Adler 205-64 Sewing Machine

[dwhitefeather]

I have a Adler 205-64 for sale. Table, Motor.

Works great. Pickup only, Oceanside, Ca.

$1800

Text me at 5 one 0 468 One 9 one 9

[leatherdog]

i've got a 205-64, and i think the feed dog is not staying in its place well. is there some trick to this?

[Trox]

i've got a 205-64, and i think the feed dog is not staying in its place well. is there some trick to this?

Hello Leatherdog,

I have several Adler's, on one of them a 105 I had to change the feed dog screw. Otherwise I had no such problem on them. However, if the screw loosens on it use removable locktite (I do not remember the color on , red or blue).

Both Dürkopp Adler and Juki recommends to use this on their big cylinder beds (DA 205-370 and Juki 441). It is written in their service manuals as well. The reason it is not recommend in the 205-64 manual is simply that it was not invented the time it came out. If the screw is not the problem you got to take apart the shuttle race and inspect the feed bar and links, see it there are any loose screws. If it moves side ways, check for gap between the collars on its feed bar drive shaft. The only common problem is that the feed dog screw tends to loosen on these kinds of machines, because of much use and big foot pressure.

Good luck

Tor

[mikesmith648]

Blue is the removable LocTite

[Trox]

Blue is the removable LocTite

Thanks Mike

[leatherdog]

Hello Leatherdog,

I have several Adler's, on one of them a 105 I had to change the feed dog screw. Otherwise I had no such problem on them. However, if the screw loosens on it use removable locktite (I do not remember the color on , red or blue).

Both Dürkopp Adler and Juki recommends to use this on their big cylinder beds (DA 205-370 and Juki 441). It is written in their service manuals as well. The reason it is not recommend in the 205-64 manual is simply that it was not invented the time it came out. If the screw is not the problem you got to take apart the shuttle race and inspect the feed bar and links, see it there are any loose screws. If it moves side ways, check for gap between the collars on its feed bar drive shaft. The only common problem is that the feed dog screw tends to loosen on these kinds of machines, because of much use and big foot pressure.

Good luck

Tor

thanks Tor. i'll get back in and see what's what. the machine seems simple enough, but i'm not familiar at all with it.

[Trox]

Just take it apart and check the position of it in the middle of the needle plate (side wise), get a service manual.

Good luck.

Tor

[leatherdog]

Hello Leatherdog,

I have several Adler's, on one of them a 105 I had to change the feed dog screw. Otherwise I had no such problem on them. However, if the screw loosens on it use removable locktite (I do not remember the color on , red or blue).

Both Dürkopp Adler and Juki recommends to use this on their big cylinder beds (DA 205-370 and Juki 441). It is written in their service manuals as well. The reason it is not recommend in the 205-64 manual is simply that it was not invented the time it came out. If the screw is not the problem you got to take apart the shuttle race and inspect the feed bar and links, see it there are any loose screws. If it moves side ways, check for gap between the collars on its feed bar drive shaft. The only common problem is that the feed dog screw tends to loosen on these kinds of machines, because of much use and big foot pressure.

Good luck

Tor

ref the feed dog, it has a slot, that allows the foot to be set higher or lower. when i set it to the right height, that is, just a bit above the needle plate, the pressure of the foot pushes it back down. when you mentioned loctite, i was thinking of loctite on the threads of the screw. did you mean instead the contact surface between the screw and the feed dog slot?

[Trox]

ref the feed dog, it has a slot, that allows the foot to be set higher or lower. when i set it to the right height, that is, just a bit above the needle plate, the pressure of the foot pushes it back down. when you mentioned loctite, i was thinking of loctite on the threads of the screw. did you mean instead the contact surface between the screw and the feed dog slot?

Hi, Yes thats right, Locktite on the threads of the screw. The screws tends to open because of the big foot pressure. However, if the foot presses it down other parts can be broken or loose too. You have to check all shafts, joints and bars. Check for play in all parts connected to the feed dog, loose collars and screws. Take of the shuttle race and check. Check in all inspections holes too. I do not use any locktite on any of my Adler's and I never had this problem. I think something is loose inside your machine, and it is very hard for me to give you remote help on a issue like than. Take of the face plate too and check for play in the needle feed. The bottom and the needle feed is connected to each other, if the play is in the needle feed the result will be the same. Therefor check all of the machine for play and loose parts. (Check the eccentric in the stitch regulator system too)

Good luck and keep me posted.

