Uwe

That slow speed sewing looks very nice! As for your bobbin case opener, there’s a few possibilities as to why it’s wobbly (in order of likelyhood): 1. The hook may not be seated all the way down, allowing the bobbin case opener disc to move vertically a little. 2. The parts may be worn and have too much play 3. Some parts may be incorrect The wobbliness may actually be fine as long as the finger reliably pulls back the bobbin case to the correct position (tab in center of the cutout under throat plate) Seating the hook properly is a relative easy thing to do. The small hook driving gear holds the hook in place rotationally and vertically. If you loosen both set screws on the gear just a little bit, you can move the hook vertically. Make sure the hook is seated all the way down to minimize vertical movement of the opener mechanism. Sometimes the hook gets forced up by thread getting caught under the hook. Even if you remove the thread, the hook may still be riding a little too high afterwards, allowing play in the opener mechanism. You may have to re-time the hook or adjust the needle bar position if the vertical adjustment of the hook was significant.

I would turn the hand wheel to bring the tip of the needle very close to the material without the inner foot touching the material. Then move the stitch length lever until it points exactly where you want the stitch to go and make the stitch.

@PEU Brilliant, love it!

Very cool, congrats! How did you embed the metal rod in the part?

Yup, it sure looks like there’s a burr on the hook or driver that cuts the thread. I’d remove and inspect the hook. Polish any sharp edges smooth or just replace the hook with a new one. It takes just a tiny burr to act like a cutting knife.

Thanks for that clarification, I appreciate it!

When turning the machine backwards with the bobbin cap on and without the throatplate, the bobbin case opener ends up on the wrong side of the bobbin case “triangle”. Then when you change rotation again it catches on the bobbin cap, causing the bind. That’s not a normal operational situation. There may be other things going on, but that bind in the video is quite obvious. That bind situation would never happen during normal operation of the machine with all parts in place. This video was made on a different machine, but the concepts are the same.

The short answer is that there’s nothing wrong with your machine. Don’t turn the machine backwards. Don’t turn the machine much in either direction with the throat plate removed. It’s likely to bind up, especially in reverse because it’s not designed to do that. It’s okay to turn the machine by hand with the throat plate removed while adjusting hook timing, just watch the position of the bobbin case. The tab that’s normally under the throat plate should generally point at the needle when you remove the throat plate, don’t allow it to spin freely. Only turn the machine in the designated direction - meaning the hook will rotate clock-wise. Small adjustments in the reverse direction (counter-clock-wise) are okay, but not a full turn in reverse or more. Bad things will happen.

Can you elaborate on that please? That aluminum burr is new to me, I’ve not come across that type of belt in my online searches. A link to a source would be great.

This sure looks like an Adler 67 or 167 to me. There should be a type plate on the back of the machine with details and subclass information. In general, they’re very nice, high quality machines made in Germany. We have a bunch topics discussing them here on LW. Do a search on google like this “site:leatherworker.net Adler 67 167” Here’s a leaflet that provides some tech specs for one of the many subclasses: Adler 67-372-373 Brochure.pdf

The first thing I would check is to make sure the safety clutch is properly engaged. You may have to remove the bobbin case or the entire hook to make sure no thread is caught under it. A massive jam like you described can leave bits of thread in many wrong places. Tweezers don’t reach in all the place you need to check. It sounds Iike you’re saying the hook catches the needle thread loop but fails to wrap it around the bobbin case. A short video clip of that happening under slow hand-turning power would be super useful (upload video snippet to YouTube and post a link to it here). A few close-up photos is the second best thing.

Your machine may bind up because the bobbin case opener is not properly adjusted. This videos explains some of the details around that issue. Your “finger” that’s pulling back on the bobbin case looks different than the one in the video, but the concept is the same. On your machine, you can adjust that finger position front-to-back by loosening the screw that holds the finger in place.

Wow, that machine cleaned up really nicely, congrats! I personally really like that look. No need to contemplate repainting anything, I think. Next I would get a nice, new tension unit, which is readily available on Ebay, and other vendors. One exampleexample :

I’d recommend approaching this from a design standpoint. If the machine has a service manual section about adjusting FWD/REV balance, that’s a good sign. That means the engineers actually considered that you might want to adjust that detail and make it easy to do. If the adjustment involves an adjustment screw, that’s going to be a precise adjustment. If you can’t find any instructions in the manuals, then the machine design may not allow (or make it easy) to adjust stitch balance and may not be a good candidate for you. Make sure you track down and read the service manual BEFORE buy a machine. If you can’t find a service manual, I’d say it’s a no-go. Regardless of how precisely you adjust FWD/REV stitch length, it’ll never be a mathematically precise setting in all situations. Factors like material thickness, type, layers, etc. still play a factor. Here’s an example of what to look for. The adjustment section of the Dürkopp Adler M-Type 867 Service Manual shows adjustment steps. It’s one of the best flatbed leather machines I’ve worked with. It might be a candidate worth considering if you can afford it. They run about $5K new. Clones have started to appear as well.

