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MG TD TF 1500 - Very OT: Screw from Pfaff Sewing Machine

My sister has built a very nice sewing machine cabinet (image 1) for her Pfaff 7570 sewing machine. The machine must be bolted to a hinged platform. The base of the machine has two threaded holes for this purpose. I extracted a bolt (screw? Image 2) from the base plate and it fits the threaded hole. The problem is that I can't find a bolt that matches the one from the machine. The bolt from the machine will start into the 5mm bolt gauge at Lowes but soon binds indicating a non-matching thread pattern. Nonetheless, I bought some 5mm bolts at Lowes and they won't go into the hole in the machine base.

The nice lady at Fastnal checked the bolt from the machine against her gauges and none of them matched. I told her that it came from a German machine and she immediately said it must be "British Imperial." She also said Fastnal does not carry British Imperial and that she can't order any.

Q1: What is British Imperial?

Q2: Is it the same as BSF or anything used on British cars?

Q3: Does anyone know if British Imperial is really the kind of bolts (screw?) used in Pfaff sewing machines?

Q4: If not, does anyone know what kind of bolts (screws?) are used in Pfaff sewing machines?

Thanks in advance for any information that anyone can provide.

Jud





J K Chapin

It looks like In the pic the first 5-6 threads have been damaged/flattened and are not peaked like the remaining threads. Being that Pfaff is of German origins I would expect it to be metric thread. Keep in mind that there is a course, standard and fine thread to many metric sizes. Your local box store or Ace Hardware is not likely to stock thread counts that don’t sell. If Pfaff is still in business I would look up a dealer or a shop whose specialty is sewing machine sales. May also contact local upholstery shops. Maybe one of them uses a similar machine and can put you in contact with a supply source.
W A Chasser

Good ideas. Thanks. I noticed the same thing about the threads. It's apparent even without the close-up photo. There are 4 of these screws holding the base to the machine and all of them looked the same when I took them out. Pfaff is still in business but I've yet to find a parts catalogue online. Lots of accessories and add-ons but no parts.

Jud
J K Chapin

Metric is really easy but misunderstood by many
Lots of people refer to them as fine or course which in a way is correct but really metric is completely variable
to get a correct metric bolt you need diameter and pitch, same as any other bolt
The only thing with metric is it's not threads per inch ,it's the measurement between each actual thread quoted as something like 1mm or 1.25 or 1.5 etc
Measuring your bolt from the pic. supplied it appears to be 5mm, so will be known as an M5 bolt
Now the pitch, if you measure along 10 threads and divide your measurement by 10 you will have the pitch---I measure from your pic 8 threads so your bolt is .8 pitch
The bolt in the pic would be known as--

M5x0.80p

and then the length measured normally from under the head to the end---your looks around 30mm
so
M5x0.80p x 30 -- for that bolt unless the pic has distorted the size of the bolt , might just pay to measure the distance of 10 threads to double check

Your bolt shop employee needs educating
Heaps of them online----sample--

https://www.google.com/search?q=m5x0.80p+bolt&client=firefox-b-d&sxsrf=ALeKk034NUfzu1LImDXNOodnOWKfsAMmZw:1600481415221&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwio6-TxkfTrAhXC8XMBHamJChkQ_AUoAnoECAwQBA&biw=1252&bih=554

hope this helps,
willy
William Revit

Jud,
I found this guy in Northeastern Pennsylvania.

https://brubakerssewing.com/

Looks like you want to talk to Glen Smith. He has over 45 years experience sales/service of domestic sewing machines. It appears the German Pfaff is a favorite of his.

I would suspect he would be quite familiar with the particular bolt you need.

Best of Luck!

Mike
TF-8257
M Brand

Could you take a pic of the pfaff bolt laying along the side of the steel rule so we can measure up the thread count

Looks like both the shops you mentioned should have them---what length are you after


https://www.fastenal.com/product/fasteners/bolts/flange-bolts/600015?categoryId=600015&level=3&query=5mm%2Bmetric%2Bbolt&isExpanded=true&productFamilyId=25763

https://www.lowes.com/pl/Metric--Hex-bolts-Bolts-Fasteners-Hardware/4294546152?refinement=4294776597,4294710007
William Revit

This is wonderful. The machine is at my sister's house (50 mi. away) so it will be next week before I can get some more pictures. In the meantime, I'll be contacting Glen at Brubaker.

I really do appreciate all this information.

Jud
J K Chapin

This thread was discussed on 19/09/2020

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