There are three projects left in my Studio before it hits 100% complete – and we may not get to them until summer. I promised Doug that once Christmas gets put away, we’d get serious about organizing the basement, which currently might be home to any number of things, solely because the whole basement looks like the back of the Beverly Hillbillies truck.
I know this is totally common in old house world, but the number of times that we buy a tool or supply that we ALREADY OWN is a lot. Because we can’t find things. And without a proper garage, the basement is it. It’s where our own personal hardware store is.
Side note : I’m also guilty of this when it comes to spices. Because 4 jars of cumin seeds for 4 different recipes is logical.
So anyway – the basement is next. And I know this will make everything function so much better. I’m certain we will sneak some small projects in here or there, because otherwise I’ll go insane. And we’ll build the bank account up a bit, and I’ll have time to plan the next space. So it’ll be good!
Back to the Studio : the three remaining projects are the sewing table, a bookcase (which will hide all the wrapping paper and gift supplies), and finishing the bed build.
Even though my sewing machine is modern, I wanted to use a base that wasn’t. I also wanted a larger surface for the sewing space than usual, to help with sewing really long drapes.
My friend Matthew has a couple of booths at a local antique store, and also sells and shows his finds online at Father Wolf Antiques. Because he goes to a lot of auctions, sometimes I ask him to keep his eye peeled for me for specific things. In this case, I wanted a cast iron sewing machine base.
Matthew found one for me pretty quickly, and it just hung around the house for a long time.
Sidebar : I know I talked about this YEARS ago, but Doug is an avid cast iron collector, and it’s the primary vehicle we use for cooking. He likes to restore his cast iron using witchcraft….. uh…. I mean….. science. We have an electrolysis tub in the basement, but who can get to it with the whole world crammed down there? No one. So, one of the other hopes when we redo the basement is to kick back into get more things restored.
If you need a real lesson on electrolysis, here it is. For it shall remain solely witchcraft to me.
This is just a portion of the collection waiting to be restored.
See the baby cauldron on the bottom? As I said. Witchcraft.
The piece that Matthew found is really classic.
And really, it wasn’t too rusty at all. Certainly it was there, but it wasn’t super bad.
The circles make it feel very industrial to me, which isn’t my normal vibe – but I love it here!
The wheel and pedal moves super well!
There are definitely ways to clean cast iron that’s NOT electrolysis. and clearly, this is a huge piece that can’t fit in the tub in the basement. But, the “is this possible and how ridiculous would this be?” definitely won out, because Doug is a nerd.
So…… what did we do?
Just made the tub bigger!
Yup. Doug made the giant recycling tub into a tank.
The boards held the base, and the tank worked just like the basement!
You can see the science!
Periodically you have to scoop out the sludge. That’s definitely the technical term.
We took it out, scrubbed it, and put it back in at least once.
Once it was out for real, we put some oil in it to stop it from re-rusting, and then let it dry.
After science was done, I sealed the whole thing with a very light coat of spray sealer for metal, with some metallic gray in it.
It looks so beautiful now!
I can’t wait to build the top for it!
Love this––and wow, did it turn out beautifully!
Wow this is incredible! Both the science part and the results. Great idea to use an antique base for a new sewing machine.
I love your updates and admire your progress. for me your journey is fascinating. Of course
it’s a ton of work but I understand you put a ton of love into the house and furnishings as well.
Thanks for sharing the journey with all of us.
Love this post! I would really love a tutorial on how to make Doug’s electrolysis tub. I’ve read about using them before on one of the FB cast iron groups. I have a large collection myself, and certain pieces are in desperate need of this process to get rid of years of neglect by their previous owners. Also, can you provide a link for the paint used on the treadle base? I have a treadle machine that I’m cleaning up to use, and would like to protect the cast iron base; we live maybe maybe a block from the Tangier Sound and being that close to salt water takes it’s toll on any metal not properly treated.