Effective Way Of Removing Paint From A Flat Bed

[Constabulary]

My latest machine is a 212G141 double needle from 1959 (manual is dated 1959). The flat bed was by far not bad but the paint was chipping in some spots so I decided to remove it. The rest of the machine is quite nice so I only wanted to give the flat bed a new paint job.

Sewing machine pait is quite tough so sanding it down is not the best idea. I figured the easiest way is using a ceran / glass scrapper. It took me maybe 5 minutes to remove all the paint. I removed the remaining small and hard to reach spots with a single edge razor blade.

Advantage: it is fast, you can work quite accurate, no sanding marks, it is dustless, it is cheap and leaves a nice surface

Edited February 2, 2016 by Constabulary

[BitterBeard]

That's nice, are you going to put a paint back down on it or just keep it metal and oiled so it doesn't rust?

[Uwe]

Thanks for sharing! I had used a chisel tool similar to this one

to chip off the old paint from the flatbed part of a machine a while back. The chisels are nice and narrow to get into tight spots and corners they work great on flat surfaces, not so much on curved surfaces.

Looks like it's just about ready for new coat of paint on the flatbed. Do you mask off the little spring balls in the oiling holes to keep paint off them? I was worried about getting paint in there and my last paint project got messy around the oil holes.

Edited February 3, 2016 by Uwe

[Gregg From Keystone Sewing]

Thanks for sharing! I had used a chisel tool similar to this one

to chip off the old paint from the flatbed part of a machine a while back. The chisels are nice and narrow to get into tight spots and corners they work great on flat surfaces, not so much on curved surfaces.

Looks like it's just about ready for new coat of paint on the flatbed. Do you mask off the little spring balls in the oiling holes to keep paint off them? I was worried about getting paint in there and my last paint project got messy around the oil holes.

After all these years, this what we still use to scrape the bed paint off, and we've done a lot of them.

[dikman]

When I first saw the chisel as the tool-of-choice I cringed inside, as it's a pretty crude way of removing paint, but then I realised you can't use normal chemical paint removers without completely dismantling the machine. Anyhow, you've got me thinking that if I get this latest machine working maybe I should do the same to the bed on it, as it's a pretty yucky greeny ripple finish paint. I just need to find a suitable match to the body paint (a blue-silver colour).

[TinkerTailor]

The machine marks on the bed under the paint show that the ways on the mill that they used to fly cut it were worn. The cutter dragged the leading edge on one side and the trailing edge on the other.

Btw, I bet there is bondo filler under the paint on that machine covering the flaws in the casting. and deep machining marks. It is a common thing to find when guys restore old lathes and mills.

[Ole South]

Uwe, I was just pondering the oil hole vs paint issue yesterday. I finally settled on impregnating a bamboo chopstick with molten wax. Whether to twist it out immediately after spraying or after drying is the rub.

Edited February 5, 2016 by Ole South

[TinkerTailor]

Uwe, I was just pondering the oil hole vs paint issue yesterday. I finally settled on impregnating a bamboo chopstick with molten wax. Whether to twist it out immediately after spraying or after drying is the rub.Both

Use golf tees with no wax. The tees are tapered, so they should seal good. The wax may cause paint issues. On bikes, i have used a drinking straw with a lengthwise slit. You can roll it a little smaller than the hole, and it will expand out to fill it. Test first, some straws depending on plastic type may be effected by the solvents in the paint.

[Ole South]

I like the sofa straw idea! I've had trouble with golf tees as the enamel adheres a bit too well and chips as you remove them, especially acrillic enamels. Use a good pencil sharpener and a single chopstick will yield 8-12 tapered plugs. Leaching paraffin into the bamboo is to reduce plug surface adhesion and shouldn't be so thick to transfer to the painted surface.

[Ole South]

When I first saw the chisel as the tool-of-choice I cringed inside, as it's a pretty crude way of removing paint, but then I realised you can't use normal chemical paint removers without completely dismantling the machine. Anyhow, you've got me thinking that if I get this latest machine working maybe I should do the same to the bed on it, as it's a pretty yucky greeny ripple finish paint. I just need to find a suitable match to the body paint (a blue-silver colour).

Black goes with pretty much everything. You going to spray booth or rattle can it?

[dikman]

Depends on the paint that I find. A spray can will be a lot less messing around, but if I can't find the right colour I'll mix it myself and use an airbrush.

[Constabulary]

Turned out quite nice could be better but I´m pleased

[Ole South]

What sort of paint did you use?

[Constabulary]

It´s quite cheap but very good in my opinion but I don´t think you´ll have this brand on your part of the world but who knows

http://www.ebay.de/itm/3x-KWASNY-Spraila-Lackspray-Schwarz-Glanzend-400-ml-300005-/272119643735?hash=item3f5b983e57:g:E-EAAOSwMmBVzGRh

more:

http://www.kwasny.com/en/products/economy-range/spraila/spraila-paint-sprays/

Edited February 7, 2016 by Constabulary

[dikman]

The black doesn't look too bad, maybe I should re-do mine black........maybe.

To remove the paint on mine, I used a gel paint stripper first and was careful to keep it away from the body/bed join. Once it had softened the paint I scraped it off with a paint scraper and paper towels, used a chisel to remove what was left and then wiped it down with methylated spirits.

Funny thing was, as the gel started softening the grungy green stuff it showed silver just underneath, with a grey primer under that.

[Constabulary]

My flat bed was black originally. Later machines had a matching colors on body and flat bed. Sames as with my 307G2 I have seen them with black flat bed and with matching color flat bed.

[Constabulary]

Two sisters

[dikman]

They look almost brand new!

[Constabulary]

They are not but they are quite nice that´s true. I like machine with a nice appearance. It´s the same as with cars I prefer driving in a clean car rather than in a filthy one. But I don´t have problems with some "signs of use". And so I rather like working with clean machines with nice appearance than with rusty, oil soaked, dusty machines. Thats why I have restored my DVSG / BUSMC #6 from the core. It would have worked as is but isn´t it much nicer when you have a nice looking and clean machine? My machines are by far not perfect (pictures often don´t tell the truth) but I always aim to that they look better than the day I picked them up.

[shoepatcher]

C,

Plus, if you repaint as well as recondition a machine, then decide you want to sell it, it is ready to go and you can usually get more money for a machine repainted to look good. I have found that to be my experience. Great job C!

glenn