Since it appears that I might actually get at least one of the machines consistently going, I figure I might as well start a thread on the project to at least keep me motivated on some updates.

I got these from Sylvain, by the looks of his stockpile, I did him a favour  .  Of the two, one was in better shape than the other, neither were what you would call pristine.  Here are some shots.  The last picture is of the bonus unit that gave me some of the problems with the startup.  The lower relay is the one that seized.  I'm not sure yet if it can be salvaged, I just took the one from the other pf.

Since I have one working now (I hope), the plan is to next swap out the head with the other one and get it working.  That will leave me with a working pin while I refurb the other head.  I'll throw up some pics of the pfs later, it's cottage time now.  Have a good weekend all.....

Got moving on this a bit more, first gave the reels a good clean, then stripped down the second cabinet.  I'd like to know what happened to that cabinet, looks like it was attacked by some ravaged beavers....

Here is the base stripped, then with the first coat of filler (bondo and wood filler), and the head after it was stripped, sanded, wood filled, sanded, primer and wood filled again.  I find it easier to do a rough coat of filler, then sand and prime instead of trying to get them all before you prime.  Once it's primed you can see the imperfections quite easily. No matter how long I take trying to find all the little holes I always ended up finding more once I had the first coat of paint on, so I don't even bother anymore.

going for the full overall hein! Nice keep going sure looks good so far.

Had to be done. I'm not a professional, but this cabinet seemed to be beyond what people would admire it for it's original charm.  The picture of that bit down the side doesn't do it justice, it was gouged down a good 1/4 inch.  It looks as though someone took a grinder to it, dunno.  The other cabinet is in better shape, so I'll leave it as is.  

i like to see project. this machine's gonna look good. can't wait to see more pics!

keep it up, good job!

Looking good! Cab repaints are a hassle but when they turn out they are very rewarding.

Thanks.  The overhaul is a matter or necessity really, and not just because of the condition of the cab.  If the plan is to have it long term in the house then it needed to be cleaned up a bit to pass muster with my wife.  She was already on the grim side when I asked her to give me a hand moving one to the basement 5 minutes before she left for work, at least she had enough time to change after she got filthy from it...

I was also looking for another use for a cheap HVLP system I picked up some time ago to paint some paneling. Seems to work well, but you have to thin down the paint a bit to get a good flow.

Hopefully it won't take too long, stencils are tonight as well as next round of touch-ups on the cabs.

Decided to trace then scan and reproduce the side art, first piece went ok.  Not exact, but close enough for a trial run (the arc of the spiral is a little off).  The thought was to rough trace on tissue paper to get the key points/intersections, then scan, then reproduce in Photoshop, then print to paper which I can then place some stencil paper on and trace to cut out.  Probably about 5 too many steps, but just putting the stencil paper on the machine to either trace or cut out didn't seem to be that easy/accurate.