NE-UT

Took a trip to Nebraska so K could meet the family, celebrate a birthday, and retrieve a dresser. A day later, we were off to Moab to do some Jeeping! It was a lot of driving, but both trips were great! 

I was showing K my childhood bedroom and noticed this glass from my senior prom. How prophetic..."Stay Gold". Gold was my class color from college - KTP! My brother was able to join us in NE so we took a classic shot.

My parents had a dresser for each of their children - which is a great idea. The pic on the left is the preparation to extract the dresser - through the window. I skipped that part. When my parents purchased the dressers the house was different. There was a veranda to one of the bedrooms so it was up a ladder and in. However, year and years ago, that veranda turned into an enclosed sunroom. If you add that up, you have dressers and almost everything that's upstairs trapped in the house. Luckily, my dad is a genius and had an entire pully and extraction system all ready to go! Why is my dad on the ladder instead one of his sons? He's stubborn - like most of us.

Success! The weather broke and the dresser didn't! And I was able to give it to K for her birthday! I can't thank my parents and brother enough. The family that she was able to meet is in the center pic and celebratory glamour shot on the right.

Another fancy pose on the left and some birthday shootin' pics! We went out to the country where my dad grew up and plinked around with a .22 and 9 mm. It was a bit cold, but a beautiful day. We even scrounged up some old barnyard wood straps which I plan to use for future frames.

The birthday girl!  30th, I think. This is a great picture but it's not really conveying the 'extra' happiness we're sharing. We almost dropped the cake, but K made an incredible save! I felt bad because I gave it to her on a slippery plate/surface. It was easy to make those smiles after that save!

We even made it to The Archway on the way back to CO.

I had always wondered what was in there, and now we know!

This was in The Archway. Nancy Glazier's "Restless". Cool painting and she made it in 1995!

Next stop / adventure - Moab!  I had been to Arches National Park, but never to Moab.

K's family has some incredible machines. We got to use the orange one! They were so much fun and impressive that the same time. They can crawl up (or down) almost anything. However, if the wheels can't grab, they can't grab. Speaking of, the gif shows how not to bump a rock! I felt badly about it, but they forgave me.

Us in the orange beast.

These pictures are good, but they are never the same as the real thing. It was epic.

A little pano action. Not only was it gorgeous and with perfect temps, God gave us some shade!

H&M standing in front of a picture-perfect canyon. M's smile is picture perfect, too.

The Jeep-driving clan. From left, Blue Jeep, Yellow Jeep (Yeah Right) and Orange jeep.

Thank you to K's family for the awesome adventure! What a memory!

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Singer Stuff : 2022-11

We came across this Singer and cabinet at a thrift store. It was a bit pricey, but it was in good condition and I thought I could restore it pretty well. We gambled on its ability to function, but even the cabinet without the machine is nice. Cool thing was, it worked. Even the lamp still worked!

I thought it was a 201, but apparently (as told by someone on Ebay), it is a 15 (model or class number). So, it's a 1946 Singer 15 (very close to a Model 15J-91) in a No. 40 cabinet. The cabinets came in walnut, mahogany or brown mission. The finish was pretty 'used' but overall, the case was in good condition.

The machine and lamp worked and the only real damage was what one could expect from a 70+ year old sewing machine. It's difficult to see, but on the right side in the right picture above, there is a little bar. This pops out automatically when you lift the top. It's a cool hinge that locks it in place when the top is closed.

A detail of the damage to the finish and some markings in the cabinet. The wood itself did have some dings, but again, for its age, I couldn't really complain.

The machine and a closeup of the serial number.

Even though it is a bit dirty, the details are impressive. The craftsmanship is also impressive.

This is the front plate. The materials and detail are things which would be almost impossible to find today. And this was just to cover the front of the machine. Luckily, it cleaned up pretty well.

Here is the final result!

Angled shots just to show the sides. You can see the two white dots in the left picture. They actually countersunk holes for pads which keep the top from hitting the side (when open). Again, the craftsman ship involved - holes for pads instead of just sticking them on. I made new ones and they fit so well, I didn't even care to try to change their color.

Two shots in the 'full open' mode. The vertical shot shows the beautiful wood grain. The little drawer was challenging. Kind of difficult to remove/install, and very aged - i.e., brittle. I think I did a pretty good job cleaning it up and reassembling it. I was also able to get the little lock to work again.

Two shots of the machine itself - also cleaned up pretty well.

I actually broke the original bulb which was very disappointing. However, I was able to get a new one and a backup if anyone ever buys the Singer (it is for sale). It's a nice light so I took a picture. Three of the four sides are on the right. This machine and cabinet were nice to work on because the entire thing came apart. Why didn't I take more pictures? Not sure, but getting better at it. I ended up scraping off the old finish. Chemical removers were making a mess/making it more difficult. Scraping is a bit painful but rewarding when larger sections remove easily. And the finish? Just oil - which as seems to become my standard. If it makes the wood look like this, I'm not sure why would I try something different. This was a rewarding project and even if I don't flip it, it'll be a nice cabinet.

My notes after research:

• 1946 Singer Class 15 (allotted 25,000 units on 06 June 1946).
• No. 40 cabinet (walnut).
• Elizabethport, New Jersey (that is downtown, it us just Elizabeth).
• Motor number 6148574
  
• Cabinet stamped I022380 and etched with 444-22-4632
• ISMACS International and Wikipedia.

Picture of the factory in Elizabeth NJ.

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