Step 2: The Carriage

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We are now getting around to the serious business of taking apart the actual carriage. This operation starts by removing the screw that secures the link to the escapement at the top rear of the machine. See the black arrow in the picture.
Next, take out the two screws holding the escapement in place and remove it. It can now be taken apart and polished and buffed and whatever else you need to do with it.

Now remove the bell (there was no bell on this one, but there is now! Thank you, Chuck and Rich!), by turning the nut counterclockwise.
Move the carriage all the way to the right, until you expose the screw holding the metal draw band. Use the crank on the left front side of the frame to unwind the spring (turn counterclockwise). It can now easily and safely be loosened. Once the carriage has been taken off, you can completely remove the draw band. Until then, be careful not to damage it. 

To remove the carriage, you place the machine on its back. Now loosen the adjusting screws that hold the front rail, but hold the front rail to the carriage. (There is a ball bearing inside, and two in the back, that may roll away if you are not careful.) Take out the two screws that connect the rail to the top plate. Once the front of the carriage is free, you can lower the carriage and move it outward. Take out the ball bearings and put them away.

The carriage can now be taken apart further for cleaning, polishing and buffing. In this case, much of the paint on the carriage was gone, so I removed all parts that could be removed (escapement rail etc.). I then removed rust and what remained of the paint to spray on a complete new coat of paint and varnish.
I also re-plated the paper scale (check the techniques section to see how it was done).

Finally, with the help of more good friends, I obtained a replica of the Smith Premier decal that could easily be applied to the front of the rail. After spraying it with several coats of clear varnish, the decal was completely embedded in the varnish and could no longer be recognised as a replica.

And here is the final result...