Constabulary

I use mine for what it was made for - repairing different things. Last repair I did was the center seam of a .30M1 Carbine pouch and a box tack on a compartment of the same pouch. I have sewn straps in rucksacks and so forth but I always consider the patcher as the last choice when an other machine can´t do the job. There are much better machines for for sewing bags and holsters. People often think that these patcher are THE holy grail of leather sewing machines - they are not. They are for sure nice machines and always good to have one when you need one but nothing I´d like to work with the whole day or doing larger projects.

Your hole for adjusting the eccentric is on the backside (see your 2nd picture). The manual should give you good instructions. The picture of the gear box I posted is of an older 30-1. Yours seems to be one of the the latest models as it is more rectangular shaped and light Grey painted so it could bring more than $500 I think. If the chip in the flywheel is not to big it can be fixed with JB Weld or so.

When I was a kid I have been collecting Coca Cola "stuff". I still have some bits floating around but most items are gone. I´m collecting US Military Uniforms + Equipment from the 1940´s - 1960´s (or mid 1970´s). Mainly 1960´s era items. So if you folks wanna get rid of something drop me a PM.

If someone is looking for an original 132K manual - I have found one on Ebay: http://www.ebay.de/itm/261685215520?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1423.l2649 I will not bid. I also have found and original 1931 dated parts lits for my 133K3. Unfortunately not illustrated but I love original documentations. I figured the difference between 133K2 and 133K3 is that the 133K3 has a roller foot. Really too bad the parts are not illustrated But I figured that my tension unit should have a felt washer so seems I have to make one... Still learning about the machine - I like it!

This is how your gear box should look when correctly assembled

I have a mechanics manual + a user guide - that should help you (direct downloads): Adler 30-1 Mechanics Manual Adler 30-1 User Guide

Thats a pretty basic statement. What are you going to sew with it - how thick? How much can you spend? You can get a lot of good information from this thread here: http://leatherworker.net/forum/index.php?showtopic=25239 Just to give you and idea of leather sewing machines in general

GA5 is the modern coppie of the 45K. Toledos version is the CB 2500 http://www.tolindsewmach.com/cb2500.html

In general they did not use glue - this must be hardened oil or grease. I had a lot of that stuff on my 133K3 which I either scratches off with a flat screw driver or the cleaning solution washed it away after a few attempts. But sometimes I still find little spots but thats like gray hair - you think you don`t have them but suddenly it´s there.

Patchers are nice & versatile machines and they can be quite helpful but I still stick to my opinion that they are just repair machines (thats what they once where designed for) and not very comfortable for producing quality goods. But I would not miss mine though it does not see much use. It does not eat bread and it is "sleeping" thoroughly oiled under my table but I had situation I really needed it! It´s always good to have one - really!

Thats true but most used ones are cam driven and finding cams for special purposes is a pain and / or expensive. I´d love to own one that sews X boxes in 3/4", 1", 1.25",1.5", 2" and so forth but I need some 2mm x 16mm tacks with 42 or 52 stitches as well and it has to take 138 or thicker thread but these tackers cost at least 2500€ If some one has experience with such bar tackers I´d be happy to get some more information.

I´m not sewing holsters but when I look at other peoples holsters most are using much thicker thread than just 138, I think 277 or even thicker. It for sure is an optical aspect as well.

I always do that but sometimes the thread gets caught between needle plate and gear box but beside of that no problems.

I would buy it unseen for 50€ if it has a roller foot. Is it the one in the pictures above? Then I would buy it no matter what! If you can´t get it to work send me a PM - I can use the roller foot for my Singer 133K3 Where in the Netherlanders do you live?

Yeah - thats the point, my table is about 61cm and I have not used the original holes. Seems the table had more than 1 motor before I got it and I had mounted at least 3 different motors . I have learned from that and will never drill holes in tables again. I always use wood screws with hex head. This works fine since the modern servos are not very heavy.

I have no issues with this. I think the SR just has to be mounted behind the hinges of the machine, thats it - or not?

Yes, it holds the shuttle in place and makes sure the hook tip is in a certain position when it meets the needle. There should not be too much tension on the spring, it should just gently touch the carrier. You can also replace just the spring if the carrier is still good.

I had this issue with an Adler 30 I have restored but it was the original Adler shuttle that did not work (in both the Adler 30 and my Singer 29K71). I figured that for some reason the era where the spring of the shuttle carrier pushes against the shuttle was thicker than at my Singer shuttle. I tried to adjust the small shuttle carrier spring but had no success (still did not work in either machine). So I decided to grind down the era where the spring pushes against the shuttle and finally it worked in my 29K71 but still didn´t work in the Adler 30. It does not look nice but it works w/o problem now. Now I have the Adler shuttle in my Singer 29K and my Singer shuttle works in the Adler 30. But before you start grinding try to adjust the little spring a little bit or check if the spring has a little burr or so.

why not directly under the table plate - no space?

Cool old machine! I like it very much - will you restore it a little bit?

Ebay sellers often don´t know what they have. They have found machines in a barn or an attic or have inherited a machine or what ever and then they check Google images and at a first glance and w/o a detailed research a Singer 31K looks like a Singer 45k (kind of). Most machines are build for a certain application (a serger cannot sew 1/2 leather and so forth). They of course have a bit of a application range but don´t rely on private Ebay sellers and their knowledge. It is important that you know what you need and not what others "think" what they have.

Alex, you should probably first try to get some proper information about sewing machines in general before throwing good money after bad. Buying a sewing machine for leather can be tricky when you are new to this. In this thread WIZCRAFT once put together a lot of useful information: http://leatherworker.net/forum/index.php?showtopic=25239 Arthur Porter (also a LW Forum Member) also made a good video about leather sewing machines: Take your time and read the entire thread and watch the video - it´s really helpful. When you find a machine on Ebay or local and you are not sure about it just post some picture or a link here and ask for opinions. When the machine is gone meanwhile then another one will pop up but just buying something "that just sews" does not make much sense.

I don´t like these cheap economic thread stands so I wonder if Singer ever had thread stands similar to these beautiful old Pfaff + Duerkopp stands? I know they had cast iron machine stands with SINGER letters in the legs.... Dump question from a "cast iron nerd", hum?

There are programmable bar tackers for different tack patterns. I´d like to own one but for the moment my Singer 3027G2 machine is producing the small tacks on flat materials. It is of course not as precise as a bar tacker but it works.