dikman

Yep, a beautiful table indeed - but as kgg said it might not be too practical when it comes to using the machine. It looks a bit squeezy for the legs. As to a servo, pretty well any servo should work as the mounting plates are all a standard size. 550w will be more than enough but 750w often don't cost much more. The ones on ebay are pretty generic, the control functions usually being the major difference. You would have to mount the control box on the outside of the table due to the limited space underneath. The table may not be the best choice for this machine/motor setup - but it does look nice!

Not withstanding the advice from the more experienced members, don't be afraid to experiment. On thin soft leather round-point needles should also work, you would have to try it to see what the stitch looks like (I've used them when I didn't have leather-point needles in the size I wanted).

Anything that can dissolve grease is bound to be a pretty strong (nasty?) solvent.......

kgg gave you more detailed info than I did (I was trying to keep it simple ) but here is a bit more. The manual refers to top, bottom and needle feed, the bottom feed is presumably the feed dog BUT because it only moves in the back/forth motion it will not give the same assistance to the movement of the material under the needle as a conventional triple feed (does that make it a 2 1/2 feed?). I have what is referred to as the "old style casting" which means the specs are a little different (basically less lift/clearance under the feet). I managed to get mine sewing #138 but I had to readjust the needle bar, timing and feet lift. It meant the feet didn't touch the needle plate so couldn't sew thinner material - in short it worked but wasn't worth the trouble so I put it back to #69 thread. You "should" be able to get it to work, with the correct feet, needle plate and feed dog (available from Kwok Hing, by the way) but it will never be as good as a proper upholstery-class machine. It is designed to be a binder. Sorry.

Here is a manual for the Pfaff 335 - https://www.manualslib.com/products/Pfaff-335-3541803.html - there are more available and likely you-tube videos (I haven't looked). It sounds like the presser feet might not be adjusted correctly. The feed dog on these binders is set for back and forth motion, rather than the normal elliptical motion of upholstery-class machines. It is a minor limitation but you should still be able to sew with it, but you really need the "proper" feet and needle plate if you are not going to use it as a binder. There have been other posts on here about that issue (search for 335 issues in the sewing machine section).

That machine is a copy of a Pfaff 335, setup as a binder. Does yours have the binder attachments too? While the machine, as it is shown, will do normal stitching it is not ideal and really needs the feet, needle plate and feed dog changed to do that. It should handle the material thickness ok (should go up to 8mm thickness) but to use #138 thread may need to be re-adjusted as it would have been setup for #69 at the factory.

Yes, it does sound odd. After 90 years you would think they would have found something better that doesn't have the potential for staining the items (whatever they are).

I've been using a contact adhesive made by Sika, nothing special other than it is thinner than the Selley's stuff that I've used in the past. I've taken to thinning it with Xylene as it slowly thickens up, seems to work ok. I've made a few belts, mostly gunbelts, using two pieces of veg-tan glued rough side to rough side with no problems. I suspect most solvent contact adhesives will work fine, regardless of the brand, I've even used the cheap stuff from discount stores.

Using Cosmoline between two layers of leather sounds a bit bizarre to me.. Unless the leather is sealed before applying the Cosmoline then it's bound to start seeping through when it gets warm/hot, being a grease. I'm trying to visualise a reason for doing it and can't for the life of me think of one. And if you find a process for drawing the Cosmoline out of the leather then what is the point of putting it there in the first place?

Looks like a pretty solid belt, should last a while.

Full marks for taking the time and making the effort to do all of that!

If you wear suspenders why not make a pair of tooled leather suspenders? A little more complex than making a belt, maybe, but should look pretty cool.

I made three different sizes, they're currently drying as I coated them with diluted white glue 'cos the plywood I used is rubbish! Just have to find something to use for the pins. Thanks Dwight.

Glad it worked out for you. $300 for a post-bed machine is pretty good, particularly as they don't appear to be very common unlike flat-beds or cylinder arms.

I like that little dohickey, I'll have to make one.

Idiot!

I think welding and re-drilling is the only real option, I suspect silver solder will be too soft and eventually wear from thread abrasion. Know anyone with a TIG? It would be the best way to fill it, otherwise a MIG should work. The downside to welding is possible rusting over time.

Congratulations! I reckon you got a bargain, well done.

My first lathe belonged to a family friend, he was a fitter and turner and built it himself, it was vary basic and lacked many of the niceties, like power feed. I bought it off his estate and it came with a lot of high-speed steel tooling that he had ground into various shapes. I did a lot with that and eventually bought a more modern one (paid for by digging boolits out of the berms at my pistol club, melting them down and selling the ingots to reloaders ). While I have carbide tooling too, I get a lot of enjoyment out of shaping high-speed steel bits to suit a particular purpose. I also have one of those little "mini lathes" that are common on ebay and find it very handy for small jobs, plus one of those small mills. The mill is, of course, limited in what it can handle but I've found it very useful to have. I love machining aluminium and brass. How about a photo of the stylus, Bruce?

I guess it made the decision for you, but it's very annoying when they don't have the courtesy to at least answer! One of my pet peeves.

While not the ideal machine for what you want to make it should work ok. Factor in the cost for a servo motor too, as unless you are quite skilled the clutch motor will be difficult to control. My 51w was my first machine and no matter what I did I couldn't control it until I fitted a servo and speed reducer! I don't use mine very much as my other machines are more suited to what I make but it's nice to have a post-bed machine (just-in-case).

CdK, I find lathe time to be very therapeutic.

Very classy! Which colour dye?

A friend of ours had a leather business many years ago and kept a bit of stuff when he got rid of it. Just before he died he asked me if I wanted the stuff, so of course I said yes. There is various pre-dyed leathers, tools, buckles, fasteners (including several thousand assorted quick rivets) and three very old Carr hand presses, with an assortment of fittings for various fasteners. Strangely enough, though, there are no fittings to use on the quick rivets. So, a bit of lathe work and I now have a set of dies for quick rivets (which I can also use in my arbor press if needed). The bottom anvil is flat while the top die is slightly domed. Heated and dunked in linseed oil to minimise rusting.

Even though I don't need one I'd grab it at that price! Can't go wrong. If you still want to use your heavier thread you could just use the machine without thread to pre-punch your stitching holes, it's a good way of getting nice straight evenly spaced holes for hand-stitching.