Looking to go to a Cylinder arm machine, thoughts on the Pfaff 335?

[GreyGhostLeather]

Hey fellow hide tamers. I've been making do for a few years now with an older Consew 255B. Nope, no reverse so I'm looking to replace it with a cylinder arm. I've found a Pfaff 335 that has a good maintenance record. Guy says he sews up to 8oz with it. The best I can tell the lift is 7mm on the 335 so that seems to be about the upper limit there. I'm hoping I'll be able to get him drop some from the 1500 he's asking (I hope so, its a 4 hour drive one way) and that seems reasonable for others I've seen listed. 

I do a lot of bags, belts, holster, harnesses, collars. I use a lot of Tony See's patterns and will stitch them on the machine when I'm in need of speed. Given that my holsters are usually 9 0z, I imagine I'm still gonna be doing a lot of hand stitching. All the rest will certainly be within the limits of the lift. My primary goal is to increase my output of bags, guitar straps, belts collars and the like. This as my wife retired a couple of months ago and we'll be setting her up to go to fairs and festivals next year. Need some inventory rather than just the steady individual commissions.

My questions are, maximum needle and thread size? Looking at specs I couldn't really decipher what the upper and lower stitch lengths are, so what am I looking at there? Known issues from others that have had or do have and are leather folks? Finally aside from the fact that I took up this art about a decade ago, does looking at this as an option fully land me into the crazy column? 

I'm also looking at a vintage Singer 29K-71. To me it seems it would be limited in how I can use it to increase production. Thoughts on comparing that apple and orange?

Thanks,

Leo

[kgg]

2 hours ago, GreyGhostLeather said:

My questions are, maximum needle and thread size?

Looking at the specs of a new PFAFF 335 at the official PFAFF site ( https://www.pfaff-industrial.com/en/portfolio/sewing-machines/cylinder-arm/pfaff335 ) the recommended needle system 134-35 with a metric size needles 80 to 100. The system 134-35 needles are not as common as the system 135-16 needles. According to the official PFAFF website the machine is made to accept 80 to 100 (metric) or #12 to #16 needles which in turn allows for thread from V33 to V69  max.

However I did see on Sunny Sewing Machines ( https://sunny-sewing-machines.myshopify.com/products/pfaff-335-cylinder-arm-walking-foot-sewing-machine-w-binding ) and they are saying it can handle up to V207 so I would check with the main distributor for PFFAF to confirm it's capabilities. I think their thread capabilities is an error.

2 hours ago, GreyGhostLeather said:

Finally aside from the fact that I took up this art about a decade ago, does looking at this as an option fully land me into the crazy column? 

Ah, you are no crazier then most of us.

I do think you are looking at the wrong machine and I would suggest looking into a Juki LS-341 or Juki LS1341 or clone if you need something to sew a touch over 3/8" thick once you go over that thickness you really need a Class 441 machine like a Juki TSC-441 or clone. Keep in mind a clone is going to a LOT less expensive. As a note 9 oz leather is 9/64" inch thick so it depends then on how many layers to want / need to sew through and the toughness of the leather.

kgg

Edited 15 hours ago by kgg

[dikman]

Personally, I wouldn't go with the Pfaff. They're a quality machine from a top manufacturer but it may not be the best choice for what you want to do. Many of them were set up as binders which means the feed dog will only be back and forth rather than the lift and move type.  Clearance under the feet is often not as great as some other machines and I agree with kgg, I doubt it will handle #207 thread, max is likely to be #138 but will probably be happier with #69.

Look for another machine, in the long run I think it would be a better move.

[AlZilla]

What about something like this:

https://tolindsewmach.com/cb3200.html

It says it gets down to size 69 thread and up to 346 and sews up to a half inch. Others will know better than I, but it seems like a better fit.