Hermes – another start

I have been ignoring this machine for quite a while, but I have a lull in the projects I am tackling, and as I was not feeling the best, I decided stripping the black enamel of the machine was a good task.

I started a couple of days ago, trying to scrape the enamel off, but it was a bit much for me. However I had some PAL coating remover which I had tried before with little success. I read the instructions again, applied a very generous amount of the stripper, and left it for just an hour. It didn’t do much, but it softened the very top surface of the enamel, which gave me a softer surface to attack with a scraper, which in this case was a 12mm wood chisel!

Another application or two of the stripper, more attacking with the scraper, and finishing off with wire brushes in my Dremel and this afternoon I got the body of the machine, its side panel, the needle head and the bobbin winder support completely cleaned of enamel, degreased and ready to start painting.

All of these four pieces were attached to wood battens to allow support and ease of handling. I used a heavy duty metal primer and put the first coat on with a smallish brush, after plugging all the oil and threaded holes in the pieces.

It is now drying overnight, and I will apply a second coat of primer tomorrow, before a couple of coats of black enamel over the weekend. When that has had a few days to properly harden, I will start reassembling the machine. It’s a while since I took it apart, so that could be a challenge! It’s a 1906 German clone of a Singer 12, so manuals are a bit rare, but I have some photos of the machine which I can use for reference.

More to come.