Pfaff Craigs List Find 545-H4-6/01

[eglideride]

Model #545-H4-6/01.... Craigslist find-

I know- I have been reading the info on this site for a few weeks. Buy new, get a warranty. Service and support. I get it. I have watched u tube videos- border line obsessed. I actually had a chance to stop in at Nick-O sew in St Charles Mo. last Friday ( 4 hours from home). Looked at the impressive array of machines they had waiting for new homes. Got to drive a rebuilt/servo motor/cylinder arm ...pretty sweet. I have been saving my money...man- I am soooo tempted to go buy this machine. Even if I put a servo on it soon.....the money I will save. Besides, I am fairly mechanical. What could go wrong?

Talk me down Wiz...

http://images.craigslist.org/00Y0Y_dReoEy7LbRA_600x450.jpg

[Ferg]

Save your money a little longer and get a cylinder arm. You can do a "Fast Attach" for a table. You then have two machines for the price of one.

This scenario isn't so great if you have lots of business. If you get busy later you can get another machine that doesn't require you to go to the bank for loan to acquire repair parts.

Just my .02

ferg

[Geneva]

Save your money and buy a new cylinder arm. This machine is around 35-40 years old.

[Constabulary]

For me is it more comfortable to sew on a flat bed machine but everybody has his own preferences. The 545 machine is for sure some decades old but that does not mean it is totally worn off. It for sure has seen a lot of use but it depends on the price and if if full functional or not. The 545 has a large hook / bobbin so thats a good thing anyway. I would not rate the machine by just 1 poor picture. I´d check out the machine and test sew it with the materials you are going to sew with it.

I never have bought a new machine and all my machines are working fine. Buying a used machine of course can be a gamble but I personally I never had bigger problems with used sewing machines - even the oldest from 1932 is running very smooth.

[DrmCa]

I would buy a good used cylinder arm machine instead, but it's just me.

Cylinder arm is miles ahead in comfort. With a flat bed you are thinking where to keep your hands half of the time.

And the used machine is 1/2-1/3 the price of a new one. Just get it from a dealer who can fix and tune the machine to your requirements of material thickness/needle/thread combination.

This is my story: I tried stitching light upholstery leather on a flat bed single needle machine in my sig using teflon and roller feet. It was nothing but royal PITA. Ended up stitching on a hand cranked and hating the craft. Since I bought cylinder arm the things changed as stitching is joy.

Edited August 19, 2015 by DrmCa

[eglideride]

Thanks for the input-

I will save my money.

[eglideride]

Big NEWS!

My hot wife told me she was "getting me the leather sewing machine that I want for Christmas". She knew what model number and brand I had settled on....She spoils me!

I played telephone tag with Bob last Thursday. We connected, a new CB 3200 will be on the way in about two weeks.

COOL!

[dikman]

What a wife! She deserves a .

[Darren Brosowski]

I recently fixed up a 545 for a customer (Presidend of the Australian Saddlers Association - but I won't mention that LOL) and while it was a beautiful piece of machinery that mostly worked beautifully it was an ex industrial machine that had done a million miles.

In normal stitching it was beautiful but due to wear and a huge amount of backlash that could not be adjusted out it just did not do well in reverse and cut the thread after two or three stitches.

Being an old school saddler he grew up on machines with no reverse so did not care. Also his opinion was that he only needed to do two back stitches anyway so he could not see a problem if the machine cut the thread after that.

To bring the machine back to "as new" condition would have cost many hundreds of dollars just in parts.

Before spending your hard earned money you need to know exactly what you want from a machine. If you think one machine is all you need then you need to learn a bit more as it is equivalent to having one screwdriver in your toolbox and expecting to fix everything.

I got lost somewhere along the way here but I think I am trying to tell you to start out by deciding what your sewing priorities are, setting a realistic budget and then testing machines until you get one that will do what you need.