Tor

[Les No6]

I had that very same issue on a 205 some years ago the feed dog was damaged around the slot where the fixing screw is and the screw wasn't able to secure the dog take it out and check you'll probably find it the same issue I replaced both dog and screw.

[Trox]

Thats a possible solution Les, thats why I told him to look there first. Do not worry it is not rocket science, take of the shuttle race , two screws and inspect the bottom feed.

[leatherdog]

_{i took the feed dog out again, totally cleaned it and the slot, and put it back, tightening it very tight. so, it may be that i didn't have the screw tight enough. so far, ok. interesting thing about this machine - i've had it 10 years, never used it. decided recently to get it going. sewing with it is kind of like driving a truck. i'm used to the pfaff 545, which compared to the 205-64 is like a sports car. so, we'll see how it goes. for stylistic reasons, i want to use a heavy thread. right now, using 207. but i'm thinking of even heavier.}

_{tor - you mentioned the service manual. i found on the internet a crude document, it was poorly translated and covered a couple different adlers. maybe just a few pages. is there another one out there?}

_thanks

[Trox]

Hi,

I am afraid thats all who can be find out there. I too have a manual who covers several subclasses of the 204 (flatbed) and the 205. Only the modern 204/205 -370 subclasses has their own service manual. And thats the latest triple feed subclass. The manual has allot of errors. In your case you must only follow the bottom drive bar and shafts to find loose parts. However, it might be as simple as a loose feed dog screw. You might find some stuff here http://sew24.blogspot.no/p/downloads.html

You can also ask Thomas Brinkhoff, head of DA spare parts, he run this blog and are very helpful.

Tor

[leatherdog]

thanks, Tor. the link that you show is helpful. i also have a 169-373 that works, but i have never used it, and i found the manual and parts list there. i don't know anything about the adlers. pfaffs are my main thing. i've got a few 545s, a 1245, a 145, a 335 and a 141 with a roller foot. i'd like to have a high post machine, and a 345 but we'll have to do ok without them.

Peter

[Trox]

thanks, Tor. the link that you show is helpful. i also have a 169-373 that works, but i have never used it, and i found the manual and parts list there. i don't know anything about the Adler's. pfaffs are my main thing. i've got a few 545s, a 1245, a 145, a 335 and a 141 with a roller foot. i'd like to have a high post machine, and a 345 but we'll have to do ok without them.

Peter

Hi Peter,

U have allot of nice machines. The 169-373 is the same machine as my Pfaff 345. However, I would prefer the Adler before the Pfaff. If I find a 269 or newer I change out my 345. Because it has no clutch or drive belt, U have to adjust it pretty often because of that. Do U use all your machines or are U like me; have allot of backups.

I do have a old Singer 236 W-100 post bed that I never have used. I maybe will use it for making some watch straps and hats, it has a roller foot. Where are you located, I have a Pfaff postbed for sale. It belongs to a friend and has top/bottom roller feed and needle feed. Efka variostop motor, looks good. It has only a normal post, not a high post.

Tor

[leatherdog]

Hi Peter,

U have allot of nice machines. The 169-373 is the same machine as my Pfaff 345. However, I would prefer the Adler before the Pfaff. If I find a 269 or newer I change out my 345. Because it has no clutch or drive belt, U have to adjust it pretty often because of that. Do U use all your machines or are U like me; have allot of backups.

I do have a old Singer 236 W-100 post bed that I never have used. I maybe will use it for making some watch straps and hats, it has a roller foot. Where are you located, I have a Pfaff postbed for sale. It belongs to a friend and has top/bottom roller feed and needle feed. Efka variostop motor, looks good. It has only a normal post, not a high post.

Tor

Tor - i'm in san francisco bay area. the machines - i used to have a factory, 40 employees, including 20 sewing machine operators, making leather bags. we used pfaffs only, except the machines for sewing lining, which any straight stitch machine is ok. now, it is just a few of us, but i still have the machines mentioned above, plus a couple straight stitch jukis and a pfaff 138 zig zag. alot of the machines are backups, or have specialized attachments. i sold a bunch of newer 1245s, the white ones. and some gray 1245s, and a couple 545s. selling gray pfaffs - i don't like doing that. i used to find them, low cost, or they used to find me. now, it takes money to get one. no easy deals.

the adler 169 373, i got that because it has a nice binder on it. set up for binding stiff veg bags. but we have never used it. the 205-64 kind of came to me, low cost. but, we never used that either. you mentioned the 205 370 - sounds like a walking foot machine. i'd rather have that than the 205-64, which seems good only for flat work.

