In this blog, we will show you how you can easily change the height of the cut pile on the AK-I and AK-V tufting machines. All of our tufting machines are always set to the highest height, and many of you keep asking how you can adjust the height to be lower and smaller, so that you can achieve a three-dimensional effect with these AK-I and AK-V tufting machines.

I'll show you how to do this on the AK-V, the new, lighter and quieter version, because I'm a huge fan and you should definitely take a look at it. However, it works exactly the same on the AK-I, because the AK-V is designed differently, especially in the motor, and this does not play a role when adjusting the cutting height.

To change the height of the cutting pile, we will go through the following steps in this blog:

What tools do you need to adjust the cutting height of the AK-V?

First of all, the thick Allen key that comes with your tufting machine. Then you need an eight-sided open-end wrench and a Phillips screwdriver. You should have these three things anyway if you have a tufting machine. The Allen key set comes with the tufting machine, an eight-sided open-end wrench and a Phillips screwdriver are basically part of the basic equipment. With these things, you can really modify everything on the tufting machine.

What defines the cutting height on the tufting machine?

Before we start converting the machine, I'll show you what to look out for and how the cutting height of the tufting machine is defined in the first place. When we turn the wheel of the tufting machine down, the small scissors come out. If you now look at the machine from the front, you will see the so-called pusher at the bottom in front of the foot. This is the part that always presses against the tufting fabric, hence the name. The pusher should protrude a little further than the foot.

The length of the cut thread extends from the edge of the pusher to the scissors. This defines the height at which the tufting machine cuts. This means that if we are now at the highest length when setting up the machine, we want to shorten it. It is also important that the distance from the pusher to the foot is correct and that the needle, when pushed back, is really behind the foot and when it is fully extended, the needle hole is then directly in front of the foot.

How do you change the cutting height of the AK-I and AK-V tufting machines?

To change the cutting height of the tufting machine, three steps are required. First, we want to define the distance between the scissor edge and the pusher that runs below. Then we want to move the foot to the correct position so that the pusher is not too far forward or back, and finally we want to define the distance of the needle hole to the foot correctly. So the process for changing the cutting height of the tufting machine is always:

Changing the distance between the scissors and the pusher

To change the distance between the scissors and the pusher, we turn the tufting machine over because there are two screws on the underside. The rear screw is the attachment for your scissors. We don't want to loosen that under any circumstances. We would need it if we wanted to replace the scissors. The front screw defines the position of the pusher. We'll just loosen it now, but be careful not to unscrew it completely. When the screw is loose, we can simply push it forward and then tighten it again. The pusher is now much further forward. This means that the distance between the edge of the scissors and the pusher is now much shorter.

Adjust the foot position to that of the pusher

Next, we will push the foot of the tufting machine forward. To do this, there is a black screw on the underside of the foot. We can loosen this with our Allen key. When we push the foot forward, we make sure that the pusher extends a little beyond the foot. And then we screw the whole thing back on really tightly. Because, as you know, we always press the tufting machine against the fabric. And if the foot is not tightened properly, the whole thing will move over time and the machine will become misaligned.

After adjusting the foot, we can see that the needle hole no longer extends beyond the edge of the foot. And that would mean that the yarn would never get to the other side of the tufting cloth. Which of course doesn't work, because then nothing would be tufted. So now we have to extend the whole upper part here so that this needle hole is in front of the foot again at the end.

Place the needle hole to match the foot position

To do this, we will use the 8mm open-end wrench to loosen two nuts on the upper guide of the tufting machine. The front one, where the yarn guide is attached, must be completely removed. Then we can remove the guide rod from the screw. Now the white block is free and can be pushed forward. This way, the needle hole is once again in front of the foot edge.

Next, loosen the second nut that is attached to the guide rod. This will move the guide rod further forward so that it can be reattached to the screw on the white block. Once you have reattached the guide rod to the screw, you can tighten both nuts.

We have thus shortened the cutting height of the tufting machine by almost a centimeter. This means that the whole thing is now 7 mm shorter than if you tuft at the maximum height, and so you get a really good height difference.

So it is important to make sure that the needle hole really comes before the foot. And when the needle has retracted and the scissors are in front, the needle must also be completely behind the foot, otherwise your tufting machine will not move and you will just keep getting stuck in the tufting fabric.

What is important to remember when adjusting the cutting height?

I recently got a machine because something wasn't working. One person really did adjust everything and then didn't tighten the screws and nuts properly. If the screws come loose and the machine no longer holds together tightly, you'll just break the tufting machine. And we definitely don't want that. That means it's really important that you tighten everything you loosen really well.

It's important to know that you can of course get the last 3 mm out. But that means that you also have to adjust things in the lower part of the tufting machine. Among other things, the whole mechanism that affects the scissors. I would simply recommend that you don't do that yet. There are so many interdependencies. First work with these height differences. That will give you a nice range. The other thing is really very complex and a lot of people who have done it end up sending us the machine because there are so many small components.

With this tutorial, you can easily achieve a height difference of 7 mm, and that's quite a lot. Otherwise, there's always the clippers. If you have any questions, just ask them in the comments below.

If you would also like to see the whole thing as a video, you can watch it here as a video tutorial on our German YouTube channel. 

Have a nice day. Tuft away and fluff up, and see you soon.
Bye!