Diyer

My Adler 205/370 refit is going apace. Everything has now been cleaned up and inspected. I have given Solent Sewing a LONG list of parts I want- many of them "small insignificant items". Guess what, I have found some green pipe cleaners wrapped round some of the operating mechanism. I had a real good look at their location, and it happens to be in a place that is difficult to get oil into.There are some more wedged into the slide mechanism that moves the needle bar back and forth. These parts are illustrated in the parts manual, but there are NO part numbers attached! I have now found a UK supplier of WOOL pipe cleaners in multiple colours https://www.worldofwool.co.uk So I will be placing an order and trying them out. I also found two bare oil pipes on the thin "hamslice", at the top. They obviously were used for oil pipe, but had been disconnected. Oil was coming out of the pipe and dripping down onto the collection tray at the bottom. I have decided to put them to use. I had some silicon model fuel hose, which fitted on to the brass pipe. Then I not only needed a wick, but also had to put it inside the hose and brass pipe. I found some 80% wool mending yarn,and using a tapestry needle, managed to get 4 lengths up the pipe for a wick. I also had to drill hte hamslice to get a small length of wire in, to hold the furthest left pipe in place. I have since modified it again,using a cable tie, so that pipe now actually drips exactly onto the leg shaped mechanism that has the pipe cleaner on. See attached photos.

Here in Portugal, the answer to a lot of lifting problems is lots of people! I once had a delivery of an agricultural attachment for my tractor arrive on a lorry that did not have either a tail lift, or a small 3 wheel fork truck. Fortunately my neighbour has a fork truck, so it was offloaded in his yard, then transferred up my driveway with a tractor and pallet lift attachment. This is the same neighbour and employees that helped get my sewing machine onto the trailer last week. I really appreciate having good neighbours!!

Uwe, the lift cart is made in China, so you might find an importer in the USA.It has a weight limit of 80kg, but there are others with higher weight limits. There are much older versions about, as a lot of old Uk Midlands workshops were too small or awkward to get a fork truck in. A great backsaver!!

Having got my machine completely apart last week, and the alterations done to the stand, I spent the weekend painting said stand parts. I realized it was a lot easier to put the stand back together upside down. I have cut down the main table top as it was too long. This meant a tight fit for the Ho Hsing motor, gubbins tray, and start switch. Again, rather than fit the motor after putting the head back on, I thought it would be much easier to do the job with the stand upside down. This proved to be the case. Then came the job of getting the head back on the table- all 65 kg of it, on my own. I have a little helper in the shape of a small manually operated fork truck, which I bought for moving 40kg sacks of fertilizer. See photos.In order to do the job safely, there has to be something to support the cylinder arm whilst moving the base and getting the bolts in. Having the Efka means I can just bolt on the Ho Hsing parts to the flywheel without having to make any brackets- everything fits. And works, too. There is oil EVERYWHERE! Most of it came from the air operated foot lift and reverse. Next weeks task is doing the head cleaning. While the machine was running, I checked to see if I had forward and reverse stitch holes in the same place- no such luck. Also there is SOME play in both the needle bar and inner presser foot bar-particularly in the fore and aft direction.College sewing have the needle bar listed, so presumably that is a frequent replacement item.

English saddle tree design could certainly use a makeover. I used to make saddle carrying bags for Andrew Foster, who makes the Lauriche saddle. He used to tell me that he had all his trees made without fittings, because the maker could not put them in square. Also the trees he uses have a much wider bearing area than others. Then there is the case of Les Spark, who used to make the Free and Easy saddle. He came up with a really good easily adjustable stirrup bar. Those in Walsall went "not invented here, not interested!" How many English saddles have you seen that are NOT horse shaped underneath? If you can get to see a Lauriche saddle, it is one of the most beautifully made English saddles there is. He sold a lot to the USA, so there might be one or two in your area. Andy used shaped foam instead of wool flocking. This avoids the "lumpy stuffing" so often seen, after a saddle has been used for a year or two.It is extremely difficult to regulate the wool if it is encased in leather-if you know your history, you will remember saddlers used to use serge for the panels. My next saddle is going to be a Portuguese Relvas, but with more decoration than usual. The design has been in my head for years. I want it to be considered a work of art, as well as a useable saddle. It has welted seams- something which I will have to teach myself how to do. There is also a lot of parallel stitching, so quite a challenge!

