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A suspended roller guide with a small roller combined with a left-toed foot would indeed be your best option, but I doubt your machine (Consew 227, right?) has mounting holes to install a suspended guide. Sewing 1/16" from the edge along applique curves on a vintage machine is actually a very hard thing to do well.

My googling brings up good info like manuals with specs: http://lmgtfy.com/?q=sunstar+KM-380 Sunstar is made in Korea. It's actually a good brand based on what I've seen. I have a Sunstar KM-380 but haven't sewn with it yet. It's not a direct copy of any OEM machine I know of, but rather a Sunstar design based on various other machines. Arm, feed dog, and throat plates are compatible with Durkopp Adler 69 class. The feet are very common and cheap Singer 111W style. I've never sewn or repaired a horse blanket, so I can't say if the Sunstar KM-380 any good for that application. Realistically, you'll probably need a Juki TSC-441 class sewing machine (for example: Cowboy 4500, Cobra Class 4, Techsew 5100, etc.) for sewing horse related items. If you're not good with a computer or figuring things out yourself, you may be better off with a sewing machine from a dealer you call for questions (check the banner ads.) Also, don't be afraid of proper punctuation. It's your friend and lets people understand what you're asking or trying to say.

For every Pfaff 1295 out there I imagine at least a dozen Pfaff 145/545 floating about. That means Pfaff 1295 are very hard to find and if you need one and have an opportunity to get one, get it. Most of what I know about operating the Pfaff 1295 machine was in that Pfaff 1295 demo video you mentioned. Thread capability between Pfaff 545 and Pfaff 1295 should really be very close (happily sews size 138 all day) , they may even use the same hook - check the parts lists to be sure. Both the Pfaff 545 and Pfaff 1295 I had/have are exercises in buttery smoothness once adjusted well, just a joy to use. Which one of them suits your needs better depends, well, on your needs. If in doubt, get both. Lots of interchangeable parts between them. Make sure the Pfaff 1295 has the throat plate and feed dog you need/want - those are even harder to find than the machine itself and priced accordingly. Also make sure the tension release mechanism on the back of the Pfaff 1295 is complete - it's a chinese puzzle.

That does sound a little disturbing, though.

The stitch line looks good to me, actually. The seam appearance on the backside looks different than the front side, but that's mainly due to the way the needle penetrates the material on top and pushes it out on the backside as the needle exits. Fabric is a different story because the fabric's threads just get pushed aside by the rounded needle point and seam appearance is more similar front to back. Leather needles cut the material and leave a different seam appearance front and back. You can experiment with variations on the leather needle tip to alter the seam appearance in subtle ways, but you will probably be disappointed if you expect the seam to look identical front and back on leather with that machine. Of course the leather itself (type, thickness, tanning method, surface treatments, etc.) also plays a role. There are a few (monstrous and expensive) machines like needle & awl machines that come closer to a perfectly symmetric saddle stitch look on leather because the material gets penetrated from both sides, first with the awl from one side, then with the needle from the other. This double entry makes the seam appearance more uniform front to back.

Thank you @mashoolle for sharing your solution to this problem and documenting it so well! Nice work on that custom part, it looks very professional. I did some prototype milling with Delrin plastic and it's a great material. It's been a while since I started this topic and I now realize that I neglected to follow up with the fix I eventually came up with back then. The original little tab I had initially used was not satisfactory. After some more tinkering and online research I found arbor shims at a tool supply company (Production Tool Supply) that were just the right size and thickness. With two drops of super glue the arbor shim also worked quite nicely for keeping the thread from getting caught under the hook. Here are a few pictures of my arbor shim fix/hack:

That reminds me of a Singer 153W timing belt saga some time ago, where it also turned out that the belt got destroyed by fire. We never did find out if that machine was salvaged in the end. Keep us posted with your Phoenix from the ashes story!

