miriam

That one we did in class had a bunch of little tiny buttons on the top of it - real pain to do... got it in and he noticed the crack. I think Ray ranted for a good half hour.

Skyangel

If they used that 3-in-1 oil on the Pfaff it is probably full of brown gunk inside too. Ask me how I know! I grew up seeing it on the window sill behind my Mom's sewing machine. I would ditch it.

craftynell

I am Pfaff user, I own two of them & have never had any trouble.

Jennifer23

There's some brown gunk inside, but not much - obviously they went easy on the 3-in-1. It's innards actually look pretty good, and it turns really smoothly (except when it stops dead because of the crack). The 3-in-1 oil got sent to the shed right after I took the picture.

I called a service centre, and they quoted me about $200 to replace the cam stack ($100 parts + $100 labour, which seems reasonable for Canada), but said that replacing it would put extra strain on the lower gear, and that it would likely crack within a year, so they don't recommend replacing it. I'm going to put it on the back burner for a while; I might fix it, or I might sell it (or give it away) for parts. In the meantime I'm going to hide it in the back of the closet - seeing it on the table every day, I'll just become more attached to it!

I had my dad surreptitiously measure my mom's embroidery machine, and it will fit in the cabinet, so for Christmas I'm going to replace her 30-year-old, made-from-scrap sewing table with that 30-year-old but much sturdier and more functional cabinet, so the $40 was actually a good investment whatever I do with the machine. I love a happy ending.

Candace

Hmmm. I'd get a second opinion on this. I've never heard replacing the camstack causes stress on the lower gear. I'd ask this question on the vintage Pfaff forum and see what response you get. If it's something that causes the lower gear to crack why isn't that gear factored in on the repair estimate? It kind of sounds like they don't want to work on the machine. Vintage Pfaff techs are becoming harder to find, but don't let this one estimate and opinion stop you. I'd do more research if it were me. I spent close to $200 to have mine repaired and it was well worth the investment.