fibersport

Well even this had its issues, had to redrill the holes in the leg to get them straight using my drill press instead of my hand drill which even after measuring still didn't drill the holes lined up! Even the simple things throw you curve balls -

Does anyone have any experience with edge guide presser feet? I've seen a couple of different designs and am wondering if one is better than the other.

Thanks for the compliments. Belt tension does take a little effort but not too much, I found setting the longer belt first since the only tension is set by the spring. The smaller belt is then adjusted using the motor adjustment as if there were only one belt. The bearings have two set screws each which prevents the shaft from going side to side. I had to drill and tap the pulleys for a set screw which I used a regualr screw for now along with small flat spots filed into the shaft and also a little Loctite retention compound. It is simple and might not hold up to 8 hours a day use but I think it will suit my needs just fine. All total I think I paid about $57. I had the angle iron laying around, I could have saved a few bucks had I used a shorter shaft but I wasn't sure how my final design was going to need.

They were on my phone but I sent them to my computer via email and then resized them to around 500 kB and then saved that file to the computer - phone font size is way too small for these older eyes! I am uploading them again but have moved them to the C drive on the computer rather than my Microsoft365 drive, maybe that's the problem. It was not, I clicked on "insert other media" and they appeared. Must have been user error ....

It wouldn't let me upload them even after resizing, trying it again. Doesn't seem to be working, I see them after I pick them and watched as they were uploaded, they are both around 500 kB so well under the 1.46 MB limit. Anyone have any suggestions?

Here are a couple of pictures of my version of a speed reducer using information from this thread - thanks to all! Pulley sizes are 120 and 40 mm with a 15 mm bore. I welded up a U shaped frame out of 1-1/4" angle. The frame pivots on the leg of my table and is tucked in so it's out of the way. A spring keeps tension on the belts. The motor mount is used to fine tune the belt tension on the belt between the motor and large pulley on the reducer. Belt selection is kind of critical, I used a belt length calculator to pick my belts which worked well. I would like to slow it down a little further as the lowest speed of my servo motor is a little too fast for my liking although I need to do some sewing to see if I can adapt to the slowest speed. My options are a larger diameter large pulley, a larger balance pulley on the machine or a servo motor controller that has a lower intial speed. Overall I'm very satisfied with it and really like the simple design. I ran it without the spring and it worked OK until I tried to sew 4 layers of vinyl which cases the small pulley on the speed reducer to slip. Adding the spring worked great, it actually rises up a bit on startup but there is no slippage on multiple layers of vinyl. I don't have much tension on the spring, if it did start to slip all I would do is pull it down a little more. I do need to cut the shaft down and paint the frame but until I spend a little more time with it I'll call it almost done!

I'm talking about a Pfaff, 545 for clarification. Maybe that explains the different location of the screw on the smaller forward foot between the Pfaff and the Consew? I only have a Pfaff presser foot and nothing else to physically compare it to, again just trying to wrap my head around the differences since this is a new hobby to me.

Kind of curious and trying to learn. Are presser feet interchangeable between Pfaff/Consew/Singer etc.? It seems that as long as they are the same shank length, they should interchange. I noticed some of the screws for the front foot are in a different location, maybe there might be a clearance issue? I realize there may be some specialized presser feet that won't work but I'm wondering if they look similar they should work?

I really like your design, it has given me some great ideas for making mine. I'll be sure to post some pictures when I get it done. Thank you (and everyone else on this thread) for your inspiration!

No problem. I ordered my parts from ebay, they're coming in on a slow boat from China as they say so I'll have to be patient. One other question: is your reducer mounted on a hinge or something? It looks like there is a pivot towards the outside of your frame.

Parts all on order, now to just try and be patient for them to arrive. Agreed on the belt also.

Thanks Constabulary, extremely helpful! In my mind I kept trying to find a 150mm pulley without much luck, never thought to just change the size of the smaller one as well. I'll be placing my orders tonight!

Sheir1 - would you mind sharing some of the details on the pulleys and pillow block bearings such as vendor and specs? Thanks

Thanks for the additional info

Thank you very much, appreciate the quick reply. I'll look a little closer tonight to compare. I'm assuming that it's made that way to be gentler on the material?

Can someone explain the "P" code - "four-motion drop feed on top feed machines"? I picked up a 545 and just doing a quick comparison to my 145, the feed looks the same. Not really sure what the difference could be between a P and non-P machine.

Thank you, good to know.

Was wondering what experience people have with presser feet made in China? I have a Pfaff and some of the types of feet aren't available except from China. They are all over the internet for low prices and would like to know if "you get what you pay for" holds true.

How about the name of a good supplier of used parts?

I'm looking for this part 91-010 606-45, it's called the lifting lever. My machine didn't have one when I bought it and although not necessary to sew, it would be nice to have it. Any help is greatly appreciated. Honestly a broken one or even a tracing would be helpful as I could make one if really need be.

The blue shaft just lifts up and down. The pink part has a curved edge to allow it to be locked onto the numbered plate that indicates the stitch length. The spring inside the knurled knob is there to keep the knurled knob under a little tension, probably to make adjustments a little easier. The blue shaft doesn't go in or out any more than it is. The split nut on the end is supposed to be that way, it's not broken. I believe the set screw is just there to limit the knurled knob from going in too far. The knurled knob and the pink part slide on the blue threaded rod. It's been a few months since I had mine apart so this is from memory. It's really a wierd design, you would think they could have designed it a little simpler which they eventually did.

Glad it worked for you too! If you watch these videos, and sit down and play around with it, you'll learn more about your machine than you can imagine. Do you have a manual for it? I would have to check but I think the one for the 1245 was most helpful in setting the timing and all other settings as well, the 145, 545 and 1245 are all very similar.

This may sound odd but put the cover on the right side back in place. Make sure your timing is correct and dial in your tension. I had a problem with birdnesting on my Pfaff 145 and it turned out the missing cover was the problem. After putting in back and making all the adjustments all is well.

Johnny, I might be interested in the 3 pieces on the left, the two knee parts and the one that attaches to the underside of the machine that the knee lift contacts. I don't need the bobbin winder parts. What might you want for them? Probably should go to private messages from this point - not sure how the admin feels about buying/selling being public.

I'm looking for most of these parts. They seem common to many models. The parts in the small box are mounted underneath and connect to the knee lift mechanism. If you don't have the parts, I would be interested in seeing how you converted yours.