I have a feeling none of your throat plates were designed for the Consew 227R. If you add enough iterations of somebody making third generation copies of a part that was made for a copy of a machine, then you'll end up with parts that don't really fit anymore. Personally I wouldn't attempt modify a $800 machine head to accommodate a $20 throat plate that doesn't fit right. Try to find throat plates that fit well. That Consew 227R is very likely "just" a rebadged Seiko CW-8B, which in turn is likely based on the Singer, but not a clone in the strict sense. Look in the Seiko CW-8B parts list for part numbers and then search for that exact part number. Or look for parts that say they fit the Seiko CW-8B. Then, if they don't fit, return them. Some of our resident vendors may also be able to hook you up with throat plates that actually fit your machine. They may cost a few bucks more, but you'll be happier in the long run. Of course there's also a small chance that your hook assembly itself isn't quite the right one for the machine.

You are right to expect that knob to turn as it should. For some reason it doesn't. The problem is compounded by the fact that the threads on the shaft that the knob screws onto are brittle and break easily. On my machine a large portions of the thread on the end of the shaft had already broken off, leaving jagged edges and gritty bits behind. I spent the better part of an hour Dremel grinding the jagged threads smooth until the knob would thread in and out smoothly. Hypothetically, if it were my machine and I'd have not much to loose, I'd be tempted to grab some channel lock pliers, wrap a piece of leather around the knob and as gently as possible apply some twisting force on the knob in the correct direction in hopes of getting the knob to turn. I'd also spray some WD-40 or similar in the (tight) gaps by the knob beforehand in the hopes of providing some lubrication on the threads. But it's your machine and I'm certainly not telling you to do that. And you really should check in with Gregg before you do anything drastic.

Ah, well, that's a problem then. Has it ever worked since you got it? Either way, Gregg's your man.

That knob should turn clockwise to come out. It's the opposite rotation of what you'd expect. I made a video some time ago about that stitch length adjustment mechanism on a Singer 153W102, which should be the same as your Consew 227:

That depends on what features you care about. The Juki DSU-145 or Juki DSU-245 may be candidates with similar capabilities and price point. Pfaff 335 is the old school standard bearer for small diameter cylinder arm machines.

Call @Gregg From Keystone Sewing , I'm sure he's interested in you being able to change the stitch length on that machine. That knob may also not turn in the direction you think it should turn. Otherwise post some pictures. It's hard to guess exactly what your stitch length mechanism looks like.

SOLD

Yes, that broken bobbin case opener is a problem, I think, especially if the broken-off piece finds its way into some gear teeth. Here's what mine looks like on my Singer 153W102: That finger needs to be able to pull back the bobbin basket to open up the thread path around the tab in the throat plate cutout. When you adjust that case opener finger position, make sure it doesn't bind in the far open position. The basket should still have a tiny bit of wiggle room when pulled all way to the right. Ideally the tab inside the throat plate cutout gets pulled just into the center of the cutout, not all the way to the other side. It's easy to accidentally adjust the finger position too far without checking for a bind. Then you have a hard bind with every turn of the hook, and the finder will just fatigue and break off eventually (or the tab on the bobbin basket.)

That machine looks to be in very nice shape overall. Great find! That needle bar on your machine looks different than the ones on my Pfaff 145/545. Perhaps your needle bar got replaced at some point. Yours looks like it was designed for use with a separate, tiny thread guide part. That wire is a homemade fix, I think. That wire or screw may actually get in the way between the needle bar and the inner presser foot. It's a tight fit, depending on the foot. Usually, out of the three holes, one is for the thread guide screw, one is for the needle screw, and the top hole is just a sight hole to see if the needle was inserted all the way. On my Pfaffs 145/545 machines the thread guide is built into the tip of the needle bar (and it is often broken on old machines). I have two replacement needle bars for the Pfaff 145/545 that I got some time ago but haven' t used yet. They're readily available and relatively cheap (Pfaff Part no. 91-710650-92.) Both of mine are aftermarket versions. Here's are the photos of my Pfaff needle bars, just for reference. Here's a picture from a Pfaff 545 manual I have:

So it turns out this machine is actually a Singer 144WSV38. The tag was hiding under the yellow strap. I have no idea what the difference is between this special version and the standard one. It may just be a delete option because there's no gear on the shaft for the front hand wheel, so you'd better have long arms. On the plus side I found most of the missing bits for the thread control check spring unit. Price drop to $600 and last call for LW members until year-end. A few more pictures:

I'm guessing if the gears aren't meshed properly and there's too much play the teeth will catch on the edges on occasion and chip a little.