[Trox]

Thats far away from Oslo where I live. No point in suggesting any machine trades then. Like I said before, the 169-373 would be a nice machine for me. It uses the same feet's as my 267 flatbed. Do your 169 have a binding feed dog (back and forth only), my 345 has binding feed and I use it for that.

I am a one man show, nevertheless I have ten sewing machines. Mostly cylinderbeds heavy Adler's, but also a Chinese 441 clone. I only use four of them, the rest are backups and for sale.

I like Adler, but are very impressed with the material quality in my old green/grey Pfaff 345. U talked about the 1245, I think that is a very fine machine. I found one for sale here one week ago, very cheap (325$). It looked very clean, complete on stand with a clutch. I was thinking about buying it just because of the low price. However, I have a brand new DA 267-373 with Efka DC and all extras, so I do not need anything in that class. Anyway, the 1245 is a very popular machine here and few want to part with them unless they have too. I need to sell a couple of machine before buying anything and now it was sold anyway.

I have a 204-64, same as your 205-64 but flat bed. And I agree with you, its only good for flat stuff. Before the 204 and 205 came with triple feed (sub cl. -74, -374 and todays -370), the -64 was the latest in the heavy leather industry. It should handle all kinds of feeding problems. However, I have older class 5 and cl. 105 (the forerunners) that have much better feed systems for leather than this machine has. (The other feeds are: bottom feed with jump foot, then top and bottom feed).

They both work much better on heavy leather that the - 64 does.

However, they all have bottom feed, I now use my 441 with smooth feet's and feed dog for this kind of work. I have set it up with an new Efka and currently building on a air foot lift on it (very bad foot lift system on this machine, both for hand and on pedal. The hand lift is placed in under the arm and makes problems for a dropdown guide etc.).

This machine is currently the best performer in this class. Nevertheless, the 205 has some unique features the 441 misses, I miss them too. I also miss the sound of a German machine, the Chinese will never be able to reproduce that, thats the sound of quality.

[leatherdog]

right, a long way from oslo.

the 169-373, yes, binding feed dog. we might use it some day. the binding attachments - we have 2 - don't match the width of our strap cutter. we have a strap cutting machine that is very hard to modify. but, we might solve that some day.

345 - it would be nice to have one with the same feed dog action as the 545.

the 205-64 - i'm going to make it more civilized, easier to use, and then maybe sell it. the ones with the triple feed would be a lot more useful.

i'm not really in machine buying mode. mostly not selling, not buying. usually, i only buy pfaffs. i understand them. but, if an interesting machine shows up at the right price, that is another story.

noted the air lift - that is a good idea. while we use clutch motors only on the 1245 and 545, i can see the needle position motor would be a good idea for the 205 64.

[Trox]

right, a long way from oslo.

the 169-373, yes, binding feed dog. we might use it some day. the binding attachments - we have 2 - don't match the width of our strap cutter. we have a strap cutting machine that is very hard to modify. but, we might solve that some day.

345 - it would be nice to have one with the same feed dog action as the 545.

the 205-64 - i'm going to make it more civilized, easier to use, and then maybe sell it. the ones with the triple feed would be a lot more useful.

i'm not really in machine buying mode. mostly not selling, not buying. usually, i only buy pfaffs. i understand them. but, if an interesting machine shows up at the right price, that is another story.

noted the air lift - that is a good idea. while we use clutch motors only on the 1245 and 545, i can see the needle position motor would be a good idea for the 205 64.

Hi, most of the German machines here comes with Rotan (Pfaff) and Efka (for DA) needle position motors. The latest Efka 1550 DC motor is so small you can place it inside the new DA M types machines (367, 867 machines). They place it in direct drive on the main shaft (behind the clutch) and have the control box under the table.

The new system do not need the position head on the flywheel this way, all calculating on stop/start etc is done in the control box. The position head is only used to calculate belt slippage with use of a traditional V belt under table mounting. The motor is 8 Nm torque and up to 1800 W of power, all parameter are adjustable on the box or in your computer if you want too. You do not need any speed reducer, and I only use half the power of it on my 441 machine.

You can of course built on everything you like. I have Efka`s from the 1980`s that still works perfect. Is a bit pricey, but no need of a speed reducer saves you some bucks. I paid 840 $ for mine in Germany, and Efka support you free on Skype video call if you need help setting it up. Some dealer had sent me the wrong control box ( not the Efka company, but a company who sold them) and he did not answer my call when I wanted a new box. I called the German Efka and they sat down with me and reprogramming the control box on Skype. The box was for a DA 205-370 and had no parameters for my 441 Juki clone.

