VINTAGE PFAFF HEAVY DUTY SEWING MACHINES

Pfaff 230 sewing machine, photos I took to show everything included with it, when I sold it on eBay, several years ago.

VINTAGE PFAFF SEWING MACHINES

Pfaff's factory in Germany manufactured some of the heaviest duty home sewing machines, ever created. These machines are considered semi industrial, because they can actually sew as high as 2,500 stitches per minute, with the correct motor, & if they have been kept properly oiled & lubed, & kept in use. These European sewing machines were designed for both home, or domestic use, but also for the small family business, which often requires faster production, which the Pfaffs can stand up to, & sew fast enough. There is an inherent weakness, though, & that is that the engineering specifications are so incredible exact, that even tiny amounts of lint, or old dried up oil, can cause a thread jam, that makes your sewing machine feel like it is SUPERGLUED!

To be clear, I am talking about when you are sewing, & it suddenly seizes up, not when the machines have just been left to sit, unused, for decades, those machines literally ARE superglued, or more accurately, they are lacquered together! Before shipping the new sewing machines, the factory did spray the insides & working parts of all their sewing machines, with a mixture of Vaseline & gasoline, to prevent rust & corrosion, particularly when they were shipped overseas, or to humid areas of the world.


That is all well & good, but the problem with it, is that many of these fabulous, high speed, heavy duty sewing machines have sat, decades, possibly half a century, without being used. This anti-rust, anti-corrosion spray, as well as the oil & lubricants within the working parts themselves, dried out, over time, turning into basically a solid chunk of metal. This is the number one reason for most Pfaff sewing machines being seized up.

A simple way to clean them, and free them up, is to dip a Qtip in rubbing alcohol, (to avoid leaving cotton ball lint, or fibers, you can cover the Qtip with a layer of old t- shirt fabric, or use a small paintbrush, to brush on rubbing alcohol, or kerosene- don't get alcoholon the paint, or plastic, if possible, to avoid damaging them) and clean all of the metal parts, where they touch, and are supposed to move against, other metal parts, then oil with sewing machine oil, or Tri Flow oil. It takes time, and patience, but do NOT use heat anywhere where it will transfer to the plastic knobs onthe outside of the machine, or you will break your plastic knobs and levers.

Do NOT use 3 in 1 oil, for some reason, it dries to a lacquer (glue , in aseding machine), after a few short years. Every machine I have, which came with a partly used canof 3 in 1 oil, was frozen solid, with dry yellow oil, and took extra time, and effort, to clean and fix.

Pfaff 360 in carry case

Pfaff 332 in carry case

Pfaff 360 Advertisement

CLIP and how to attach the TRANSVERSAL (horizontal) thread spoolpin holder using this clip (sorry for horrible quality, I had an old camera when I took this photo many years ago) the hole is for the thread to feed out through here

Pfaff 360 embroidery unit on top, is very heavy, is removable. Originally, Pfaff designed these machines so you could buy the lower priced, straight stitch zigzag version, but upgrade it, later, by adding the embroidery unit, since the machine top is removable, simply by lifting it off the machine (a flathead screwdriver is sometimes necessary to assist in lifting the top, but the lids stay on securely, with no need to remove screws, to access the top of the machine, for cleaning, oiling, & servicing the machine.

Pfaff 360 handwheel is cast in stoneware pottery, an excellent, sturdy design, which is more easily, & less expensive to manufacture, but these were never intended to be shipped in poorly protected packages, through a high speed shipping process like those today, but if the handwheel is properly protected, it would have been fine. The eBay seller I purchased this from, foolishly assumed this 45 lb (appx.) sewing machine, could be packaged in shredded paper! Not a very smart idea, see the next  photo, to see the remainder of the shattered handwheel. The machine still functions perfectly, so I haven't bothered to replace it, the reason the pottery made it easier to create these handwheels, is because the staples, or metal cleats on the timing belt actually works like gears, & the part of the handwheel inside the machine, is built like a cog, with special shaping ensuring strong, non slipping power, constantly, unlike the rubber belts used to transfer power from a motor pulley to a smooth handwheel, like most other sewing machines, which allows the belt to slip.

PFAFF 360 handwheel, shattered, after being shipped in shredded paper, instead of firmly wrapped with heavy duty large bubble, bubble wrap, or properly padded with Styrafoam, or other sturdy packing materials.

Pfaff 360 note the shape of the handwheel on the inside of the sewing machine, how the timing belt's metal cleats, or staples, fit into the coglike geared part of the handwheel, for a strong, non slipping power transfer. Note on the back wall of the machine, just to the left of the timing belt in the middle of the machine, there is a "plastic" helical gear. I believe it is actually made of a very strong fiber, but it looks like plastic. None of the hundreds of people in my online Pfaff sewing machine groups, have ever found one of these to be broken, so despite looking like a weak piece of plastic, this gear is pretty solid.

