Another Brother

Ah, Brother Select-O-Matics have stolen my heart...again. You are right if you are thinking I had quite a few of this model, even keeping the best-condition model, and I continue to buy, restore, and sell this beloved sewing machine. Another one came up for sale and it is now sitting in my garage, waiting for a cleaning and small amount of repair on the cabinet. Judy introduced me to a beautiful Brother cabinet that she guessed had been used by a dealer as a special promotion. And now I have a cabinet with the same Brother decal:

Brother decal, probably a promotion item

My cabinet does not have the convertible treadle to electric function but it is still a fine piece with an excellent sewing machine:

Brother Select-O-Matic

This one even came with a set of attachments and another box with even more parts that belong to a couple other sewing machines but I took all of it in hopes of using it someday. The cabinet does pose a few problems: chipped veneer and a stain on the top. There is a fairly glossy finish on this veneer so not sure how to restore and what can I do about the chips? It sounds like it is time to take it to Woodcraft in Bloomington , MN to see what they can do to help restore those chips. It's possible the top with the ring stain can be restored with Howard's Restore-A-Finish but I will need to buy a new bottle with that very blond shade. Before I purchase anything I think a trip to Woodcraft would either confirm that decision of lead me down a better path.

Brother Select-O-Matic in open cabinet

Brother Select-O-Matic in closed cabinet

On the search for another convertible treadle cabinet, I have actually found one! You have to be diligent when searching and this time it paid off. Here's my tip: click on every photo because what might seem like a photo of a sewing machine head you are not interested in reveals a cabinet you are dying for.So excited, we went a day early to pick it up:

Convertible treadle cabinet?

That's when we found out it wasn't convertible after all. What a huge disappointment! I still bought it and brought it home, working to get it limbered up and clean.

Franklin Rotary ready to treadle

 This is one of the sewing machines that runs backwards from Singer: you push the handwheel away from you instead of towards you. It does have all of the treadle mechanism hidden away:

Behind that door is the big wheel and shelves

that can be closed to keep little hands away.

It's still going to be a nice treadle and in good shape once I refinish the cabinet. Since most of the finish is already gone and the lines are pretty clean and simple it will be fairly easy to make it look beautiful again. I already had a set of attachments and bobbins in excellent condition so now it will be complete.

Franklin Rotary in treadle cabinet (before refinishing)

I'm still on the hunt for one of those convertible treadles and I'm confident I will find one ... some day. Patience is a virtue, I hear.