RockyAussie

Just found a pic that shows the 331 and it's adjuster.

I will try and take some pics tomorrow of a 335 I have put away in a storage container. From what I can see it looks as though I have lifted the as Uwe calls the extension up about 1/4 to 3/8" and run with that. From memory I think it required vice grips and ample swearing.My 331 has a far nicer set up (Like the modern one a bit) but inside of it there is a rod that when you screw the extension down it pushes the inner spring down. As I use very small feet and on light duty leathers I take that rod out thus making the inner spring do nothing. I gauge the tension by lifting the foot by hand first then adjusting the pressure until the job will just not lift when the needle pulls up.When I use heavy veg I put it back in.

Well said!

I have not had to deal with charred edges from a laser before. trying to sand clean inside those little thumb holes and such would be hard and time consuming I think. I would try using an edge coat thinned 10% first and see if the edge can be become stable enough to hold. In the video of this link you can see me applying edge coat to belts and I can assure you I have seen some of these belts many years after being made with the edging in good condition.

I have a piece of steel rod made up to the same diameter with a pointed dome shape on the end to help push it through. I normally put in over night to help the leather to set in that shape.Sometimes a bit of powder is still necessary.

Although the racks come in handy for repetitive work the application technique with the edging method I think should be useful on one off projects as well. I hate seeing people playing around with pencils and little brushes and such when I know a good finish must be applied quickly and evenly. If I do a single key tag it's pretty much the same technique. Regards Brian

Somehow I missed this thread before and I must say I have never seen such a nice patcher set up ever. Very nice work. On another note, that bell crank needs replacing for sure or at least rebuilding to get any stitch length at all. I did grind down the adjustment band (the square band with the thumb screw in it) shorter once and that gave a noticeable improvement in stitch length.The higher it goes the longer the stitch.

WOW!!!! for a first major project I don't know what to expect when you become an old hand at it

Thanks for the encouragement.

Well done.

Here is a couple of pics of it for now. At the time there did not seem to be any machine specific for the job, about 20 years ago I'd guess.The tongue tips I do separately on a single edge machine.

This is a video of me doing the finish coat edging by hand on a large run of hornback belts.For a few years this is how all edging on my belts was done including the first coats and all. Although I have built an edging machine that does both sides at the same time, I find that the up and down edge on hornback is better finished by hand as shown.The pictures below shows one of the two racks I made for this purpose. I intend to do a couple more videos using the edging machines and other steps over the next few weeks. Follow me if you want notification updates. Regards Brian

Just found this in case it helps. http://www.sewingmachinery.com/seiko/seiko-LLW-8BL.html Regards Brian

If you want to let me know the Chinese machine models I could check them out but I would be very surprised if they would be making them with a blade and feed in sync still. I do recommend whatever model you get, getting one with an aspirator to help take the waste away. That is a suction device that normally takes the waste into a bin under the table and on the left via a tube under the bell. The picture below shows what I mean I think. Regards Brian

I have a Fortuna and a FAV and they both have the blade run at a constant fast speed. The foot pedal allows the feed wheel to go at whatever speed you want just like your accelerator in a car does. You can if you want set them to be feeding at a constant feed speed as well. I did have a very old Fortuna and the bell on it only went along with the feed wheel and it was not very good. In all cases above there is only one motor and the feed is governed by a clutch. In this link you will see a video I made using my Fortuna, it should help. Regards Brian

I had a similar problem on mine and thought I would have to do a lot grinding and what not but to my surprise after taking pin out I found that it was just gummed up and jamming erratically.I cleaned the pin and gave all area's a good oiling and it has been good ever since.Another improvement then was achieved by setting up my foot lift so that when depressed it could not lift high enough to engage the pin. To get the pin to engage I then use the hand lift or a second stage hard push down foot lift.

Not sure how I will go yet but the needle foot would come out altogether and the back foot would do the pressing.

Thanks Tor, That looks pretty easy so it will go into my to do list as of now. Brian I hope it isn't a brain fart.With regards to that idea I am thinking of taking the front foot out and closing the back foot close together just off the needle then disconnecting the linkage that lifts the back foot so it becomes a pressure only foot. Although this impacts on the reliability of the feed it would allow for more intricate tight spacing work I think.The 331 Pfaff cylinder has this unison type feed and gets a lot more use than the 335 pfaff. I would like to have the advantage of bigger thread and a larger bobbin more. Brian

Thanks for posting Uwe. Do you think that the needle with that size hole won't deflect enough to miss stitches? I have been playing with the idea of slimming down a smooth feed dog to the needle foot width or less, and widening out the throat plate to suit.This would be to try and stop on thinner work the leather going down into the large hole so much (which can create miss stitches) and hopefully smooth out the jumpy feed nature when trying to do more intricate work. This would presumably help the needle deflection at a higher and longer section as well. What are your thoughts? Also playing with the idea of making it needle and dog feed only but that's another story. Regards Brian

Hi Mono, I had a quick look and found one in NSW for $6,000 so I would say the price would be very good for here in Aus around the $3.000. Found this video that might be of interest -

Do they make a walking foot zigzag machine and with that clearance?

I have not had the said problem on my 335 but have had on my 441 and although I had done a timing as per a video I found online, I found a more accurate method in a manual which did then solve the problem. 1/16" would be way to much removal I think also.This link may help-http://leatherworker.net/forum/topic/65098-pfaff-335-timing-issue/ or this one-http://leatherworker.net/forum/topic/54120-help-timing-a-pfaff-335/ Best of luck Brian

You want to make wallets and I do plenty.Check my web site if it helps. I have a Adler post and for this job not much good as it will not allow a tight bend as you find in the middle of the wallet. For linings OK but a flat bed is way better for that purpose. A flat bed is not very good for getting any tight curves either.I have a 441 cowboy and the size of the cylinder let alone the unavailability of leather point needles below 160 makes it a poor choice for wallet work. As a single machine with good all-round capabilities I would make it a Pfaff 335 or one of its clones. If you can find one (nearly impossible) get a Pfaff 331 33/1b. It is not a walking foot but is a needle and dog feed that allows intricate through to fairly heavy work. We have just finished a run of tote bags that use this size of machine mostly and if you look at a couple of these pics you can see the heavy but intricate nature of work that is possible.Note: the stitching around the top edge would not be possible on a flat bed or post machine.

I think this would be a very good idea.

That is a very good one Eric. I would like to think that this could be a pinned post. As you know how many times almost every week this advice could be referred to here. Regards Brian