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Didn't realise it was an old post. I went from that post to the Japanese technology (See my last) how far we've come.

Some of this can be used for leather but these couple of vids of Japanese sewing technology made me feel sad about our place in the modern world, made me marvel at the technology and made me smile at the scale of it from such a small country. The vid after this one is even better and is two years old. A bit long but I enjoyed every minute.

Well done Matt. Being a Virgo and a bit of a heathen when It comes to restoration I find myself strangely joining in with your enthusiasm. I'm sure I'll understand what all the fuss is about when you show it doing what it undoubtedly did very well in it's heyday.

So not organised and always reaching for the loupe to find needles so...

He certainly is Folker. I can watch him all day long.

Whilst we are talking "the right bobbin tension", Take a look at the maestro Cechaflo deliberately putting the tensions out of whack to create a stunning effect. If you don't want to be mesmerised by his precision go to around 8 mins.

HaHa! You're preaching to the converted Mike. I'm always in a hurry to find out if the concept works. Even whilst writing this I'm thinking (A) I'll have to make a bigger clicker die for the squares for the bigger seam allowance. (B) Maybe I'll de-construct this one and French seam it to save the patches. It'll mean smaller squares but it'll be worth having. (C) How the hell can you French seam on both axis? Don't think you can. Will defo be looking at quilting vids.

I'll have a look but I'm thinking it will have to be French seams next time. Means more work and more leather but the result will be chalk and cheese. (Is that even a saying over there?).

Now I feel even more ashamed. I've already got a fairly straight line with the patches but I lose focus on a long run or I try to speed up at the wrong time. I'm thinking of a leather strap that I can tape to the leather (with tape that doesn't mark of course). For those who can work to a straight line, a builders chalk line (or any thin string that's been rubbed with chalk) will give you the straightest line ever. Just hold it taut at both ends and ping the middle. Here's a pic of what I'm talking about. It isn't pretty and It's nowhere near the worst bits.

I'm doing a first practice patchwork tote. I glued the patches onto some pigskin lining raw edge to raw edge thinking that would look ok. Boy was I wrong! Turns out I can't sew a straight line to save my life without a guide. I also don't think the edge to edge thing is the way to go so won't be doing that again. So how do you guys do it when you have to be tidy in the middle of the work where you can't use a guide and you have nothing to "lean" on?

I'm no expert but I know this much - you must have all your ducks in a row. If just one component is off it can be very frustrating. So - Are you using the right needle system for your machine? Is the point of your needle good for the material you're sewing? Is the size of your needle correct for the thread that you're using? Sometimes the material that you're sewing can clog up the needle or the eye of the needle especially if sewing fast so the needle gets hot. Is the thread coming off the spool in an unhindered way? Have you got it passing through enough holes before it gets to the tension discs. This can be pure trial and error. We'll assume you're threading the machine correctly. Then we come to an often overlooked item, the tension spring. If your machine is timed properly the job of the tension spring is to keep the thread reasonably taut until the needle passes through the material at which time the thread needs to relax in order to form a loop for the hook to catch on it's way round. If all this is good and you're still having problems then come back and an expert will take it up from there. Good luck.

Thanks Folker. All was going well for a change but can't get a new belt 'til Monday. Me being the impetuous fool that I am will make a leather one. Can't fine tune the needle positioner 'til it's runnning properly. I will work it out but does anyone know what the third stop plate is for on the needle positioner? The limited Chinese destructions only allude to two (Upper stop and lower stop). The servo pulley on the 239 is 55mm and I had a spare 45mm but the bore is too big so I made a shim/bush out of a baked bean tin. Not perfect but it's working. I'll replace it when I find a better one. My project room now looks like a bombs gone off in there. Can't wait to get some semblance of order so I can do something constructive.

Yes! Got it sewing reasonably well. . Decided to celebrate by putting on the new 250mm pulley I got the other day. Almost got it done, new belt too small by a smidgen. Never mind. Have to take a small piece out of the table and move the bobbin wiinder anyway. Still, two pieces of 0.9mm. I'll take that after all this time.

