Today's new arrivals...

Six pedals - four Husqvarna,one very nice Bernina, and a little Elna pedal that has been lurking around the workshop for some time.
They will all get a good clean, thorough testing, checking for safety, and new mains plugs before they go up for sale.
 One or two of the Husqvarna pedals may get rewired for other machines, depending on demand...

You know you're in trouble...

...when this faces you..

Sadly, I could not repair this machine, and it has gone to that great scrapyard in the sky (or, by the back door).
Be a little bit wary when faced with this sort of mess - you just know there will be a razor-blade (almost always rusty), lots of elderly pins, and (definitely in this one) about 100 needle-ends.  This poor old lady (a Frister and Rossmann 35, by the way) had a broken race cushion spring which I could neither remove nor match, and she sounded like someone hitting a gas bottle with a biggish hammer..
There is a point where I will spend far more time on a machine that it deserves, if I think it will be continuing useful.. This wasn't it.. RIP...

Cleaning Up - Part One - Long Bobbins

I've been sorting bobbins and shuttles - one of those particularly finickety stupid jobs which involve the eye, the hand, the knife, and the micrometer

Now, cotton thread attracts moisture to a degree that is quite damaging to sewing machines.. I am firm about not storing machines with a cotton piece under the foot unless they are both dry and frequently used.. Sometimes the foot is welded to the needle-plate with rust, to the detriment of both
And long bobbins are commonly made from two metals - the ends are brass, easy to machine, the bar between is steel, so inclined to corrode.  I usually clean off any thread on bobbins that come in, because this means I can see the condition clearly, and also because the endless tangles in the bags are reduced thereby...
And, well, really! Do you think several pieces of old (rusty)  thread need preserving, beneath the top layer? The thread is crushed and the bobbin capacity reduced to nothing.. My record is 43 different pieces on one long bobbin, some only 2 or 3 inches long.. A particular sort of idleness indeed.

So, unroll the rubbishy old stuff, please. Clean off the stuck-on remains with a sharp blade (mind your fingers!) and clean up with a little 0000 steel wool...