There are some things you can do in preparation for your course. If you are going to make English saddles, for someone to use on a horse, you need to know about saddle fit. Otherwise what you make is either going to hurt the horse it is used on, or will only be useful for exhibition. Thre is a lot of information on the net on this subject, and Rod and Denise Nikkel have left up all their info, although they have retired.It is an enormous subject, but the basics are much the same. Part of your course will be doing what is called the flocking-this is the sheeps wool stuffing that goes into the panels, that has to be horse shaped. It needs to fit the horse correctly, and sit in the right place. Trees also come in different widths, too. Can you find an English saddle seller that also fits them, so you can see what is involved? Go buy an old saddle, and take it to pieces. The techniques have not changed much over the years. Teach yourself to do a welted seam- this is the thin line of leather on the seat that you will see joining the three parts that make up the seat. There are one or two books about that are on English saddle making, with pattern illustrations. I cannot find mine at the moment to give you the details. Many of these books will be out of print, so try people like Abe books. I speak both as a horse owner, and someone that has made and altered saddles for my horses, both Western and English.

Well at least I saw it doing some sewing................ "Working".Hmmm. I do more of that now than when I was "employed".

My motorbike, a Honda Bros (US model is the Hawk) has become more complicated due to fitting a full fairing, which necessitated all sorts of other changes- but yes, essentially simple (until I have a wiring fault............)

Glenn, thanks for that. The stand is now at the machinist for strengthening and alteration. After that it will be sent to the epoxy coaters for painting in any other colour than grey. The head is sitting on my living room floor(not carpeted!)- it is not only very oily, but inside the cylinder arm I see lots of cack to clean out. The oiling system has lots of little "feeder wicks" going all over the place. Any comments on how good or irritating they are? I will keep hold of all the air stuff, just in case I change my mind on using it or not. The shuttle looks like it needs replacing- needle marks on the bobbin case, and a blunt point. I will get a Hirose. How do I tell if the race iteself needs replacing?? I reckon there is around 2mm of up and down movement- certainly more than on my 105/64. The bottom shaft that the shuttle and raceway fit onto seems to have only a small amount of side play. Needle bar, and both bars the feet are on appear tight with little play.

Thanks Uwe. In my situation the screw r is missing, but a 6mm bolt appropriately filed works fine. Also your manual has better illustrations than the other one I downloaded. There is a multilanguage one available withe the same diagrams as yours.

My new toy, the Adler 205/370 with Efka variostop is now in my living room. I am taking the main parts off, as the table needs modifying.It was not quite up to the travelling. Also I will not be using the Variostop and pneumatic stuff. I have taken off the Camozzi air operating cylinders for reverse and foot lift. The reverse lever now does not stay in place. The parts book shows a detent ball and spring thing for the zero or neutral position. I cannot see anything else in the parts book that is used to keep the reverse lever up. Is friction between the plastic block on the lever and the plastic faceplate supposed to do the job? Or what parts am I missing?

The three guys that came to help disconnected the trailer, tipped it up, got the machine on, tipped the trailer back down, and reconnected it to my pickup.Great stuff. My new toy is now in my living room, and I have started taking parts off.

There are those of us that are working on the time is money principle, and others that LIKE to take their time, because leathework is a Zen type of occupation. It would be lovely to have some things air operated, but I am not aware of the existence of a noiseless compressor. The old guy I used to work with always said that air is the most expensive form of useable energy. I shall probably ditch the 3 phase, unless a conversation with Efka changes that. I didnt realize there are so many people that struggle with the clutch motors.I started my industrial sewing career doing outwork, and then found I was not fast enough.I changed to doing more custom items like Clint Eastwood hats, and made to measure clothing in leather.I was in that time is money loop then. At the moment I am planning the "getting it home" work. I found that the plastic machine skates I have are rated at 200kg. Someone not too far away advertises he does removals, and the van is a front wheel drive, so the floor is low. I will see if he is interested in doing the job.

I have found the mauals for the 6F62AV controller, and had a quick look through it. I am not sure whether a single phase motor to work with the existing Efka control is possible, or even available.Any ideas on that one, or do I need to talk to Efka themselves? I think there are going to be lots of bits on my floor at this rate.....................

Thanks for that. I prefer simple, particularly when I have to do all the fixing. I have plans to put the clutch motor back on my 105/64, and have the Hohsing on the 205/370. Then part ex the 105 for a smaller cylinder arm machine here in Portugal. There is a dealer or two in the North that I will try.

The durkopp Adler 205/370 I am buying has an old Efka Variostop motor and controller. The controller is a type 6F62AV. I have absolutely no experience of these, and would like to know how they compare to a Ho Hsing motor, which I currently have fitted to my Adler 105/64. I do not have the money to spend on an up to date Efka.The variostop seems awful complicated. Is there any point using it if I do not use the pneumatic features, because I cannot stand the noise of a compressor?(Assuming my small compressor will do the job). I am not doing production work, and nothing in any quantity. There is also the problem of getting the 3 phase motor working on single phase- what is the best way of doing that?