He told me; "no matter where you bought you motor, as long as it is typed EFKA on it; its my job to help you until the machine sews as you want it to do".

Then I understand why I have to pay a bit more $, it has great low speed control too. You get spoiled on them and work goes much faster. You have to pay 500 $ for a Chinese pos motor too. No, get a Efka or a HO Sing you will not regret it. One of the advantages is the option you have to built further on a system later. When you have new needs you can add on a solenoid, air pneumatic or step-motor (possibility to drive several step motors on your motor control), then you can meet all future demands. You can transform an old 545 to a hyper modern machine this way. I do not work for Efka, I just love a good tool.

I like Pfaff machines too, but they have a very high spare part price. More than twice the prices of DA over here. You maybe buy aftermarket parts like hooks and feet's? I buy most of my feet`s and binders from Hong Kong ; Kwokhing.com, do you know them. Very good prices, they make every attachment related to sewing and take paypal. Check them out.

Ok

Later

Tor

[leatherdog]

tor

parts for pfaff - i have a nice collection. we used to have to maintain quite a few in daily production, and when we needed a spring or screw, we'd buy 5 or 10. haven't had to replace a hook for quite a few years. feet, still have a lot left over. the part that wears out the most, or that i've replaced quite a few of, is the small shaft on top - 91 011 727 05 and the bushings 91 010 360 05. the bushings are about $25, and the shaft, $3. which makes me suspicious. good german steel does not cost $3. so, i assume it is a 21st century global product, and worth the $3. time will tell. no big deal, easy to replace. in the meantime, the machine is nice and tight. i calculated that this set of parts usually lasts 20,000 to 40,000 hours. 10 - 20 years. not bad.

noted your comments on the dc motors. we never liked them, i'm not sure why. it may be everyone was used to clutch motors. also, with soft leather, it is easier to navigate than with thick veg. replacing clutch motors with new ones has turned out to be tricky. low quality is readily available. i recently had the bearings replaced in a 30 year old (taiwan) motor. better than what is available today. parts cost - recently i needed a bobbin case for the 335. and, if i recall correctly, the bobbin basket. we were using bobbin cases from japanese straight stitch machines. cost about $3, available everywhere. but they wouldn't fit the new basket. had to buy a new bobbin case, has an italian name, can't remember, and the cost was $65. genuine pfaff cost something like $100. but, it all works well.

attachments - i looked at the hong kong site. interseting, that industry used to be here in the states. most of those guys are gone. all hand fabricated, bent metal. the attachments that came with the 169 373 are solid milled, made in usa, and that made the machine, to me, very desireable. now, if only the machine were a pfaff instead of adler. my life would be more simple.

peter

[Trox]

That would be the CM Cerliani hooks. Those parts you bought was very cheap, nothing is made in Europe anymore. Apart from parts that is not in use on new machines anymore. A binder needle plate for the 345 costs 950 $, and all the syncro binding parts together costs 1887 $ (genuine Pfaff). These parts are hand made in Germany. I only paid 500 $ for the old machine, so I think that was a bit much to use on a old machine.(Upholstery type triple feed are very cheap here, because nobody need them anymore. Dealer only want to sell new machines)

Luckily a friend gave all those binder parts for free, he had them laying around after a machine he had sold. That kind of answering your question, if those parts you bought was made in Germany they would have cost you much more. Most of the German machines are now made in China anyway, some DA and Pfaff classes might be made other places. It way to expensive to produce them in Europe or in the USA. And when the owners mostly are Chinese too, they will be made at the lowest cost.

However, they are still made to German spec and the company name and support are behind it. I have A Chinese machine and I have not had any problem with it yet. With the kind of hours my machines get (one man shop), I could do well with only Chinese machines. And just buy a new one when the trouble started.

When it comes to Kwokhing, I find their stuff surprisingly well made. Everybody uses their drop-down guides, they sell for 100 to 150$ on Ebay and by US dealers. I pay 25 $ for them and they are very good, in fact this company has the best solutions on guides available. Pfaff and Adler feet`s 10 - 15 $ and again very innovative solutions. One out of ten has a minor molding excess or other minor fault. To that price I can live with it. And the best thing, these guys give you top service when you buy small amounts too. Normally they serve big factories and dealer, but they find it interesting to have contact with the people who use their stuff too.

