Earl

I went the frugul route and bought a 1/2" drill press at Big Lots for sale price of $30. I had some 3" flap wheels 1/4" stem mounted. I could control the speed by changing the belts on top to slow it down, and set up worked great. One day I found my drum sander and figured now this will really be the ticket, wrong, it took off way too much too fast and ruined a sheath I had hand stitched, I was sick. So back to flap wheels, they are not nearly as aggressive as a drum, there seems to be quite a bit of give when pressing the leather to the wheel. Earl

Peter, Someone on here suggested a forum called Blade Forums, I went there and found under sub forums " sheaths and such".There is so much information to be gleaned from it and there was a topic that suggested everyone show their work. I'm still cleaning drool from my desk. LOL I hope you can find it because you will sure enjoy the site. Earl

If you found another machine, could it be, that you might exchange the heads. Its amazing how many many machines will fit another base. Most just have two small hook like hinges, some are held in by set screws, easy to change. I know its a long shot- but just maybe. Earl

At our Tandy, they were 3.33 the last six days of 2008. Sale ended January 1st. Maybe they will do another, its a different day nowadays, some really great sales going on in other wares in our area. Earl

Steven, The person that showed me how to lock the first and last stitches on cloth upholstery, sew about 3 stitches foward, reverse to beginning, and then stitch to end of run, doing the opposite at the end to lock all stitches. On leather, this may create too many holes so leave your upper and lower thread a bit long, 4 inches or so out your needle and bobbin thread. After you make your sew, also leave some extra at the end. Take it out of the machine, so it will look nice from top, pull the bottom thread a bit to make the top thread start coming thru, now pull the top thread to the bottom and tie top and bottom threads together and clip off the threads. Do beginning and end same way and all will be locked. Sounded simple as I wrote this, hope it makes sense to you. Earl

I think you did the right thing on passing this one, I went to look at mine, the one I don't use, it is a 487 walking foot, It looks just like the 463. This was my first Pfaff and really impressed me that it could sew so fast. After using it, that speed didn't impress me one bit - 5500 / 10 stitches per in /550 inches / 45 or so feet per min. Who needs that? I'd try to make that thing tick away and off it'd go like a rocket. I then bought a 1245, that is one nice machine and another one that stitches up on a post about 6-8 inches high. Happy now, I figure someday, someone may need to stitch some drapes about 12 feet tall, and they may enjoy that speed. LOL

Mike, I have the same machine, I'm guessing yours has done what mine has several times, if you'll tilt over your head and look under, I believe you will recognize there is a safety mechanism that has jumped time. The spring loaded dog, my poor terminology, must be rotated until it drops in a groove. The little dog drives the bobbin, and I think it is out of time. Also when this happens, you'll have to release a small pin thats holding the little lever up. Mine did it several times till I took the bobbin holder out and found thread wound under the bobbin case making it bind up. I know I've made it sound worse than it is, its a quick fix.

I can imagine your excitement in bringing home your new to you machine. I have one just like it and it works wonderful. I can't see in any pictures, but my guess is that the arm to lift the foot is still on the machine. I would keep everything as is for awhile, and forget the knee lift. I use the arm almost always and the woman I bought the machine from used it always, knee lift wasn't even mounted when I bought it. I'll bet that power lift will come in handy later tho. My good friend has a upholstery shop and he says these machines were made in Germany with excellant life expectancy. Mine came from a car upholstery shop and was used every day and for long periods of time, after years of service, she went to the new Consew because this Pfaff would not make the long stitch she wanted for car seats, it seems she wanted 3 or 4 stitches per inch. Ours won't make them that long. You mentioned speed seems fast, I am wondering if you have the 3450 rpm motor. One of my machines has that and that machine "flys" wide open, and it is hard to slip the clutch. Lots of operators do slip the clutch and far as I know, doesn't hurt them at all. Speaking of fast, when I bought my first Pfaff, he said it would sew two yard sticks together in 3-4 seconds! By the pictures, you are blessed with welt foots. One picture shows a double one, used on furniture, you wrap your material around the cord, and run it through the channel, sewing right along the cord and does so effortlessly. In some applications, they will make a double welt and staple in on right between the two welts. I notice the paint is still good on the bed, meaning not too much material has ben sewed with it. Much of the paint on mine was wore off from material passing over the bed and rubbing the end where you set your stitch length. I 've probably talked too much, but lookes like you made a good buy. Earl

I've been in hardware sales for several years, and one of ways we came up with a solution for some Amish folk that needed drive belts for their pedal drive sewing machines was to sell them 5/16 size o-ring stock which comes in a 25 foot roll. They said it worked well in that application. By the way, the metal ring that closes the end together does really last for years. Place the hole about 3/16 - 1/4 inch from the ends and it works great. One of my Pfaffs is running with a v-belt cut off and spliced the same way and causes no problem at all. Hope this helps, Earl