I was thinking of making up two sets of heavy duty castor wheels on a plywood base, and using my trolley jack to lift the machine to get underneath to fit them. I agree about the comment on the wiring and motor- it is all interlinked. I would use my trolley jack to lift the relevant parts so the castors can be put underneath. The workshop is so crowded, it is near impossibe to get a fork lift truck in there. Once outside, I then need to get the machine up my ramp, and onto the trailer base. I am going to see if there are any businesses local to the saddler that have a fork lift truck, for putting the machine on my trailer. The whole lot measures 1.5m long, and my trailer is 8' x 4'.Getting it off when I am home is another matter, but at least I would have the time to take things off if I wanted to- plus I have a mini hand forklift that will take an 80kg maximum.

Ho hum ho hum. More photos. Nope, system will not allow it.

oK.

As I may set the machine up in its original form, I can try out my compressor and see how it goes. The motor is a 3 phase, so that will need altering, as I only use single phase. The price is a steal, even if I have to buy some expensive spares- 1,000 euros- less than I thought. There was a very small amount of play that I could feel on the needle shaft, and the same for the inner and outer foot shafts. He said there were the curved spacers for different sized needles. I suspect the shuttle and race are worn, but it appeared to sew ok-albeit on thin leather, which is what it has been used for. He does not want me to spend time taking it to pieces- he said that two strong guys managed to move the other one he sold- has any one got any opinions as to the number of people needed to move it out and onto a low trailer with a ramp? I do not own a pallet truck. The man was rather puzzled as to why I wanted such a BIG machine!!! He he. The control box has 6F62A and some other letters obscured by something on the photo. Here are some photos I took today. I see the system only allows the one photo. How do I upload more please? Do I have to put them on a photobucket file with a link, or is there some other way?

Glenn, I do have a SMALL air compressor. Can you please tell me what the consumption for 1 machine might be? My workshop for sewing is in the house,and the room is a converted bedroom ,so there is not much room.I will be taking photos, as well as some sample leather to try out. The price needs to allow me to spend money on parts, hopefully not the bottomless pit variety. Presumably even though I am not in the USA, Allen is available at the other end of a phone? I also have a tame machinist that is pretty good if needed, but I will be looking on this machine as a project rather than something I need up and running asap.I know there was a bit of muttering about something on the air system that did not work. Fortunately, a Portuguese friend will be visiting, and she can help me with language translation. My Portuguese is ok, but sometimes one has to be really careful with negotiations, that I am being understood correctly, and vice versa. Regarding clutch motors on leather sewing machines- clutch motors were all my experience from the early 1970's to two years ago. I still have one on my flatbed Seiko.You kinda get used to slipping and feathering the clutch.

I have a Hohsing on my 105, so that could be used. Or I could possibly use my single phase clutch motor that WAS on the 105.Is there any value on the older Efka stuff?

The Adler Envy might well be replaced with an even thinner wallet when I have shelled out for the various spares I find it needs. I paid 80 euros for a presser foot (beautifully made) for my 105/64. I do like the Adler engineering though.

I am doing a little dance. Why? Well I found out today that my local saddle maker is selling a Durkopp Adler 205/370 or 374 that he has in his workshop, complete with an Efka Variostop motor/control system.The machine is likely to be well used,but not necessarily knackered. I get to find out the price on Thursday, when the owner will be "in".The previous one was around 1800 euros, sold last week.I suspect he is getting new machines, and the old ones will have long become "scrap price" from an accountancy point of view. I just have to make sure what I am buying is not real scrap, as Adler parts prices can be steeeeeeeeep! As it is a production machine, there is also air operated this and that.Not all of it works, but I will have to take those bits off (I really do not want to hear my compressor all the time), and replace them with original items. The motor may be 3 phase- it looked a lot bigger than any single phase one I have had- sort of bullet shaped.I suspect from pictures I have seen, the Efka is used with a clutch motor.. The manual states that the recommended Efka unit is either a type 9B 31, or an 8E 521. I found some details on the 8E 521. It has a pneumatic backtack console parked on top of the machine head. The Efka looks awful complicated- how useful/what can you do with it, assuming the system is quite old- no computer shaped boxes like the new ones. Underneath the machine table was a great jumble of boxes, air operation stuff, and wiring. Efka will be completely new to me. The 205 head is painted grey (any idea of year/s of manufacture?), and has a black end piece, with no cover for the arm that has thread going throughon its end. I noticed that the stitch length lever did not stay up when put in reverse, but I wondered if this had been disabled in some way for the air back tacking. Are there any particular checks pertaining to this specific model that I need to do? I have noticed comments on costing for a new bobbin case, plus checking for needle bar wobble and availability of the different needle size spacers pointed out in UWE's Youtube video. It is of course, already set up to sew a reasonably thick leather, so I can take some samples of what I use with me. I have the room and the time to play with this one, if the price is right.

Yes, good idea. My heat gun has lots of uses.......