Photographers call it the Golden Hour.  My shop has enough light for an operating room but it won't come close to showing defects like natural raking light will.  With sculpted forms it becomes even more important.



If I ever build another shop I'll have a bay of windows to take advantage of that light.

[beenthere]

Larry, you have obviously spent a good amount of time sanding to get that fine finish. Pays off in the end. 

[tule peak timber]

Really nice Larry. I'm a big fan of wood that "moves" in shape. 8)

[Wlmedley]

My sister was up for a visit a couple weeks ago and was looking at my wood collection.She said she had a little shelf in her bathroom made out of particle board that was coming apart and wandered if I could make a replacement.She lives in Harrisonburg Virginia and I told her to send me a picture when she got home.I think I matched it pretty good.Also she says I have a lot better prices than they have in Virginia.She said she will paint it white so I used mostly poplar.