I’d start with a good wipe down with some cleaning oil (I like Marvel Mystery Oil - essentially diesel oil with red dye and perfume) using a soft cloth, a tooth brush, or some other brush with plastic bristles. You may find that much of the rust color wipes off, leaving clean, shiny paint and a dark metal color where paint is missing. It might end up being a pleasing vintage battleship look. The oil then protects the bare metal from rusting again soon. Here’s a pic of the cleaning oil that’s available at most automotive parts stores in the US:

That spring you circled in blue is just there to lift the foot lifter connecting link when you’re sewing, to keep it from bouncing. Your foot pressure spring is a flat blade on the back. The screw above can it can be turned to adjust foot pressure.

Try Hennigan Engineering & Precision. They make beautiful, high-quality parts for the Adler 205-370: https://heprecision.com/shop/ols/search?keywords=205-370&sortOption=descend_by_match

I doubt your Sibyer SB-6180-1 shares many, if any, parts with an Adler 204, Singer 7 class, or Seiko SLH. The resemblance to these machines is just superficial, the details are quite different. I don’t know which machine that Sibyer is based on, sorry. Here’s a pic of the Sibyer SB-6180-1 from the company website: Here’s a picture of a Seiko SLH, which probably weighs twice as much as yours. Pictures often don’t convey a good sense of scale. I think your best (yet slim) hope may be to find a retailer that sells Sibyer machines, and hope they have parts. Or contact Sibyer directly: http://www.sibyer.com , if your Chinese language skills are good. You may be stuck with using the machine as it is, using the parts you have.

“No” is the short answer, I’m afraid. The controller of your servo motor has to support a needle position device, otherwise you can’t use it. If your motor does not have a controller, you’re out of luck in terms of needle position options. Brushed servo motors generally do not have a controller.

I don’t think the feed dog would cause the problems you’re seeing, but it might be nice to have a new matching set. Here’s one option on Ebay that matches your parts diagram. At $18 they’re cheap enough to just give it a try. https://www.ebay.com/itm/144856325255

It may have to do with the design of the hook. If you stop at precisely the wrong moment and turn back just little bit, the thread may fall under the hook and you’re doomed. Here’s a video that shows that problem: A more detailed discussion of the issue can be found here:

This eBay listing shows everything you need for setting up the machine for binding. At USD $110, it’s not a very big investment. https://www.ebay.com/itm/166181002954 The actual tape folders are kind of generic and not too expensive. Search Ebay for “Tape Folder”.Example: https://www.ebay.com/itm/364562394563 You can also buy high quality parts directly from a manufacturer in Taiwan, called Kwok Hing. Search for “1245”. You have to create an account to see pricing. I’ve ordered from them many times. They also sell tape folders and many other binding parts. https://www.khsew.com/index.php?route=product/search&search=1245

Great, congrats! Please post a link and screen shot to that listing on Amazon. Others may look for the same needle bar in the future. Was it this one? https://www.amazon.com/Needle-Singer-Consew-Industrial-Machine/dp/B077CZCLSG Any details on the installation? Do you have a list of steps, or parts that need be removed to get the needle bar out? There’s precious little documentation available on service tasks for these machines. Anything you can add would help.

@SingerDadIt’s possible that your old black Pfaff 145 was modified at some point, who knows. That transition from needle bar to needle holder in your photo looks a bit non-OEM to me. To accommodate different-diameter needle bar would require a different needle rocker frame. Perhaps some parts were exchanged in the past from other subclass models. The parts diagram does show two versions of the rocker frame, and three needle bars. I’ve not seen these variations in person, so can’t say if there’s any dimensional variation. The needle bar 97-712488-92 on the right does appear slightly slimmer in the drawing. College Sewing in the UK has that 97-712488-92 needle bar listed as a Pfaff 335 needle bar. It looks very different from what you have on your machine. That OEM Pfaff needle bar is expensive and may not be available in a cheap aftermarket version. If the only offending aspect of your existing needle bar is the missing thread guide hole, I’d seriously consider attaching a small wire loop (silver-solder, glue, spot-weld?) to the tip of your needle bar to make a thread guide.