Pfaff 145 H4 Needle/thread Combination

[Atreyu23]

First of I'd like to say hello and thank you for all those who have posed threads and responses. Your insight has help shed some light on the dilemmas I have been struggling with. There is a plethora of knowledge on this site but I feel my questions are specific for my needs which leads me to posting my first thread. Oh Im a newbie if you haven't already noticed so please don't be too hard on me. lol. I recently purchased a PFAFF 145 H4 Industrial Walking Foot Needle Feed Machine for sewing garment weight leather from 1 oz. - 9oz. Although this particular machine is capable of sewing much thicker leather, most of the items I fabricate are clothing and some upholstery. My Singer 20U did a decent job stitching however all of the pieces I create are quite elaborate with much attention detail and seam construction and the Singer 20U could not hold up to my standards. I was basically using the wrong machine for the job and had similar issues as my first sewing machine which was a SInger 15-91. Probably because they are not designed for sewing leather. Although the problems I encountered with the 20unwere not as severe as on the 15-91, they were still very frustrating considering the amount of hours I put into each garment. The 20U could not handle multiple layers of leather and yield high quality uniform and consistent stitches. However I cannot complain as the 20u has helped me produced some very elaborate garments but now that I plan on selling my goods, my reputation is riding on my standards for producing the highest quality and unique garments imaginable which is why I made the upgrade to the PFAFF 145 H4. I found this machine on craigslist and paid $400 for a complete machine with table and clutch motor. I got the hang of controlling the clutch motor down to a crawl but with time I will probably convert it to a servo motor like my Singer 20U has. I made a lot of mistakes along the way mainly with purchasing the wrong machines for the type of work I do. My first machine was the Singer 15-91 purchased through eBay and I was sold on the pictures in the description showing the thickness of material the machine could handle. The seller churched up how great this machine was and that it could handle my work load and yield the quality and detail I desired for my garments. My lack of knowledge on leather sewing machines led me to believe that this machine was perfect for my needs. Boy was I wrong. I ran into so many problems with inconsistent stitches, leather binding up and constantly breaking needles. This frustration led me to do more research and I learn that industrial sewing machines are very specific to the task at hand. Thats why I chose the PFAFF 145 H4 and now that I have it up and running and ready for production I have a few questions for the pros before I launch my business.

1). The PFAFF 145 H4 uses 190 needle system and I am trying to find specific needles for sewing garment weight leather 1 - 9oz and possibly heavier material. With all the different needle manufacturers like Organ, Beissel, Groz-Beckert, Schmetz and Campbell Bosworth to name a few, trying to pick the best needle/thread combination for my needs has posed to be quite a challenge. I realize there is experimentation involved but I could really use some tips from the pros. I read a thread showing tricks on how to choose the right needle for the job but it was a little confusing. There are so many different types of points P, S, LR, SD, PCR & PCL to name a few so picking the right one(s) with the thread Im using has me a little perturbed.

2). Im was using Bonded Z69 thread with a #18 needle on my Singer 20u and so far I have not had any problems with stitch breaking or leather tearing with this combination. With the PFAFF I am using Z69 thread and a 120 needle. The stitches are good and consistent but could be better and I wonder if I should be using a smaller needle than the 120 for the Z69 Bonded thread? Should I increase the thread size to 92 or 138 for garment weight leather or is that too heavy of a thread? I work with cow, lamb, goat, snakeskin, deer and patent leather hides so finding the right needle thread combination which yields the HIGHEST TINSEL STRENGTH of the leather without compromising seam construction and strength is very critical. Im trying to avoid the leather tearing which has been my biggest problem even though Im using the longest (4) stitch length possible. This may have something to do with the grain of the leather and its orientation to the seam. Your assistance is greatly appreciated.

3). Can any body tell me where to find original PFAFF presser feet? Im trying not to use chinese parts on my German machine.

4). Also I cannot seem to decrease the tension on my pressure foot? I tried loosening the thumb screw all the way but it doesn't seem to make a difference. Any advice?

Thank you all for your time in reading my post and I look forward to hearing from you....

[ChimeraKennels]

First of I'd like to say hello and thank you for all those who have posed threads and responses. Your insight has help shed some light on the dilemmas I have been struggling with. There is a plethora of knowledge on this site but I feel my questions are specific for my needs which leads me to posting my first thread. Oh Im a newbie if you haven't already noticed so please don't be too hard on me. lol. I recently purchased a PFAFF 145 H4 Industrial Walking Foot Needle Feed Machine for sewing garment weight leather from 1 oz. - 9oz. Although this particular machine is capable of sewing much thicker leather, most of the items I fabricate are clothing and some upholstery. My Singer 20U did a decent job stitching however all of the pieces I create are quite elaborate with much attention detail and seam construction and the Singer 20U could not hold up to my standards. I was basically using the wrong machine for the job and had similar issues as my first sewing machine which was a SInger 15-91. Probably because they are not designed for sewing leather. Although the problems I encountered with the 20unwere not as severe as on the 15-91, they were still very frustrating considering the amount of hours I put into each garment. The 20U could not handle multiple layers of leather and yield high quality uniform and consistent stitches. However I cannot complain as the 20u has helped me produced some very elaborate garments but now that I plan on selling my goods, my reputation is riding on my standards for producing the highest quality and unique garments imaginable which is why I made the upgrade to the PFAFF 145 H4. I found this machine on craigslist and paid $400 for a complete machine with table and clutch motor. I got the hang of controlling the clutch motor down to a crawl but with time I will probably convert it to a servo motor like my Singer 20U has. I made a lot of mistakes along the way mainly with purchasing the wrong machines for the type of work I do. My first machine was the Singer 15-91 purchased through eBay and I was sold on the pictures in the description showing the thickness of material the machine could handle. The seller churched up how great this machine was and that it could handle my work load and yield the quality and detail I desired for my garments. My lack of knowledge on leather sewing machines led me to believe that this machine was perfect for my needs. Boy was I wrong. I ran into so many problems with inconsistent stitches, leather binding up and constantly breaking needles. This frustration led me to do more research and I learn that industrial sewing machines are very specific to the task at hand. Thats why I chose the PFAFF 145 H4 and now that I have it up and running and ready for production I have a few questions for the pros before I launch my business.