Does the set screw your Cx3 arrow points to normally stick out like that? If it did it may have touched/rubbed/hit the cone gear above and cause the "wear" you are seeing. I had one machine of similar design and it had the wrong length set screw on one of the holes on the hook driving gear. It was sticking out too much and touching the cone gear under the hook. It didn't sound good and I could feel resistance when turning over by hand. It took me a while to figure out what the problem was. I ended up filing down the too-long set screw and cutting a new top slot with my Dremel. If the set screw on your machine worked itself loose and stuck out, then you'll have problems before too long. For adjusting the "mesh" between the hook driving gear and the cone gear under the hook, it really is the hook driving gear (that Cx3 holds on the hook driving shaft) that needs to move to the right (instead of moving the hook saddle to the left). The hook driving gear (Cx3) needs to be able to rotate and slide on the hook driving shaft when the Cx3 set screws are loose. That's how you time the hook on his machine. The gear may be stuck to the shaft because it's rusted in place or stuck due to oil varnish. I'd remove the set screws and drip some kerosene oil or WD-40 in the holes and warm whole thing up with a hair dryer. The crusty oil varnish will dissolve or soften and the hook driving gear will start to move on the shaft eventually. Then you can make proper adjustments.

If you can get a new Sunstar with table and servo motor for £600, then your budget may dictate to check that one out first. I'm just a little concerned that after subtracting cost of table, motor, and shipping from Korea, there's really not much left to build the actual sewing machine. Sometimes new things are too cheap to be sustainable or ethical. But then again, I'm guilty of buying that $3 bottle of wine and I forget all my ethical dilemmas by the time I'm done with it.

I can't vouch for the seller. Don't just click buy-it-now. I'd talk to the seller and then decide if it's worth spending an afternoon to go check out the machine in person. It's only a two-hour drive to Manchester. Avoid shipping if at all possible. There isn't much overlap between "good cylinder arm machine" and "less than 1,100 GBP".

The Sunstar is probably a fine machine, but a used original may be a better choice in terms of long term parts availability and general support. I'd recommend considering a used Juki LS-341 instead. You'll have an easier time finding parts and accessories for the Juki compared to the Sunstar. You also have College Sewing not too far from you near Manchester - they support Juki in a big way. College Sewing may also have some used machines, who knows. Here's an example of a nice Juki LS-341 on Ebay in your general area that looks like a really good candidate to me:

Just call or email Sergey at SewPro directly. He's a nice guy and best source for pricing info, since he's the only one selling the SewPro line. Weaver sells Adler 205-370 clones for around $4,650 (or considerably less if you sign up for their wholesale program). The Adler 205 synchronized binder kit by itself runs about $500. Cowboy/Hightex also make a Adler 205 clone, but they cost more than the Cowboy 4500. A good industrial sewing machine will last decades in caring hands. Lease and utility payments for a retail shop is money you will never see again. Pretend you already have a retail shop, sell some bags through your current sales channels set that "retail shop" money aside. You'll be able to afford a good machine every couple of months.

Any Cowboy dealer should be able to order Cowboy or Hightex parts. Otherwise, what's the point of being a Cowboy dealer? Neal's Saddlery is apparently the authorised distributor for Cowboy products in the U.S. - check with them if your favorite dealer can't get the parts you need. Cowboy 4500 with fixed binder: Cowboy 4500 with synchronized binder: The synchronized movement of the binder seems exaggerated on the Cowboy 4500 - it moves much more than the needle. On the Adler 205, a hole in the arm allows installation of a "finger" that does the synchronized movement:

The Cowboy 3200 and Cobra Class 4 are both variations on the Juki TSC-441 design. Both are fine machines, but neither of them will do binding as well as the Adler 205 design. They rank about the same on the monster scale, the Cowboy 3200 being more of a stubby monster. If money is no object, consider the new Juki LS-2372 (around $7K), less of a monster but only slightly less intimidating when you sit in front of it. The next step down on the monster scale are Juki LS-1341 or Adler 269 class machines, which also have many aftermarket copies floating about. Here's a video that show three different Durkopp Adler machines (205, 269, 69) doing binding work. The Durkopp Adler 269 may actually be a good candidate for range of work.