KenmoreRulesAll

Hey, all. Some weeks ago I purchased a really dirty, smelly Pfaff 30 for $19.99. I could see potential but I couldn't get motivated to clean it up and get it running. I just wasn't into it.

Lately I've been looking at CL and have been thoroughly bored. Jones hand crank in near-mint condition for $25? Whatever.

I look over my collection -- all the tables and desks with machines in them, all the cases sitting on my basement floor, the 'night stands', the end tables -- and I ask myself what was I thinking and how soon can I clear all this out.

I think I'm over it. I'm into industrial machines now. I'll keep a small core collection of domestics for a future sewing studio (and any that are somewhat valuable or unusually nice) and I still like to learn about repairs, etc. but I just don't have my prior level of interest.

Anyway, here's the 30, before and after:

[ATTACH=CONFIG]503960[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]503961[/ATTACH]

And

[ATTACH=CONFIG]503962[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]503963[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]503964[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]503965[/ATTACH]

This was a time-consuming cleanup. Lots of cotton and oil, Q-tips, spit, oil, toothbrush, steel wool, etc. This thing was almost frozen solid. Rust underneath, locked up feed dog drop, dings to touch-up, etc. It was fun, I guess. I kept looking at my watch.

Anyway, if any of you are looking for a straight stitch machine to complement your 201-2, the 30 is a very good choice imho. Really strong and fast, it produces excellent stitches and unlike its larger brother 130, has no plastic parts save the hand wheel which is light enough to make stopping and starting instantaneous. Vertical hook/race is a plus (to me) but oscillating is a minus (to me), unlike the full rotary 201.

And if any of you are wondering if SMAD can be overcome, I believe the answer is 'Yes.'

(The painting behind the machine in pic #1 is something I picked up yesterday for a few $. The woman looks a lot like a friend of mine when I was back East.)

Mrs. SewNSew

I don't look at it as overcoming SMAD but rather moving on. I think it's a thing that changes as our interests change. The harder part is if the working on them doesn't keep up with the accumulating part. I'm in a stage of flux right now but I think it's just the holidays. I've been away from the tinkering and it's cold and damp outside. I may start up the woodstove and see if something catches my interest. I have plenty to work on for now and I know once I get a start on it, it will catch me up in the process for hours.

I've been working on my sewing room. It's a work in progress but it evolves as I need it.

The Pfaff 30 came out lovely! If you don't have a desire to hold onto it, I know you can find a good home for it. Your interests are changing and that's ok.

jlhmnj

All part of the learning process. I figure my interests wouldn't be what they are now if I didn't go through previous interests then. Evolution I guess. I still treasure my sewing machines but some more than others. Many I don't know what to do with short of bringing to Goodwill as I can't bring myself to part them out. I need to find a sucker like I was a few years back

Jon

Candace

What a great outcome. I had a 130 and sold it as I didn't bond with it. I suspect because of the cabinet it was in. Some of the Pfaff cabinets have you seated at an odd angle to the machine and I just didn't like it. I like the fact that the 30 doesn't have that nylon gear. I didn't know that. I wonder why the 130 has it and the 30 doesn't??

costumegirl

You did an amazing job on the Pfaff!! It looks perfect!!

Interests do change and evolve over time but you should really take your time if you are thinking of parting with some of your prizes. This has happened to me too, where I will become really passionate about finding/collecting a particular item and then after the hunt is over my interest wanes and I move on.

Some "collectibles" can be hard to come by and many are getting more difficult to find. Once when I was considering getting rid of a pretty treadle parlor cabinet that doesn't have a machine, just to get it out of the way, a friend warned me that I will get a bit of space but once it's gone, it's gone and I may not find/or be able to afford another if my inclinations return - I've had the cabinet for a long time - maybe someday I will find a machine to put in it.

KenmoreRulesAll

Great comments, everyone -- thanks for the kind words! As I begin to focus on learning to use these machines, acquiring them for specific purposes is all I'm interested in anymore. It's as if I needed to get this out of my system. I remember reading about the process of acquisition and how buying more of a less expensive item doesn't sate our psychic appetites but that collecting (hunting and gathering) is hard-wired.

Yeah, the 30 came out OK. (Those overhead halogen lights reveal every single flaw in the finish and every particle of dust. It actually looks better in more natural lighting.) Since this one's condition is not as nice as my other 30 (which is near-mint), I'll sew with it if I keep it.

And I completely agree about being cautious re. selling off stuff that right now seems like stuff that's in the way. I was excited to find this Pfaff and I have to remember why: they're not offered for sale all that often (in this neck of the woods). For myself, regretting buying a something I don't value is much less than the regret of selling something I do.

As for the non-metal gears in the 130, there are actually two: one that works off the main drive shaft and controls the zig-zag function (so the straight stitch 30 wouldn't have this gear) and a small gear off the hook's shaft. (I'm not exactly sure why plastic/nylon would have been preferable other than weight; the differences in cost were, in the 1950s, probably negligible.) Another non-metal part is the cleated belt that drives the lower shaft (the same design featured in the Singer swing series). The 30 doesn't have this belt, either.

KLO

Well, I like it but then I am a sucker for Pfaffs. You did a real nice job of cleaning it up even if it was tedious. Hope it sews as great as it looks. And yeah, we can change our minds about what we like and don't like or want anymore. That's what "growing" is all about. Sometimes it is just about the process and once that "process" happens, we get bored and need to move on to something new and exciting and different ... my dh is often like that: get interested in something, figure out how it works, build one himself, keep it for a bit and use it, sell it off or give it away. I think that sometimes shows a very active and inquisitive mind.

Stitchnripper

You did a beautiful job. I am surely not an expert in this, but come to find out Mr. Stitchnripper is quite the enabler and we brought home the 66-1 I talked about in my recent thread. Once I clean them up and get them to sew, I seem to lose interest, but, don't want to get rid of them. I am relative novice in the collection, since I only have 11 machines right now, but, can't seem to think of parting with any of them.

Mrs. SewNSew

With the cold weather and the holiday I haven't has as much time tinkering as I'd like so I've been spending time sewing instead!

Alyce I've been like you in the past so excited to find-acquire-figure out the puzzle to get them working again and then eager to push them aside and work on another one. Now I am starting back sewing and enjoying the testing of the fixed machines!

Sunflowerzz

The machine turned out BEAUTIFUL!!!! Very nice clean up.

I am over random impulse purchasing of more vintage machines. And unless a really fantastic one comes my way at a terrific price or it is one of four still on my want list I just leave them for someone else to be thrilled with. I still keep an eye out for interesting cabinets too. I have a fabulous small collection right now of machines and cabinets, well fabulous to me anyway and I have used up any spare room in the house and in the cargo trailer which is still full of machines waiting for evaluation, repairs and cleaning whenever I feel the urge.

And now my muse is back stronger than ever wanting to get back into my hot glass studio and melt glass which has always been my first love. My Segway into vintage machines has allowed me to do something mechanical and to recreate a beautiful machine out of something that was trashed, thrashed and thrown out. It is very gratifying.

I now have two wonderful quilting friends from this forum that live in my area that are helping me with quilting/sewing and I have donated ten of my beautiful repaired machines and three cabinets to the Boles fire survivors in Weed California. All in all a wonderful experience.

I still frequent this forum along with my other favorite forums and join in when I can. I think that vintage sewing machines are a chapter in my life that has slowed way down but will never close completely. What is even more fun is that I now know what the heck I am looking for and in for if and when I decide to bring another one home!!!! LOL