The only real "weak" parts of these Pfaffs, is the actual plastic levers, on the outside of the machine. If not properly protected, padded, & nothing inside the package being able to move, during shipping, these levers do break off easily, but even when I've used Pfaffs with these parts broken, you can usually either manipulate the remaining knob or lever, to make the adjustment you want. Having a pair of pliers and/or needle nose pliers does help, if you have trouble gripping things, in the event of a broken off lever or knob.

These Pfaffs are actually one of the fastest, strongest home sewing machines I've had the pleasure to own & operate! They were literally manufactured as a semi-industrial machine, so if your machine is kept properly cleaned, lubricated & used often enough to prevent the oil from solidifying to glue, depending on which motor they have on them, these vintage Pfaffs can actually sew over 2,500 stitches per minute, as Pfaff advertised in some of their magazine ads, throughout the world! Most of us only sew in the 200 to 600 stitches a minute, on our home sewing machines, so practicing on scraps, before sewing on your project, can be a very good idea!

Pfaff 230, photos I took of the machine & everything I sold with it, when I sold it on eBay, several years ago.

The second reason your Pfaff may be seized up, is if someone was sewing, didn't hold the thread tails, before pushing the pedal, & the thread tails get sucked into the bobbin area, & because the bobbin hook & bobbin case, fit so perfectly snug in their metal frame, that just 1 piece of thread, or a tiny blob of lint, and any old oil or lubricant, are each, by themselves, capable of locking up the machine, because there isn't extra room to move!

Sorry about low photo quality, I didn't have as good of a camera back when I took these.


Pfaff 230 bobbin & hook area, I disassembled the bobbin, starting with the screw in the top center of the above photo, which holds the bobbin mechanism in the correct position for sewing. Removing that (set it somewhere safe, that you can see it clearly, you do NOT want to lose these parts! It still took every bit of strength I had, as well as oil, to help unseize this bobbin & bobbin hook setup.

The first couple of times I forgot to hold the thread tails, I was so mad at myself, but I actually learned a lot, as a result. I can't afford to have machines repaired, or serviced by someone else. My husband, or myself, will have to fix any, & all problems, with my sewing machines. I researched the web, & discovered this thread jamming is common, but there hasn't been a lot of information on how to fix it, particularly if you are very weak, with very weak, clumsy hands! (ME!!)

I am not strong enough to use brute strength, to physically wrest these parts loose, but eventually, I figured out how to fix a jammed Pfaff sewing machine, when the jam is in the bobbin area.  You will need tools, mostly screw drivers, & it is best if you can find screw drivers which have multiple interchangeable bits, which fit the exact slot of the screws. Otherwise, if a screw driver can slop around, inside the slot on the head of the screw, you can actually strip the screw head slot out, so you cannot remove the screw, without having a machinist drill it out. A very expensive, frustrating problem, so just avoid it, & use the right size of screwdriver, or screwdriver bit. A ratchet, or ratcheting screwdriver, with multiple bits, of a variety of sizes, will help the most. (I only learned this important detail about screws & screwdrivers recently. I always thought lousy screws were the issue!)

 

 Don't lose this tiny screw!  Use exactly the right size of screw driver, to fill the slot, so you don't risk stripping it.

Pfaff 260 bobbin & hook area. Notice how there is some dark yellow staining, & a dark line, in the upper right lip of the lowest photo, & the same location, in the photo above it. There is the tiniest thread, trapped in the tiny lip, where the bobbin hook is supposed to ride. The yellow is old oil, dried up to a sticky glue, or lacquer. Even though this is such a tiny amount, it is all it takes, to seize up these incredible sewing machines!

Spanish language advertisement shows Pfaff sewing machines can sew up to 2,500 stitches per minute 

Pfaff California style desk missing the chair, which had deep drawers under the seat, and hid completely in the center front of the desk. NOTICE THE BOBBIN CHANGING OVAL HOLE ON THE LEFT SIDE this makes it so you can simply slide the bobbin cover plate open, and reach underneath, but still see from the top, to change the bobbin. The bobbins are difficult to change, they must be put in exactly right, and if it jams, you will need to tilt the machine back, in order to access the area to free the jam. 

Pfaff 260 hiding inside my Pfaff California desk (hubby has a computer on top at the moment) note the pedal which doubles as a kneebar.

Pfaff California sewing machine table or desk has what appears to be 4 drawers on each side, but on the left, it is a door, which hides 3 shelves, the right side does have 4 drawers. These tables are VERY HEAVY, high quality desks, but the blonde finish does flake off easily, so they often need repainted. or refinished. These are EXCELLENT sewing tables. Note the large oval opening for your hand 

PFAFF owns the copyright on the manual photos, and advertisements, they are shown to help with research by those who own these fabulous machines and have lost the manuals over the years.