Another needle that is compatible with W&G chain stitch sewing machines

I scored big at a yard sale this past summer. I bought a small  green box of Singer

(Simanco) needles in size 25x3 without opening them until I got home because they were sealed in plastic. I didn't know which machine they would fit, but I always buy vintage  sewing machine needles if they are cheap enough and are in their original packaging.

Imagine my surprise when I got home, opened the box and I saw that they looked like Willcox & Gibbs needles! I tested one and it works perfectly. So if you see a box of Singer 25x3 needles somewhere, buy them! :o)

How to clean and polish vintage and/or antique metal items, with a focus on vintage and antique sewing machines.

Recently someone on the treadleon email list : (http://www.treadleon.net/subscribing/subscribing.html)  asked me for advice on polishing old metal sewing machines. I  originally wrote an article about this  for a different e-mail list many years ago, and it needed to be revised and updated . I have finished the revisions, and you can download the article here: 

https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&pid=explorer&chrome=true&srcid=0B6EOaLLsmE83YzlmNjZjMTUtNWQ0NC00ODBjLWIxZDctM2U1MzIxMzg3OGQ3&hl=en_US