Get yer coat.

Spot on Folker! Well done. Got it sewing (without thread) but still too low. It's marking one layer of 2.4 Veg tan even with the top screw almost off. . So how do I raise it up? The rest is pretty good. will probably need fine tuning but hook is meeting the middle of the scarf, Stitch length is good.

Made me laugh out loud.

Thanks for the reply Wiz. Don't know what you mean by crank shafts. had the spring out a couple times. very rarely use manual lift so that doesn't bother me, I'll replace it one day. The "block I'm guessing is the thing I'm pointing to in on of the pics. Thought I had it earlier. Was working but not much lift on the outside foot. Had the eye a sixteenth below the hook, had the needle and the inside foot at the feed dog at the same time but but no lift. Tried to tune it but didn't get far. I'll have another go tomorrow but at least I can see a glimmer of light at the end of the tunnel. Thanks for the PDF but I already have a parts list. Been working with Singer 111 and Adler 69 service manuals but they're both different (but similar) to the 239 when it comes to the outer foot shaft.

OK. I'm getting worried now. Either the hive doesn't know the answer or no one wants to help ☹️.

Wonderful stuff. You certainly have an eye for design and you have learned well the value of excellent photography. Well done.

I think I can tune it if I can just get the presser foot to work properly. I think I've pinpointed the bit I messed up last time. Here's some pics. I think I loosened this screw and the lug had completely dropped out of the cavity and now I can't get the outside presser foot to raise. I also undid this screw and now I'm not sure where this block should be. Here I'm holding the manual lift lever (the end of the arm is broken off). It's flopping about and there's about 6mm between it and the piece it's supposed to ride on. I've said sod it a couple of times and been on the verge of giving up on it but i won't, that's not me but clearly I need some help here guys please

No reason why not. Temperature can be critical depending on what foil you buy. A point and shoot type thermometer makes it easy. Don't leave it on there too long. A quick tap and off. The tricky bit is lining things up because the work is hidden by the foil. You might want to think about doing it on some scrap and then cutting out and sewing it on like a patch.

I have this set for my Durkopp 239. they are handy. When you find them for the Juki I think they'll be considerably more expensive. I know they were for my Adler 69 although the blurb says they're for Juki.

That kind of bag is commonly called a tote. Unless you want to carry extremely heavy items the thickness of that one is well overkill. There are lots of videos that will show you how to do it. The easiest way is to cut your material @ twice the height plus the width of the bottom. 14 inches high plus a 4inch bottom = 32inches x the width say 14 inches. Find the center of the 32 and mark a line. cut a 4 inch square at each end of the centerline using the line as halfway, so 4inches in and 2inches either side of the centerline. Cut out those 4 inch squares. Now you have a shape that you could broadly call an "H". Now put the two top edges together keeping the good side to the inside. sew down each side. when you get to the "Holes" you bring it together in such a way that you have a 4 inch bit with a corner sticking out. You can either sew along the 4 inch line and cut off the surplus or cut the surplus off first and then sew. Then turn the right way out and sort out you handles.

This video helps my problem but the two screws that Uwe is call the eccenter look the same to me except one of them is in a groove in the shaft so I figured I shouldn't mess with that. The Singer 111 service manual says loosen one and turn the other to move the outside presser foot but I got no joy doing that. I'll have another go doing it Uwe's way even if I have to move the screw out of the groove.

After playing with the "69" for a few months I cleared up around the old 239 cos i have a job for a flatbed. Then I was reminded that it was "put away wet" as you yanks might say. I vaguely remember a problem with it but it was put on the back burner because the Adler 69 came along. All is well at the moment except I have the outside presser foot jacked up and it won't come down. I think I'm on top of the rest of it if I can just undo what I did to jack it up in the first place. I think I was trying for more height back then. Won't be doing that again. Any help gratefully received. A link to a service manual would be handy. I have an instructors manual but that's not much good. Is the Singer 111 family close enough to be of help? There's no service manual available for Durkopp.