Zig Zag Machine Advice

[trash treasure]

Another one to add to the list : Pfaff 438 - Really nice machines

http://www.ebay.com/itm/PFAFF-ZIG-ZAG-438-sewing-machine-Industrial-HEAVY-DUTY-Used-/162694648820?hash=item25e15b53f4:g:m8IAAOSwQm9Z0lex

[Hockeymender]

  On 10/5/2017 at 11:17 AM, trash treasure said:

Another one to add to the list : Pfaff 438 - Really nice machines

http://www.ebay.com/itm/PFAFF-ZIG-ZAG-438-sewing-machine-Industrial-HEAVY-DUTY-Used-/162694648820?hash=item25e15b53f4:g:m8IAAOSwQm9Z0lex

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Using one almost every day I can concur the 438 is a wonderful machine. 

[lazyd]

Me Again. A friend has a Pfaff 138-6. Anyone have experience with that machine?   Thanks-------------Bill

[Constabulary]

Excellent machine - I once owned one. But there are differences some have 4.5mm or 5mm zig zag and only very few have 6mm zigzag. Mine only had 4.5mm (measured). I now have a Singer 307G2 and I do not regret. 307G2 also is an excellent machine but you barely find parts (feet, hooks, bobbins and smaller bits are available). Timing belts are no longer available - however I personally prefer the 307G2.

Advantage of the 138 is that it has no timing belt but a problem with the 138 is that the Zig zag dial often is gummed up but with a heat gun and oil you can solve this. Other than that the 138 really is an excellent machine.

[lazyd]

  On 10/9/2017 at 6:28 AM, Constabulary said:

Excellent machine - I once owned one. But there are differences some have 4.5mm or 5mm zig zag and only very few have 6mm zigzag. Mine only had 4.5mm (measured). I now have a Singer 307G2 and I do not regret. 307G2 also is an excellent machine but you barely find parts (feet, hooks, bobbins and smaller bits are available). Timing belts are no longer available - however I personally prefer the 307G2.

Advantage of the 138 is that it has no timing belt but a problem with the 138 is that the Zig zag dial often is gummed up but with a heat gun and oil you can solve this. Other than that the 138 really is an excellent machine.

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Thanks for your input on that machine. It's nice to know it would possibly be reliable. Maybe we should have a little wider zig-zag for what we will be doing...??? Anyone else have an opinion ?  ----------Bill

[Constabulary]

6mm ZZ is a good score already. There might be machines with wider ZZ (some Singer 20 models I guess) but most used industrial machines have 6mm ZZ or less.

[davehorseblanket]

How about the bernina 950? Would that be a stronger machine than the singer 20u33? 

[mikesc]

No..it has some plastic gear parts inside ( unless it is one of the old ones ) ..Singer 20U33 is all metal, you need something that can take the impact of sewing through leather and hides..Bernina is a "crafts machine" , not an industrial, it does stuff that you don't need ( buttonholes etc ) because it is built to sew textiles for craft workers, The singer 20u33 was also built for sewing textiles, but it was built to be used more heavily, and to sew thicker materials and more layers, it only does straight stitch and zig zags , but it will do them day in day out, and nothing plastic in there to expensively break.

Parts for Bernina 950s ( even the bobbins ) are expensive compared to Singer 20u33s, sewing horsehair scraps into rugs on a Bernina 950, you will be straining the machine, breaking parts or having them wear out quicker, the "down time" will be an additional cost over the parts.

Review of Bernina 950 here..read the comments too.
https://thoughtsfromaseamstress.blogspot.fr/2008/01/bernina-950-industrial-sewing-machine.html

I have a friend who is a sail maker , huge sail loft, runs a very expensive very long arm state of the art Adler as his main machine, he also has a Bernina 217 and an 850 for smaller sail work, loves them, ( they have no plastic parts, his 850 is an old one ), isn't interested in any 950.

Bought an Adler walking foot machine ( don't know which one ) for adding the leather ends to bags ( or whatever the huge sack that sails live in are called ) etc.

More about zig zag machines here
http://www.ashleyandthenoisemakers.com/blog/2015/5/7/bernina-217-review

Almost forgot..re the Pfaff 138..it is a "full size" industrial..the needle end is further from the "post" end than on the Singer 20U33( and many others )..so you may find it easier to work with that extra space under the "harp"..if you can find one.

Edited October 11, 2017 by mikesc

[GPaudler]

A couple of years ago I became obsessed with sewing eye splices in rope, which is common in the safety and rescue industry and also for arborist's rigging as an alternative to traditional hand-splicing. I happened upon a Brother TZ1-B652, which is rated for 12mm wide zigzag stitches but in my experience is closer to 10-11mm.

With minor and easily reversible modifications, it will now sew splices in 12mm rope that are stronger than the rated strength of the rope, about 8000lbs tensile strength. And not wanting to devote a lot of space to a machine to be used infrequently, I just mounted an old, 1amp domestic-style motor onto the machine. I sew two narrow, very close zigzag passes down in the groove formed by the two legs of rope and two full-width passes over that, about 3" long.

The original Sailright Sailmaker was the Brother TZ1-B652 with a larger hand wheel, hand-crank and machine-mounted motor in a custom wooden carrying case. I came-upon and bought one of those but the reality is that I don't need two (or even one) and would be pleased to sell it.

I also have a Pfaff 118, that will sew 10mm-wide zigzags, that I'd like to sell. It's missing the front cover and original hand wheel/belt pulley; the former owner removed them for some unknown reason, but it works fine. I'd sell the Brother for $700 and the Pfaff, without table or motor, for $300.

Gary

 

[davehorseblanket]

So from what I am reading here the singer 20u33 is a decent machine, other info I read online kinda scared me away from it, i read it wouldn't do more than tex40 thread, I was hoping to use at least tex70 or 90, I don't need speed, I like servo motors,  seems like I've seen a few for sale locally.