Advice on purchasing old Pfaff 335 H3

[BMD]

Hi everyone

First time posting.  Looking for some advice on purchasing a sewing machine.  I have limited experience with industrial machines and had an old Juki I used for some denim projects a long time ago but nothing when it comes to leather.

I'm trying to find a machine that will sew leather totes, handbags, purses/wallets, belts, etc. in veg tan.  I like the look of a thick top stitch stitch but I know that machines are limited in terms of needle size and thread.

I managed to find an old Pfaff 335 that is part of a leather garment studio that uses furnishing leather and I'm looking for advice in terms of whether or not its a good beginner machine to learn on and hopefully be able to get through a few layers of 2mm to 3mm veg tan (or more?) with a decent thickness of thread.

I've tried o look for the manual online without any luck and I'm struggling to find complete info on the letters and numbers in the model.  I found a few but not all..

And finally, it seems like it has a servo motor but not sure and if so how slow can this machine stitch as it says 500 to 2500 rpm.  Seems like 500 is still quite fast!? :)

I've attached some photos if that helps. 

Thanks in advance for your help!

[Wizcrafts]

The servo motor speeds would be switchable maximums, not minimums.

[shoepatcher]

ok   335 H3 regular lift which is 11mm. B class so for light materials, L meaning for sewing leather,  N which is stitch length. On older models, it was 4mm max.

The 900 numbers on the plate means it had some toys on it which are gone - backtack, foot lift, trimmers. now a plan jane machine.

looks in pretty good shape.  Take samples if you are going to look at it and sew on it.  Max. Thread is #138.  This one has the small bobbin..

glenn

[BMD]

Thanks for your replies guys. This helps a lot.

When you say B class is for lighter materials do you think it will still work with veg tan or is this a furniture leather type machine only? If the latter then I read somewhere that it is only classed as lightweight because of the needle plate hole size and if foot type. Is that true and if I changed those would I then be able to use veg tan and thicker thread? I would go and test it out but the machine is quite far from where I live.

Thanks

[dikman]

The limited view of the control panel looks like it only has on/off buttons, so unless there is another panel somewhere to change settings I'd say that the motor speed range is as listed on the motor - min 500 rpm, max 3000 and is non-adjustable.

Regardless of what you do to the machine the max. thread size this model will handle is #138.

edit:I did some searching on the 'net and this is a "basic" servo with no separate electronic control panel, it's all built into the motor housing. 500 rpm is its slowest speed. If you want your machine to go slower then you'll need to fit a speed reducer.

Edited October 11, 2019 by dikman

[Wizcrafts]

40 minutes ago, dikman said:

edit:I did some searching on the 'net and this is a "basic" servo with no separate electronic control panel, it's all built into the motor housing. 500 rpm is its slowest speed.

Yikes! If true, that's one useless motor unless the OP plans to sew flat out. He'd need a 6:1 speed reduction to sew small leather items. From the looks of it, a 50mm motor pulley would cut those speeds in half. That's okay for longs seams, but not intricate patterns or thick work.

[dikman]

It looks to me like it's an early idea for a more efficient motor to replace a clutch motor, not necessarily designed to suit leatherworkers.