In-cabinet Sewing Machine Repurpose

Roughly 16 years ago i was gifted an in-cabinet Singer. It was from the 60's and had been passed through several generations of family members who wanted nothing to do with it. Being in my late teens at the time, I thought the piece was incredibly cool, despite the general appearance and loads of water damage....
So, after 16 years of owning this monstrosity, I have FINALLY resurrected this beast. I disassembled it, threw away the bad parts, made the good parts better, and put it all back together in a slightly different configuration like a DIY Dr. Frankenstein!
Let me show you the mad science of furniture flipping.

All manner of power and manual tools:
Screwdrivers
Wrenches
Scrapers
Sandpaper
Drill
Extra hardware
Chalk paint
Brushes
Wood stain
Lacquer
Optional supplies:
LED light strips
Thin guage metal sheeting
Plexi glass

Aside from the water damage, the 50 year old laminate was in rough condition, to say the least. So I began with disassembling the entire cabinet, then got to work with a putty knife to gently peel away the laminate.
I was really bad at taking pictures for these first few days, but there really wasn't a whole lot worth being photographed.
Some tips for disassembly:
-Be patient! If the piece is old, the screws/bolts will be difficult to remove. It's not necessary to save the hardware, as it can all be replaced with new stuff, but you'll never get a good match for 50 year old wood if you crack a piece! So take your time on this step.
-If there are a lot of pieces, or you're going to reuse hardware, bag and label everything. And maybe draw yourself a rudimentary diagram. Your future self will thank you.
-Removing the laminate is a process. A large majority of the laminate on this piece was not really even attached anymore, so peeling it up with just my fingers was enough. But the glue that was still doing the job must have had a pact with the devil, because it was ridiculous to remove. I googled a lot. I tried heat guns. I tried water solutions. I tried commercial solvents. But eventually, i got all the laminate off. And low and behold, what was underneath??...*drumroll*...ditch pine wood!
It was basically structurally sound pine wood. Complete with gouges and putty filler. But that's ok! Pine wood can be beautiful.
So now that everything is in pieces and bare, it's time for sanding.

Now it's time to help this ugly duckling wood become the swan it can be. Do several rounds of sanding, starting with a rougher, low number grit and working your way finer and higher. There was quite a bit of glue residue left on my wood, but rather than try to scrape it off, i addressed it with the sander instead. I have no patience for sanding and am notorious for saying " 80 grit is high enough, the lacquer will smooth the rest out".
80 grit is not high enough for the lacquer to "smooth it out". So, if you want a baby bottom smooth surface, sand at least up to 120 or 200 grit, maybe higher if you've got the time.
After sanding, i applied "natural" stain. I wanted to enhance the contrast of the wood grain without darkening the color. I did 2 coats of stain on all surfaces, applied with a rag. I'm able to get better and more even coverage using the rag method, but there are several application methods depending on your desired outcome.
Moving on from staining, i wanted to do a black border on my surface borders and specific edges. I used black chalk paint for this because that's what I had on hand, and i am very partial to the black-against-blonde-wood aesthetic. Next comes sealing.

Everything's sanded smooth, the stain has been absorbed, and all my chalk paint is strategically applied. Time to seal with polyurethane.
There are loads of options on the market for wood sealers, so it's really going to come down to your desired use/look. Outdoor or indoor piece? Daily use or just for show? Matt finish or high gloss?
I intended to use this piece as a vanity, so i wanted a sealant that would clean easily and not yellow over time. I did 3 coats on each surface, with 24 hours between coats. When it's all dry, it's time for the razzle dazzle. Reassembly.

Now it's time to bring all the beautiful pieces back together. This is when your poorly drawn diagram and ziplock bags of screws is really going to come in handy.
After i got everything back in place it was time to decide whether to reinstall the sewing machine. This machine was a 60's model, nonfunctional, dry rotted everything, and need significant work to operate again. Taking into account the fact that i had, at my disposal, a modern Brother machine, a 20's Singer, and a 50's Singer(yes i have a problem) that all functioned, i saw no reason to salvage this machine. So i decided to break the machine down as far as I could and use the parts as functioning pieces of the cabinet. Drawer handle #2? Bobbin assembly. Drawer handle #1? Turny thing. Faux drawer handle? Piston arm.
Somewhere there's probably a Singer enthusiast rolling over in their grave at my sacrilege, but i think the repurpose really brings some of that industrialism to the table that all the kids are talking about these days.
But now i have a gaping hole in the center of the table top....

I had some thin guage metal lying around from an old project. So i decided to make a box to hang under the cabinet, lined it with LED strips and covered the top with plexi glass.
Abra kadabra! A tracing table!

To finish this piece, i attached all hardware and bracing. Then i used black model paint to go over the shiny silver metal of the screws and whatnot, to get a more cohesive, polished look.
And viola! A piece that was used hard for many years and would have been tossed in a dumpster, can now be used hard for many more years to come!
I hope you enjoyed seeing this cabinets journey, from 1960's Missouri to 2010's New Jersey. And i hope it inspires you to breath some new life into your own forlorn piece. Happy recycling! Cheers!!