1). The PFAFF 145 H4 uses 190 needle system and I am trying to find specific needles for sewing garment weight leather 1 - 9oz and possibly heavier material. With all the different needle manufacturers like Organ, Beissel, Groz-Beckert, Schmetz and Campbell Bosworth to name a few, trying to pick the best needle/thread combination for my needs has posed to be quite a challenge. I realize there is experimentation involved but I could really use some tips from the pros. I read a thread showing tricks on how to choose the right needle for the job but it was a little confusing. There are so many different types of points P, S, LR, SD, PCR & PCL to name a few so picking the right one(s) with the thread Im using has me a little perturbed.

2). Im was using Bonded Z69 thread with a #18 needle on my Singer 20u and so far I have not had any problems with stitch breaking or leather tearing with this combination. With the PFAFF I am using Z69 thread and a 120 needle. The stitches are good and consistent but could be better and I wonder if I should be using a smaller needle than the 120 for the Z69 Bonded thread? Should I increase the thread size to 92 or 138 for garment weight leather or is that too heavy of a thread? I work with cow, lamb, goat, snakeskin, deer and patent leather hides so finding the right needle thread combination which yields the HIGHEST TINSEL STRENGTH of the leather without compromising seam construction and strength is very critical. Im trying to avoid the leather tearing which has been my biggest problem even though Im using the longest (4) stitch length possible. This may have something to do with the grain of the leather and its orientation to the seam. Your assistance is greatly appreciated.

3). Can any body tell me where to find original PFAFF presser feet? Im trying not to use chinese parts on my German machine.

4). Also I cannot seem to decrease the tension on my pressure foot? I tried loosening the thumb screw all the way but it doesn't seem to make a difference. Any advice?

Thank you all for your time in reading my post and I look forward to hearing from you....

If your machine is in good shape, it sounds like you got a good deal. It is a shame no one replied to this. I have the same machine. I too noticed the pressure on the presser foot is very high...and even when one loosens it all the way it is difficult to feed a material in reverse IF you are using THICK materials. No problems with the thin stuff though.

Some people warned me not to get the big 441 clones saying they would have a hard time handling the thinner nylon webbing materials, but "Wiz" showed they did that just fine...and I can see that although this machine can handle 1, 2, and sometimes 3 layers of webbing...4 pushes its limits. I am still playing with mine though trying to figure everything out.

[CowboyBob]

If you want to give me a call tomorrow I can find out the price of feet from Pfaff,what did you need the standard feet or?

Bob

[thesergeant]

4). Also I cannot seem to decrease the tension on my pressure foot? I tried loosening the thumb screw all the way but it doesn't seem to make a difference. Any advice?

I have the same machine. I too noticed the pressure on the presser foot is very high...and even when one loosens it all the way it is difficult to feed a material in reverse IF you are using THICK materials. No problems with the thin stuff though.

I know this thread is over a year old but I ran into the same issue recently after acquiring a 145H4. The presser foot tension is extremely, extremely high. I was almost going to sell the machine and just use my Alder 167 but thanks to the help of Tor and some reviewing of the parts schematic I think I have a solution. I figured I would post it here just incase anyone else in the future encounters the same issue and is in search of some help.

There are two springs that control the presser foot tension on the H4, one is external of the outer foot bar and one is inside of the bar. The thumb screw on the top only compresses the inner spring, which compared to much strong outer spring does almost nothing. Here was my fix:

The black protrusion that comes up out of the machine is held in place with a set screw located on the back of the machine. Remove that screw and grab a pair of pliers. Put a drop of oil and slowly twist the black protrusion back and forth while pulling up until you've exposed out about 1cm. You could probably go even higher but if you're going to check through the set screw hole to make sure that the set screw is still going to contact the cylinder. This reduces the pressure pretty dramatically and now the thumb screw actually changes the tension.

I'm going to see if I can find another spring with the same dimensions and replace it entirely but for now this works. Perhaps a spring from a Singer 111W? If anyone has suggestions I'm all ears. Thanks!

[ChimeraKennels]

I have come to learn that the machine works fine, and it was me that needed to learn how to use it.

And things have been going fine with it ever since.

[charbs55]

Hi everyone,

My first post and I am so pleased to have found someone with the same issue of a super heavy duty spring on the presser foot of my Pfaff 145 H4. If the Sergeant would be so kind, I'd like to find out if raising the outer spring retaining bushing by approx. 1cm was your permanent fix?  I would also be interested to know if anyone has any other suggestions. perhaps a lighter spring or remove a couple of the winds in the spring? Any advice would be greatly appreciated!!