Guhl & Harbeck 1880's

This is an unusual machine. Neither I, nor the seller had any idea what it was at the time of sale.

It was cool looking to me, though, so I bid & won.

Eventually, I discovered this unique shape while researching other machines. It is a 'Guhl & Harbeck' sewing machine, from about 1880. (Later, when I finally scraped enough of the rust off the sewing plate, I was able to just make out a G&H logo stamped into the metal. ) The plate was so pitted, though, I could not save it as bare metal, & was forced to paint over the logo. It was a pretty logo, though. It's too bad it was left to rust for so long.

This one was completely frozen from rust, & I spent a tremendous amount of time on it - due to the total rust-bucket it was when I got it.

Not one screw came out nicely, & I spent days on just one screw, trying to get it out without breaking it. I did accidentally break off the handle, just trying to get it out. I even had to buy a "Tap & Die" kit, just to try to re-thread some of the screws, & screw holes, because it was so totally rusted, that just cleaning & de-burring the threads was never going to be enough. Eventually, I was able to grind the rust down, to get to something paintable. What a mess, & despite wearing head to toe protection, I inhaled a ton of rust & paint that day, & several other days, as well. SOOOOO much rust!

I thought it came out well, especially give the condition it was in when I got it. Unfortunately, despite selling well, I was forced to refund the buyer all their money, because it was broken in multiple places, upon delivery. That is such a shame, especially given the amount of work I put into it. (And I lost all the money they paid, plus all the money I paid, plus the shipping costs, plus my materials - grinding wheels, dremel tools, polishers, paints, decals, etc. Yikes!)

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Lesson Learned: I try not to buy such totally rusted machines now (Though - in my defense, the seller deceptively altered the listing photos to make it appear it was just dust, when in fact it was rust! Grrr. There was an adjustment made to my purchase price, to account for that deception). I'm not sure if it was the poor original condition (I completely remove 100% of the rust before painting, so it was not rusty when shipped), or the abusive handling of the shippers, but I've dealt with many broken machines upon delivery to me, as well, so I've stopped blaming the sellers who ship them to me - at least not 100%.

(Some of them are broken due to silly and inadequate packing, but this one was packed to death, & still broke, so someone is dropping them from a height, to inflict this much wreckage on these machines. Boo - Shippers! )

This machine sold on Ebay in April of 2019 (100% Refunded soon after, due to breakage.)

Oddly, she has brass gears, but they were so filthy from the surrounding rust, I thought they were rusty, too. They did clean up nicely, though, so it shows well now.

Despite taking a pretty good loss on this one, it was a good learning experience, and that's the whole point.

So sad, to have put so much time into salvaging it, only to have it be broken en route, but the buyer said they were going to try to fix it, and keep it. I hope they succeeded, and it brings them joy. I like that thought better than it got dumped into the trash.