I would have traded you my 345 for that Adler 169 any day, my Pfaff is in good working condition. I feel the same way, I know the Adler machine better. I have parts and knowledge about them.

My 345 has (bla...bla....bla.......etc):

a Cobra servo, speed reducer, drop-down guide (roller and straight) and binder feed. Comes with Original syncro binder gear and all kinds of different feet`s ( about 15 different). Binder plate and regular plate. Smooth, binder and regular feed dog, extra hook and bobbin cases.... you name it. Only thing I do not like is the stand, its only a cut out. Thats temporary, I will make an other stand with short table. I think I will use a one column, because I need the space. I have just adjusted it and it sews as a champ (all parameters). But the Shipping would be a killer, maybe head only. I still think it will be to much.

Thanks

Tor

[leatherdog]

that's a pretty high price for pfaff binder parts. interesting that upholstery machines are cheap. a used 545, clutch motor, would go for 800 to $1200. of the ones i sold, i got 500 for one head, wish i hadn't sold that one so cheap. the rest of them, table stand and motor, went for 800 to 1200, and the white ones went for more. the white one with needle position i got 1800. funny thing, i prefer the older ones. but people like new. sometimes new is not better.

looking at your photos, i see the folded edge binding. we could never do that with our leather. too stretchy. in fact, we don't use it at all in a binder. would drive us insane. or more insane.

as for feet, we use the same foot all day, every day, even with zippers. noted the trade idea. shipping would be the end of that idea. just boxing up the head is a challenge.

i think we are in the stone age out here. nothing modern. but, we get the job done. the biggest challenge is marketing, and making an actual profit.

[leatherdog]

That would be the CM Cerliani hooks. Those parts you bought was very cheap, nothing is made in Europe anymore. Apart from parts that is not in use on new machines anymore. A binder needle plate for the 345 costs 950 $, and all the syncro binding parts together costs 1887 $ (genuine Pfaff). These parts are hand made in Germany. I only paid 500 $ for the old machine, so I think that was a bit much to use on a old machine.(Upholstery type triple feed are very cheap here, because nobody need them anymore. Dealer only want to sell new machines)

Luckily a friend gave all those binder parts for free, he had them laying around after a machine he had sold. That kind of answering your question, if those parts you bought was made in Germany they would have cost you much more. Most of the German machines are now made in China anyway, some DA and Pfaff classes might be made other places. It way to expensive to produce them in Europe or in the USA. And when the owners mostly are Chinese too, they will be made at the lowest cost.

However, they are still made to German spec and the company name and support are behind it. I have A Chinese machine and I have not had any problem with it yet. With the kind of hours my machines get (one man shop), I could do well with only Chinese machines. And just buy a new one when the trouble started.

When it comes to Kwokhing, I find their stuff surprisingly well made. Everybody uses their drop-down guides, they sell for 100 to 150$ on Ebay and by US dealers. I pay 25 $ for them and they are very good, in fact this company has the best solutions on guides available. Pfaff and Adler feet`s 10 - 15 $ and again very innovative solutions. One out of ten has a minor molding excess or other minor fault. To that price I can live with it. And the best thing, these guys give you top service when you buy small amounts too. Normally they serve big factories and dealer, but they find it interesting to have contact with the people who use their stuff too.

I would have traded you my 345 for that Adler 169 any day, my Pfaff is in good working condition. I feel the same way, I know the Adler machine better. I have parts and knowledge about them.

My 345 has (bla...bla....bla.......etc):

a Cobra servo, speed reducer, drop-down guide (roller and straight) and binder feed. Comes with Original syncro binder gear and all kinds of different feet`s ( about 15 different). Binder plate and regular plate. Smooth, binder and regular feed dog, extra hook and bobbin cases.... you name it. Only thing I do not like is the stand, its only a cut out. Thats temporary, I will make an other stand with short table. I think I will use a one column, because I need the space. I have just adjusted it and it sews as a champ (all parameters). But the Shipping would be a killer, maybe head only. I still think it will be to much.

Thanks

Tor

Tor

here's a few photos. you can see the 205 64 behind the 167 373. note the dust

and brush of rust. also is a photo of the extra machines. in the photo there

are three 545s, one of them has a a spaghetti folder. also a 145, which we use

for binding nyon tape. a 138 in the back. you can see the two adlers, and in

front, a pfaff 141. needle feed with roller foot. the cowboy boot guys really like

these things. none of these are used much, if at all. the 205, 169 and 141

have never been used by us. and, just for fun a photo of another machine. i

bet there aren't many around. you can probably see what it does. only the

truly immersed leather nut will know the name of this machine.

