friquant

This looks good. Here is the unfurled link in case anybody needs it: https://www.supsew.com/download/Pfaff/Pfaff 245, 1245; 246, 1246 Service Manual.pdf Pfaff 245, 1245; 246, 1246 Service Manual.pdf

Is there a video on adjusting the hook to needle distance on a 545? After my original hook broke, I am installing an aftermarket hook and the new hook bumps into the needle so I'm adjusting. I have the hook saddle loose, but how to move the bevel gear so it still fits well against its mating gear?

Good to know the downsides of a roller feed machine. I set this at one point. I'll check and readjust. That sounds like a good idea. The lifting foot mostly rests toward the rear. What is an open toe inner foot?

I'm using a Pfaff 545.

Wheel foot---that's cool! With the wheel directly to the side of the needle, it appears that turning the material continuously while the motor is ticking over would be consistent in "going where you point it". I could imagine the stitch length being longer for a left hand curve and shorter for a right hand curve since the needle is offset somewhat from the wheel&dog. Not that I'm planning to get a wheel right now, this is my first heavy duty machine and I'm still learning what I can do with it and how to drive it accurately

The current setup goes 110 stitches per minute at its lowest speed. That's using a servo motor and a 45mm pulley on the motor instead of the 75mm pulley it came with. In the tight corners I've been letting off the gas to rotate with the needle down.

How to develop the skills to accurately match curves? (You know, like a motorcyclist on a mountain highway) Attached is an image of my practice session. A paperboard box with a smooth curve drawn on it with ink, then my "follow the blue line" exercise with the triple-feed upholstery machine. While I ENJOY keeping the motor spinning the entire time, and taking the curves at slow, continuous speed, when practicing this way I notice that any time the outer toe is touching down, the paperboard tends to pivot about the rear (heel) part of the outer toe. Since the heel of the outer toe is NOT concentric with the needle, this leads to a couple of side effects. Side Effect A: Any rotation of the paperboard while the outer toe is down not only changes the direction of motion, it also moves the current position to one side or the other. Side Effect B: Any rotation of the paperboard while the outer toe is down increases the stitch length because in addition to the forward motion of the feed, it now has the additional lateral motion from my rotation pivoting pivots around the heel of the outer toe.

Got the remains of the hook out! Soaked it for a few hours in penetrating oil, tapped on it a lot with a smaller hammer and a long screwdriver, applied heat from a kitchen butane torch to the center portion, more tapping with the small hammer. Eventually I noticed it was budging a small amount one way then the other from the hammer taps.

I pried (gently I thought) on the hook from the left side, rotating the handwheel in between attempts, and the hook broke. I have now soaked it with penetrating oil (should have done that first!) in hopes to get the remaining part of the hook removed so I can install a new one.

Yes the machine was running before teardown. The user manual on page 14 says to "take out set screw 20 (Fig. 4) and pull the hook up out of the machine." Set screw 20 appears to be the screw at the center of the bowl that is removed in the photo. My guess is that the hook is rusted to its supports.

After carefully filing and polishing the end of the moving part of the hook, here is the new tip alignment (photo) The original symptom is much improved. It will even stitch with TEX 30 now, so long as I'm careful while hooking the bobbin thread.

Is there a secret way to knock the hook loose? I've removed the center screw, but the hook still seems to be stuck. I've even tied parachute cord around one side of the hook and pried up with a long screwdriver. The hook flexes somewhat, but does not budge.

Your photos are super helpful! I like those alignments a lot better, as there is no way for the thread to get stuck. The part numbers stamped on mine are pfaff 18348 (Cap), and pfaff 18346 (Base) As for checking the exploded view of parts, I found this document: https://www.diamondneedle.com/documents/Pfaff Parts Manual/145_545.pdf but the part numbers in there all start with "91-010".

How should the fingers of the bobbin case Cap align with those of the bobbin case Base? Attaching a photo of the alignment I've got. The alignment looks off to me on two accounts: 1. the hole one the Cap is offset form the hold on the Base 2. The longest protrusion of the Base sticks out farther than the longest protrusion of the Cap. The symptom is that when the thread comes around the bobbin, sometimes it gets caught on the outermost protrusion of the bobbin case Base, so instead of making a stitch in the fabric it has made a loop around the undercarriage. With TEX 90 or TEX 70 thread the machine is usable, as then the above-named conundrum only happens if you pull excessively on the needle thread while hooking the bobbin thread. But with TEX 30 it happens even during normal stitching...It might get five or six good stitches in before it locks up. (Not that I expect to be doing much stitching with TEX30, but we didn't yet have the color we wanted in a heavier thread.) I'd be interested to see photos of alignments on other 545s, and especially to hear if anyone has adjusted/modified their alignment to make it work more reliably.