Wow that Pfaff looks brand new! You done stole it at that price. :shock:
Sharon W. in Texas

Strange, isn't it? I'm always surprised that someone didn't get to it before I did. Well, maybe I was that someone.

I love Pfaff machines. I have had two 130's with the coffee grinder attachment. They work pretty well but I have found that the coffee grinder makes a lot of very "Tinny" noise when you run the machine. The ones that I have had without the grinder on them were much quieter and seemed smoother when they ran. The noise was pretty distracting to me to be honest.
There is my two cents on that.
~G~

I confirm your two cents and raise you to a nickel! ;)

I've started building my own cases for just that reason. Cabinets take up too much room. If I had the room I'd collect those too though. There's been some very cool designs over the years and some of the lifts on the treadle cabinets are just amazing.

I don't think door skins have quite enough bend in them to get a true bentwood case out of them. I have a little bit here, I might set up a jig and see how far it goes before it gives out.

Bentwood cases are pretty but they have their disadvantages too. Due to the tension on the wood those bends that we admire so much can start cracking over time. I've seen it on a lot of furniture with bent veneer surfaces and my White bentwood case has that problem too. But then 50 years from now I won't be here to see it. :)
I think it would be difficult to hit a price point that the market would bear while still making enough money to justify the effort of making the cases.
Rodney

I'm no woodworker, believe me. But I have several machines in cheap cabinets/tables/desks that I hate to put into those even cheaper plastic carry cases -- but I don't have room for all the cabinets. Seeing a beautiful Pfaff 130 in a white plastic molded case with an integrated handle makes me want to hurl.

The doors when in the 42" X 7' form will all but double in half, BUT a piece sized to make a top will be stiff. in order to bend this is has to be steamed, you can also soak these in water for a few days and then bend them. Now I only know of this one type of skin that I " WAS" able to buy. For years and years a local building supply had reject shins, most had some kind of stain on it. $6 a sheet. I never did anything that I needed to bend any.
as a kid a friends father thought us how to bend 1x4's in to ski's using boiling water. later in life I did bend 1'8 " plywood using an old school steam cleaner to soak and heat the wood, but was only about a 90 degree bends,

I have found afew of the dome tops (original) cracking at the bend, The worst has been White treadle drawers. but then they have been around 100 years or so. waterfall vanitys most are from the 20's very common for those to crack at the bend.

Something to think about is to make a coffin top, instead of a dome/bentwood top. I've only had one totally apart, now wish I would have made a copy. There 100% straight cuts, a person could do all the cuts using a table saw and router. some stores have per-made applique that you could glue on for a design

I'm going with a shape more like the cloth and paper covered cases of the 50s. Not as pretty as the bent wood cases but better than a plastic bubble. The idea is to protect the machines in an attractive manner.
Rodney

yes with the matrail cost, your time, no one would buy. I once chased the local hardwood store for veneer to recover a singer treadle top . nobody carried veneer that wide, online I did find the the veneer BUT it would be $ 120 plus shipping for enough to do one singer treadle top, hoping you didn't mess up even one tiny cut.

I've settled on simply ( not ) re gluing all the original wood, forget the break , cracks and splitters, just glue those down. do a sand over to smooth, then flood the wood with lacquer I do mean just pour in out of the can and spread as thich as possible, good lacquer will dry in an hour. rough sand coat again. keep recoating , sand until the surface is smooth. once bone dry fine sand to what ever shine you like. lacquer can be made gloss or taken to a stain finish. it's very hard durable and as smooth as glass. the final finish is to wax that.

the out come is you have a top that fabric slides right over and doesn't snag , you can set your coffee cup on and never leaves a white ring, or toss that screw driver on with no worries of making a dent.

I know every one here talks using shellac , to me it's an evil foo in woodworking. a failure waiting to happen. we won't use water based glues , why use a finish that mosiure or water will turn gray/white.

Thats just me.

I'm long winded, a FYI, when you finishing cabinet with shellac on them, don't sand it off. Get an auto part cleaning brush, cheap plastic tub, like a rubbermaid or ?? a gallon of acetone or lacquer thinner, just wash the wood just as if is a auto part, the shellac with soften and wash of just like it was dirt. most the stains will also. it will not hurt paint or the original gluing. you'll clean a full treadle cabinet in a few hours the applique wood working come clean without damage, often the wood is as new looking as it was way back when. on a warm day this will dry in no time, then do your gluing and sanding ..

toxic fumes maybe, but must less than sanding dust from a 100 years of who know what kind of chemical put on that wood . I have made myself very Ill from sanding off cabinets, for a good 3 days will feel like I'm on drugs. I now know thats from all the chemical cleaners used over the years, like lemon pledge old English furniture polish . we have no idea what this type thing is made of .
These are just things to think about, like lead paint.

I thought about cloth cover tops also, if you go to furniture upholstery fabric stores. There have very pretty fabrics in old designs.

Most remember the term " carpet baggers" depression era traveling sale men, They even sold sewing machines LOL. my mother was a depression era woman. In her traveling to do her art work she made carpet bags, but using upholstery fabric's

Rodney you giving me idea's now on recovering a probably 40/50's case I have, using fabric I cut from the back of a 10's or 20's couch, it's burnt rose color with a floral design. I may only have enough to do a front and back, so cover the top, sides and base with a darker color and no pattern. try to sew all the seams

or over laps the seams, trim those with a thin oak trim