Pfaff 138 presser foot adapter problem!

[Nicho]

I have finally managed to get hold of my dream machine, the elusive Pfaff 138. I love most things about it, except the limited selection of presser feet available.

I have a large collection of high shank industrial presser feet from my old Singer 31K that would be great to use but none of them fit. The original Pfaff 138 presser feet are way taller than regular high shank industrial presser feet, and although I have tried lowering the needle bar - the distance is just too great to bridge the gap.

Also, none of the high shank industrial presser feet seem to fit the Pfaff needle bar particularly well, the profile of the attachment area on the Pfaff bar is slightly different than that of the Singer it seems.

No problem, just get the presser foot adaptor! That would probably solve all my problems but after having scoured the interwebs thoroughly I have managed to find precious few presser foot adaptor for the Pfaff 138/134 - found one on German eBay for the ridiculous price of 110 euros, or approximately 120 US dollars!

 

That doesn’t make sense in my world so I need to come up with a different solution.

I have found an adaptor for a Goldenwheel post-bed sewing machine, that looks like it could possible work.

 

Anyone else out there have the same problem and have come up with a good solution?

[Northmount]

6 hours ago, Nicho said:

I have finally managed to get hold of my dream machine, the elusive Pfaff 138. I love most things about it, except the limited selection of presser feet available.

Really should place sewing machine related questions in the Leather Sewing Machine area.  That's where the sewing machine guys hang out.

I moved your post to Leather Sewing Machines.

[nejcek74]

Just lower the presser foot bar and start using high shank feet. They work perfectly fine, but it's true, you need to press them on with some effort and precision. I guess, smaller tolerances, Germans love that :)))).

More about lowering the bar is here, you just need to loosen one clamp:

Here is my 138-6, original foot for comparison, and actually I can still use, as on my presser foot bar there are two holes for the screw.

red arrow points the presser foot bar clamp.

 

 

 

 

[Nicho]

Thanks nejcek74, that sorted it out - such a simple and obvious solution now that you have explained it!

I filed down the lower portion of the presser foot bar sides ever so slightly and now all of my high shank industrial presser feet fit really well and perfectly lines up with the needle.

And like you pointed out nejcek74, the original Pfaff presser feet can still be used by swapping over to the top hole in the presser foot bar. It’s as if those german engineers had thought of this solution all a long!

Edited 3 hours ago by Northmount
Changed needle bar to presser foot bar

[Northmount]

4 minutes ago, Nicho said:

Thanks nejcek74, that sorted it out - such a simple and obvious solution now that you have explained it!

I filed down the lower portion of the needle bar sides ever so slightly and now all of my high shank industrial presser feet fit really well and perfectly lines up with the needle.

 

4 minutes ago, Nicho said:

And like you pointed out nejcek74, the original Pfaff presser feet can still be used by swapping over to the top hole in the needle bar. It’s as if those german engineers had thought of this solution all a long!

I think you mean presser foot bar!

[Nicho]

Presser foot bar indeed, I stand corrected.

[Northmount]

18 hours ago, Nicho said:

Presser foot bar indeed, I stand corrected.

Fixed it