dikman

I probably should have clarified the stitch length, I guess. We're both right. The stitch length varies a bit, depending on the sub-class, and mine is limited to 4mm. There's no easy way of getting it any longer. As for the feed dog, it just seems to me that a none-elliptical travel smooth dog is not going to give much assistance to the material movement - but you could be right, and I could be wrong, if so I'm happy to learn something. But I still don't think it's the right machine for someone who will only have one (which is why many of us have more than one.....).

I don't think a 335 would be the best choice if you're restricted to one machine. Most of them are used as binders, and while they can be changed to "normal" feet the feed dog is not used for feeding, so it's not a compound feed machine. The stitch length is also relatively short.

Not all, but in my (limited) experience most older machines do.

Direct drive units are compact and in some ways simpler, as in no external motor and pulleys, but if something does happen to go wrong they could be more expensive to repair. Most on here prefer an external servo motor and pulleys because it's relatively cheap to replace a servo in the unlikley event it fails. Which model Jack are you talking about? It's hard to tell from the website I looked at whether they are suitable for leatherwork.

$25?? As long as the head is working that's a bargain!

Very nice job! I did something similar but couldn't bring myself to cut the metal frame!! Interesting solution to placing the drawer, I had to leave mine off.

Yep, I agree, I looked at that thread path and thought it didn't look right but couldn't see enough detail. It should come up to the check spring and THEN around the bar at the left of the spring. I doubt if the check spring is doing anything the way it's threaded.

Some makers fit variations on that idea to facilitate smooth drawing (mostly Single Action shooting). Strips of various shapes, some with a protrusion to fit over the bottom of the belt etc. Also making the holster with zero retention on the revolver helps.

Now I get it!

The 335 doesn't need a big heavy duty motor, a 550w will work fine. On ebay here in Oz there are many for sale locally that fit that category, some with EPS and some without (not sure about ebay where you are). There have been many posts on here about fitting servos, with various recommendations, I think College Sewing in the UK is one? Any of the generic China servos will work fine, it just depends how fussy you are regarding the button controls on them. Some prefer the dial control for speed adjustment but that is likely to attract a premium price.

I've been waiting too.........

That looks very nice Morgan. I like the "natural" colour and the decoration is simple, clean and under-stated.

If you've got a pin-point heat source you could try that to break it free.

Great job.

The last time I was silly enough to repaint a sewing machine I used a gel-type chemical paint stripper to remove the old paint. It took two or three applications in some areas but it worked great.

Clone of a Pfaff 335, if you look up its specs it should help.

If it's going to be your first machine I would advise against the Pfaff. As Wiz said many were sold as binders, which limits their usefulness. The Seiko would be my choice, assuming it's in good condition and sewing well. You really want a compound feed machine, which the Seiko is.

Whatever colour filament you happen to have.

I came across this on thingiverse, and thought it looked useful. They are stackable and he's designed a large, small and a round one. I tried his suggested print settings but the bottom layer wasn't fused properly and the edges were separating, so I smoothed some thin epoxy over it, which held it all together ok. I reverted to my standard settings for the other two, 0.2 mm layer, and that worked fine. https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:3710646 Handy for sorting small parts and then tipping them into bags etc.

Yeah, that cast iron/cast steel dust gets everywhere (particularly when grinding it)!! Carbide lathe tips should work, just take small cuts, as you said.

I agree. If the adjustment parts aren't there then it's obviously a 2-motion feed only.

Other than reducing foot pressure I'm not sure if there's a lot you can do, these are big machines designed to sew thick stuff, which means heavy springs and heavy pressure. Just out of curiosity, are those edges burnished? They look a little "furry" to me.

You don't say what it is you intend to make, but in my opinion a cylinder arm is probably the most versatile overall if you're only going to have one machine. You can either make or buy a table attachment to emulate a flat bed machine. I made a table for my post bed, and made an edge guide, but I wouldn't consider it ideal as a first/only machine, that's how I started out but soon learned its limitations!

You think so?

I stuck it here because it goes with a sewing machine. The tape holder that I finally ended up with. The clamp is part of a precise terminating jig for electronic connectors, which is no longer of any use. The mounting piece had to be machined (fortunately it is brass), drilled and tapped for the threaded rod and clips on the clamp so I can easily remove it when covering up the machine. The wood piece houses a bearing, secured by the aluminium plate on the bottom. The top piece is Xenolite, left over from our bathroom reno. It is a type of perspex, with a coloured coating on one side and is pretty hard material. Based on RockAussie's reply to an earlier post I made it 200 mm diameter, but the tape I received is 230 mm (!) so I had to make an additional piece to fit on top of the disk, this is a bit of thin plastic stiffening recovered from something I scrapped. Looks like it should work ok.