[Trox]

Hi, I have never seen a 545 for over 500$ here. If so it would be at Amatec, the dealer. They want to sell new machines so they turn up the used prices. Flatbed triple feed Pfaff, Adler and Singer are sold very cheap here because there are no demand for them. No industry left, no craftsmen left here anymore. We produce oil,fish, aluminum and some other raw material. Nobody can afford to pay for producing anything here anymore.

The only machines you can get any money for are heavy stitcher's, and triple feed cylinder beds. People who want to repair their horse tack are looking for them.

The binder who is on the machine now is one I bought from Kwokhing. I am not finish setting it up, I still miss the Binder plate. I have the binder feed dog who is 10 mm wide. I have ordered a plate from Kwokhing with 10 mm slot, I am cutting out the rest from it to allow the movement of the syncro bar. I do not want to cut in a original Pfaff plate, I have never seen a needle plate that hard before. I do not think I have any thing that will cut in it, without ruin the steel tempering. A plate from Kwokhing costs only 54 $, I believe it will be much easier to cut in than the Pfaff plate. I will be using the binders for both leather, polyester and vinyl. I sometimes do some furnishing and car upholstery too. I can use them on both the Pfaff and the Adler flatbed machine. A second hand binder from Amatec was 100$ and new from Kwokhing is 10 $ each.

Talking about the stone age, I am currently setting up my newly acquired 1953 mod Sandt clicking machine. It is a German Electromechanical swing arm clicker, I am installing a frequency converter because I have only single phase current in my work shop. I also need to a new polyethylene board on top of the old wooden cutting block, the wood is not hard enough.

Used clicking machines are hard to find over here. This was for sale to 1000 $ two years ago, now I got it for free because the owner was forced to find a new job. He could not support him self on the leather work anymore, and the clicker was left behind in the workshop and needed to be moved out. I could have it for free if I removed it.

It was a tough job to get it in to my little workshop, we was four guys but I nearly broke my back on it. I guess the weight is about 450 kg.

It was a sad story the seller had to leave his dream, he has a small workshop in his home still. I decided to give him a discount on a heavy stitcher, he needs a machine for heavy threads and I have three for sale.

You see on the picture, it no hydraulic on this machine and it is built like a German Tiger tank. Now I only have to find the right density polyethylene board for it and I am good to go. I maybe giving it a touch of hamerite paint too.

You would not happen to know anything about clicking machine boards? It would be easy to just buy one in your country. However the shipping will be three times the board alone (300 $).

There is a company making polyethylene here in Oslo (it is a Oil related product). They offered me a white high density 500 polyethylene plate, the size of the board and one inch thick ( about 100 $). I do not know anything about the hardness grading of polyethylene, I would not want to buy something to soft. It would make the dies stick in the board as they do in the wood after a bit.

I have topic in Leather tool about it, but nobody seems to know anything or want to answer it anyway.

About marketing,

I have a friend who has a moving company. He used Google adwards ( pay for click on demands), you only pay for the customers who click on you ad. Not like putting your ad on TV or a news paper, then you must pay for all people. He told me this was the best he could get for the money. The more people who are clicking on your add, the more money you make too. They are seeking your service, and are potential your future clients. He made it up successful in a very competitive business.

Tor

[leatherdog]

we use red pads. you can inquire at any of the leather machinery dealers. they are a common item, everyone's price is about the same. but i don't know the details. we've used gray, white, but mostly red. the big deal is keeping the pad planed flat. make sure the wood block it sits on is flat. you can use double side tape to hold it in place, or just let it sit there, and move around. it won't matter. . pads - i bet you can get them in italy, france, germany. one inch thick, won't allow for much planing. nice to start out thicker. but if you aren't cutting all day everyday, it should last quite a while. sandt - they had them here, hydraulic, in the 70s. also pedersen, from denmark. i've had those. qutie nice. right now, the common machine is italian. different brands, but i think they are all the same

auto upholstery - that interests me. different details of work from what i do now. how to get the door panels off, do the seats, all those details. i met some guy who did hot rods, and had some good success at the roadster shows. interesting world, but i can just imagine making a mistake on someone else's car.

your binder plate - why not get the hong kong guys to make it a bit wider. as for opening it up, grinding, not filing. i bet i could put a gray 545 on craigslist, and sell it for over $1000. the challenge is finding one to buy. there is still a small leather industry here, but not 10% of what it used to be. lots of boat cover, awning, upholstery people.

have fun

Peter