Uwe

I finally got a 3-D printer (Cetus 3D) a few weeks ago and I'm starting to make a few useful things. Today I printed corner support inserts that were missing from a used table top. It worked out quite nicely and the inserts fit perfectly. I designed the part in Fusion 360 and printed it using a hard plastic material. You can also print with flexible, rubber-like plastic filament to closely match the vibration damping properties of the original rubber parts. Printing took about one hour for each part. Not exactly fast, but way faster than ordering something online. I uploaded the design to GrabCad in case anybody wants to experiment with it: https://grabcad.com/library/corner-support-sewing-table-1 I'm rather excited about the possibilities this cheap at-home 3-D printing makes accessible. Here are a few pictures:

The backside seam actually looks like I would expect it to look. It may not be the way you want it to look, but to a degree this is just how this class of sewing machines work. The side where the needle enters the material generally looks nicer and neater than the side where the needle exits the material, especially with leather. Factors like material, thread size, needle size and the shape of the needle point (regular point or various leather cutting edges) all influence how this looks. There is no absolute "correct needle", there is only "suitable needle for one particular application and combination of thread and materials." The knot does actually get pulled to the middle of the material, so that's technically correct and what you want. The pucker or flattened mound you see on the backside is a result of the material getting torn and pushed outward as the needle exits. When the needle retracts again, that exit wound closes up to some degree but often leaves a little mound behind, depending on material. How bad that "exit wound" looks depends on many factors. The type of leather makes a big difference, too. Some leathers are supple and stretchy, other are hard, dry and brittle, depending on leather quality (whole grain vs. bonded leather), age and tanning method. Using synthetic Vinyl material, this seam would would look very different on the backside since that material is much more elastic. Making leather seams look as nice and pretty as vinyl seams is not easy. If you're expecting a leather seam that looks perfect from both sides like a hand-stitched saddle stitch, then you will likely be disappointed, depending on the materials involved.

Nice work on the edge guide install! I'm glad to hear you found my video useful. Is your Yakumo made by Nakajima? It looks identical the ones sold in the U.S. as a Chandler 305-64. I wonder if Chandler sourced the machines from Nakajima, too. Some design elements look very similar to an Adler 105-64, but the casting is very different.

Nope, the Pfaff 195 is one of those does-not-exist manuals (until somebody finds one and scans it to PDF.)

Start with the Pfaff 145/545 manual (Pfaff 145 545 User Manual.pdf). The head should be nearly identical. Very often, if it looks the same, it works the same way.

According to the subclass decoder section in the Pfaff 195/595 parts list ( 595 parts list.pdf) , your machine is a version for medium duty materials (B), very high foot lift (H4), for fabric (S=Stoff=fabric), and 8mm stitch length (N8)

This really belongs in a different topic, but short of making your own slotted feet with a Dremel, the closest ready made product I've come across is this 13246 Presser foot + 13249 Feeding foot set available from Kwok Hing:

It seems to be rare indeed. Can you please post a few more close-up pictures, including the type plates, head side cover removed, back and underside? If manuals for the specific models are not available, your best bet often is to determine close relatives and piece things together from their manuals (like that machine in the background.)

Also check out this thread for examples on what you can achieve with a manual router, skill and patience.

I'm voting for a new table-top made from Plywood. I personally have little confidence in MDF for structural elements. The Consew 206RB is just a re-badged Seiko and Seiko is nice enough to include table top dimension drawings in their manuals. Here's one from the Seiko STH-8BLD-3 manual:

This machine came up in a general thread on zig-zag machines. It seems a significant and rare enough machine to have its own topic for future reference and easy googling I had made a video demonstrating the machine. I didn't know which exact model it was at the time: Today I came across two more unrestored versions of these machine hiding under a shelf. One of them had a type tag, which is how I found out what model it is: I also found a nice quality Singer 47K1, K3, K5 parts manual: Singer 47K1, K3, K5.pdf The Smithsonian had a cool 1936 sales brochure "Singer Sewing Machines For Rope Stitching" featuring this machine: Singer Sewing Machines for Rope Stitching.pdf

I was moving some machine around and found that I had two more of these little monsters hiding in the shadows and they had model type plates - yay! I turns out they're Singer 47K5 machines (and they really have nothing in common with Singer 47W machines other than the Singer name) Here are pictures of the black one with good restoration potential:

Before you turn the post around, consider one of the key differences between the two post orientations. Imagine sewing the bottom of a stiff cylindrical workpiece. With the current orientation of the post (hook to left of needle) you sew in a clockwise direction and the size of the workpiece you can sew is limited only by the size of the room that the machine is in. With the post rotated 180˚ (hook to the right of needle) you sew the same seam in a counter-clockwise direction, but then the size of the workpiece is limited by the distance between the post and the column of the machine.

Now I have post envy! Yours is definitely taller than mine. Looks like a super rare machine to me (mainly because I've never seen that version before.) Rotating the post 180˚ is somewhere between trivial and near impossible, I'm not sure where exactly it falls. Those Ikea lights are indeed super useful, I've deployed several of them on various sewing machines. Your installation looks very clean - nice job! So how much was that part directly from those Germans? Inquiring minds want to know.

Just for general clarification on what part we're talking about , here are some snippets from the parts diagram and a few photos from my Adler 68:

I realized after making the previous video that I had used potentially confusing terminology. I made a second "proper" video that uses the correct terminology for the parts involved. The black part is the "latch".

