Recommend vintage textile machine with reverse

[Dave4]

Greetings.  

With the help of this board, last year I bought and restored a 31-15 and a 206RB4.  

The 31-15 has turned into a favorite machine around here: it's a great stitcher and works well with light or heavy fabrics.  

I'm considering buying another vintage industrial textile machine to restore and add to our shop.  One with reverse!

We've gotten pretty good at flipping things around to backstitch on the 31, but we want reverse on the next machine.

What can you guys or gals recommend we look for in a vintage industrial that will sew light & heavy textiles, with reverse, with reasonable parts availability & prices?

Many thanks for suggestions!

[Constabulary]

I recently "inherited" 2 vintage Made in Germany Adler straight stitch machines - one Adler 37-7 with installed roller foot (CB hook) and one Adler 96 (rotary hook). I guess they are from the 1940´s - probably WWII or a bit later. Just the heads with a bunch of feet and some other accessories, bot have reverse and bot sew with #30 (metric) thread w/o problems. Both accommodate standard Singer presser feet. I have no use for them and would like to sell them. I was just about taking pictures and post them in the sale section.

Adler 37-7 is about the class of a Singer 31-32 and the Adler 96 is the class of a Singer 96.

Maybe you are interested...

Shipping to the US is no problem but shipping costs could be an issue but I don´t want an arm and a leg for them.

2 quick pictures... Can post more pictures and details tomorrow.

[Uwe]

You might also want to consider a Pfaff 138 - a very nice, full size industrial garment machine with reverse (and zig-zag, which may come in handy at times working with fabrics.) I'm estimating these at around $400 for a nice head. 

 

I'd also recommend looking at the little brother of the Pfaff 138, the Pfaff 130. It's a surprisingly capable and tough little machine. I made an external sunshade with sunbrella fabric with my Pfaff 130. Many Pfaff 130 use a domestic motor, but they are also comfortable mounted in a table with a nice servo motor. Pfaff 130 is somewhat common and relatively cheap at around $100-200 for decent head (buy two, one for spare parts)

 

[Uwe]

One more vintage Pfaff garment candidate. A beautiful Pfaff 134 popped up on CraigsList radar today. Back from the days when companies cared about what their thread stand looked like! 

[GPaudler]

That IS a beautiful thread stand!

 

[Dave4]

I'm embarrassed to admit, we got so busy this summer I completely forgot I posted this question.  

Any new purchases will probably be next year.  

Thanks Constabulary and Uwe for the suggestions.  

Constab - did you ever sell yours?

I see that the 130 has the classic crazing.  I've never seeen a 130 myself that didn't have the crazing in the finish.  

Thanks,

DCS

 

 

[Dave4]

Constabulary - I received your PM and sent you a reply.  

Haven't heard back from you.  May be interested in one or both, depending on shipping cost.  

Check PM. 

Thx.

[Gregg From Keystone Sewing]

On 7/9/2017 at 11:50 PM, GPaudler said:

That IS a beautiful thread stand!

 

I can't agree more, we have one on display as in front of our shop.

[DrmCa]

If you can get a zigzag machine, even better, but if not even an old Juki DDL-555 series should do fine on any fabric. I have 553 without reverse and until I screwed up presser foot pressure trying to adapt it for a roller foot to use on leather, it stitched anything and everything. These can be had for close to nothing (I fished mine out of a construction dumpster after noticing a K legs and a table top sitting beside it).