Anne of the Green Novas: status report.

The update on Anne reads a little like a Victorian novel. It’s good, then it’s bad, then it’s good… and so it goes. The mechanics are all loose and rolling and feel exactly like they should feel. The balance wheel wants to turn, and when it does everything follows right along. Amazing what being bathed, well fed, and getting a good night’s sleep can do – even for a sewing machine.

The wiring had looked suspect from day one and I thought now would be the time to inspect it. There’s a splice near the plug end, a significant chunk of Bakelite missing in the Mercury (junction) box, and what appeared to be another splice near the motor. It was this last one that concerned me the most so I began to unravel the tape. 

I should have known. No really, I should have known. This era of Necchi machines seem to have a thing about losing wiring insulation. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve seen or heard ‘had to rewire the motor’ because of the crumbling outer cover on the wiring. So I shouldn’t have been surprised when there wasn’t a splice at all underneath all that tape, but instead…  the tape had been wrapped around each individual wire strand of the original wiring in an effort to keep the leads from touching. As you can see, bare wires are peeking out of the entrance to the motor.

Here we have yet another reminder to always check the wiring on a vintage sewing machine before plugging it in, and a fair warning to anyone interested in acquiring a Necchi from this era: double check the wires, expect to find issues, don't give up, it can be fixed.  I’m going to look at this as an opportunity and hope to be able to present a step by step illustrated set of instructions on how to rewire your old Necchi, and I’m already getting things prepared. Here we go again, just like the BU.

On another front, Anne’s home is coming along nicely. She came with this short and somewhat attractive right-pedestal sewing desk in an art deco motif. I have checked everywhere and cannot find a manufacturer’s mark. Anne had been fitted with a Singer foot pedal and this desk does have the mount for that pedal, but there is no knee control.

The desk was bathed with Murphy’s oil soap, allowed to dry, then rubbed down once with boiled linseed oil. After that seeped and dried, I began with the paste wax. The bottom drawer needs a replacement runner, and all the drawer edges need a good soap rubbing. The only thing that has me  beat is restoring the Bakelite insert pieces for the handles. 

Here’s a pic showing the top piece after being cleaned, while the bottom insert is as I found them all: nearly white. The problem is that the material used here is thin walled, hollow, and was originally opaque. I may eventually sub them out for another material, but only because I really do like this desk.  

More updates to come, and hopefully an entire tutorial.