The safety clutch on my Pfaff 545 works like this:

Your best bet is service department at Durkopp Adler headquarters in Bielefeld, Germany: http://www.duerkopp-adler.com/en/main/Support/ If they don't have it, nobody else will either.

My Kwok Hing feet are mostly hard to find feet for Pfaff 335/1245, Durkopp Adler 67/167/267, or Juki 441 class machines. The 227R takes standard Singer 111W style feet, which are cheap and readily available from dozens of vendors.

The default go-to oil for sewing machines here in the U.S. is the "Lily White" sewing machine oil made by AlbaChem , which has a ISO viscosity of 22. Any oil that has a color to it will likely cause stains on white fabric, so a truly colorless oil is preferred by many. Trying to get oil stains out of a newly sewn garment is not fun. Some leathers soak up the oil like a sponge and never let it go again. Some leathers have so much oil to begin with, a little extra oil from the machine makes no difference. Recommended viscosity variations may depend on the oil delivery system the machine was designed for. Manual drip-on-the-parts-that-need-it is different than a pump-driven systems, which in turn are different from systems where wicks deliver the oil throughout the machine. In all cases, one important factor is what the oil leaves behind when the volatile elements evaporate and the oil dries up. Some natural oils dry to a hard varnish that acts like glue and can lock up a machine in storage. Other oils dry with very little residue, others yet leave behind tiny flecks of Teflon that act as a lubricant even after the oil has dried (e.g. Tri-Flow, but with scary SDS info). Once you find an oil you like, stick with it and sing its praises online.

I've decided to clear out my inventory of Kwok Hing items. You'll get 40% off any Kwok Hing item in my online store at https://uwe.store/collections/clearance-40-off Use discount code "KH40" during checking to get 40% off any items made by Kwok Hing. While supplies last, not returns on clearance items. I won't be ordering any more items from Kwok Hing. They make great products, but it's not worth maintaining an inventory these days. Regards, Uwe Grosse

I just got done spending some quality time with my Rex 11-155R. It may not be any consolation, but my Rex also has larger forward stitches (8mm) than in reverse (5.5mm). And there's apparently nothing I can do about it - that's just the way the machine was designed. This machine is not designed to be adjustable to balance forward and reverse stitches. The shape of the butterfly part determines where it hits the stitch length dial stop pin. One could theoretically alter the shape of the butterfly part somehow, but it's not worth bothering in my book. Later designs by Juki have a nearly identical stitch length mechanism, but they added an eccentric bushing that allows moving the stitch length adjustment pin up and down. This allows adjusting the relative forward and reverse stitch lengths. Here's a snippet of the relevant part (blue No. 10 "Eccentric Bushing") in the Juki DU-141NH parts diagram: We actually had a similar discussion a little over a year ago: So, in summary, I think your options are: 1. Live with it 2. Start shopping for a machine with a more sophisticated stitch length mechanism.

I hope so. I suspected one of those looks-like-a-screw-but-isn't heads is really an eccentric adjustment bolt with a set screw. I'll have to take a closer look at my Rex. Which manual is that image from? I have nothing for my Rex yet.

Your machine appears to be a close relative of a Rex 11-155R and they may both be re-badge jobs of some other machine made by a contract manufacturer. My machine has a plate that says it was "Made exclusively for Rex by Nakajima." Many factors contribute to the real-world forward and reverse stitch length. The actual stitch length and reverse mechanism is one of them, but feed dog movements and walking foot linkage are also factors. I made a video some to ago about the stitch length and reverse mechanism on my Rex 11-155R. That "butterfly" part plays a central role in both stitch length and reverse functionality. One easy check is to see if the butterfly part is properly centered. Set the stitch length dial to "0" and verify that A: that the pin really does sit in the valley of the butterfly wings (reverse level has minimal or no movement at all) and B: that there really is no front-to-back- movement of the feed dog or walking foot when you turn the hand wheel. If A or B is off, then your forward and reverse will not match for sure. Other easy visual checks are: 1. The feed dog needs to move all the way to the front before it comes up and all the way to the back before it goes down (and obviously the opposite for reverse.) 2. Descending needle, descending walking foot and rising feed dog should all meet at the throat plate level at the same time. Check those things and report back. In general it's better to upload pictures directly here on LW. It's a bit of a pain, but worth it in the long run. Those external picture hosting services have a tendency to turn nasty or greedy.

It's quite unlikely that the foot driving eccentric cam slips out of position. It's much more likely that the driving arm clamps on either end of the foot driving shaft slip out of position. Perhaps the clamp on the other end of the driving shaft was not quite tight. If either end slips, the walking foot motion will go out of synch. I'd try rotating the hand wheel to bring the needle tip to be level with the throat plate, then loosen either driving shaft arm clamp to bring both feet down to also be level with the throat plate. Then tighten clamping screws on BOTH ends of the driving shaft well. The concept of the walking foot mechanism for many machines is nearly identical. The main difference is that on some machines the slotted arm for adjusting walking height points up, and on other machines that arm points down.The foot driving eccentric will be offset 180˚ depending on which way that arm points. Normally the foot driving eccentric cam is at one extreme (e.g. all the way out) when the needle is at the very bottom (BDC) and at the other extreme (e.g. all the way in) when the needle is at the very top (TDC.) That's easy to verify visually. I recently made a video of that walking foot concept on a Pfaff where the slotted arm points down. I have a strong feeling the 441 is exactly the opposite because the arm points up. I don't have access to a 441 right now to verify. Here's the Pfaff walking foot adjustment video, just for reference: