Uwe

This belongs in the Market Place forum section for sewing machines (http://leatherworker.net/forum/forum/84-used/) . Maybe one of the admins like @northmount or @Wizcrafts can move it there. You'll have to state a price and hopefully upload some pictures, too, per LW Marketplace rules. Location info is important.

Beautiful machine! You need to state a price per LW marketplace rules.

I have a feeling the diagram is intended as installation instructions, not adjustment. There is apparently precisely one correct alignment for these parts and it should never change once assembled. However, if the alignment does change due to some forceful crash, part replacement, or a well-meaning tinkerer with a screwdriver, these parts need to be brought back into alignment in order for the rest of the machine to make sense.

I really want to see a video of it sewing a skate tongue.

You have to pull the thread up past the little hook on the check spring unit.

Thanks and yes, the Pfaff 145 has reverse.

Closely inspect your top thread path, or better yet, pull out the top thread and thread it again perfectly.

I don't have a Pfaff 463, but from what I can tell it's a very different design from the common walking foot machines we often talk about. The reason the service manual doesn't talk about the timing belt synchronization is because the adjustment happens in the link between the top shaft and the needle bar driver. On many machines the link between top shaft , thread-take-up lever linkage, and needle bar driver is locked in place and not adjustable. That is why the synchronization marks are used. This Pfaff 463 design is very different. The linkage in the head is adjustable and that's why it doesn't make sense to talk about synchronizing the upper and lower shaft. Instead, you adjust the relative position of take-up lever and needle bar, and then you adjust hook and feed timing based on the needle bar position. The relative positions of the top and bottom timing belt cogs are not really a factor in this. I came across the diagram below as a loose leaf insert in another Pfaff service manual. Your machines may work the same way, but I'm not positive. In any case, it's a quick visual check to see if your machine is aligned like the diagram below shows. If it isn't, that may be a good starting point for investigation. Why that diagram is not part of the service manuals, I have no idea.

That sure is a beautiful machine! Congratulations on your new addition!

One other thing to check is to make sure your top and bottom shafts are synchronized properly. The thread take-up lever needs to be in the very bottom position precisely when the thread is being wrapped around the farthest point around the hook. It's an easy visual check, just remove the hook cover plate and turn the machine slowly by hand. If the take-up lever timing is late due to incorrect timing belt position it will not provide enough slack and more top thread will be pulled from the spool as the thread gets forced around the hook. In this case the thread take-up lever will never get a chance to pull the knot tight, regardless of thread tension settings.

The short answer is a general "no", I'm afraid. Here's a thread that talks about just that:

That's a habit you should discontinue. It's like resting your left foot on the clutch (or the brake) while you drive - nothing good can come from it. Your foot lift thread tension release mechanism may be engaging too early or not releasing properly. The pin (no. 20) that pushes from the back of the machine against the plate behind the tension unit should have a little bit of play during normal sewing. Perhaps this mechanism is gummed up or sticky and never really lets go properly, thereby always working against the tension spring. One way to check this is to remove the pin 20 altogether for testing. To do this remove the tension unit, pull out pin 20, and the reinstall the tension unit. This will disable the foot lift activated thread tension release mechanism and lets you verify if the thread tension unit itself is working properly. If the machine sews fine without pin 20, then the problem is in your foot lift thread tension release mechanism. If you still cannot adjust thread tension properly, then it's time to carefully check how the thread gets wrapped around the hook. It may snag somewhere or your bobbin case opener may not work properly.

You really need to call the (Leather Machine co. ) Cobra folks for info and a sales pitch. There is virtually no information published on either of theses machines, no specs, no manuals, only one postage stamp size picture on their website and a price. They say they do this on purpose so that you call them. That approach must appeal to some subset of the market - it certainly doesn't work for me.

The Kenmore is a domestic machine and the Singer is a domestic machine pretending not to be a domestic machine. Neither of them will do what you want to do well, if at all. Save your money towards a proper industrial leather sewing machine Read the sticky note near the top of this category : Watch canvas bag master @AlexanderDyer sew a heavy canvas bag and note what types of machines he uses:

$279 according to the Merrow.com website. Not really big bucks, but in the USA, any table over $100 is considered big bucks. I wish there were more Merrow and Kessler tables out there.

That Rex motor looks very much the Family Sew variety. Your main problem may be that these motors originate in the metric part of the universe and you're trying to match up an imperial pulley. My Family Sew motor has a 15mm shaft and I got some SM50 50mm pulleys at UniversalSewing.com a while ago that fit nicely.

I'm normally a Pfaff fan, but I'm getting bad vibes from that CL ad. To me it looks like it's been driven hard by uncaring people, and then suffered a botched paint job. It ranks on my desirable-o-meter scale right up there with a once-fabulous 80's BMW that now has a body by Bondo®, a window held up with duct tape, and a spray can paint job. It may also just be a clone, not a genuine Pfaff, like Joe suggested. $600 for a serviceable genuine Pfaff is okay, but $600 for a worn-out clone is too much. It may look better in person, but normally it's the other way around. For the archive:

The problem with links to Ebay ads and their pictures is that they will disappear very soon. That link will be useless a few months from now. Only images that get uploaded directly here on LW stick around for a long time for future reference (site admins willing.) It would be great if some motivated person with an interest in vintage decals (yay Tony!) could download the pictures from the ebay ad and then upload them here.

Yes, Ebay vendors will often do all the research for you. For LW archiving purposes, I copied the list of suitable industrial zig-zag machines from the Ebay ad below. I have a feeling that just about any of these machines can join two pieces of hair-on-hide leather: Artisan : 457 Brother : B851, B852 Consew : 175RB, 275R, 276R, 347 Juki : LZ-271, LZ-391, LZ-582, LZ-583, LZ-583, LZ-1280, LZ-1285, LZ-1286, LZ-1287, LZ-1290, LZ-2280, LZ-2282, LZ-2284, LZ-2286, LZ-2290 Mitsubishi : LZ-710, LZ-720, LZ-760, LZ-780, LZ-790 Singer : 107G, 107W, 143G, 143W, 457W, 457U Stager : DZ-S31 Toyota : AD550

There are modern day versions of the Singer 20Uxx series (e.g. Singer 20U43 from Techsew for $800). The knee-operated zig-zag width adjustment is probably not an essential feature for patchwork rugs. Other vintage zig-zag machines might be good candidates as well, examples: Singer 107W3, Pfaff130, Pfaff 138-63, and others. These folks also appear to be using a vintage industrial zig-zag, but I can't quite tell what model that is just from the foot:

Yes, you can. See page 31 of the Juki LU-1508N user manual (Juki LU-1508N Instruction Manual.pdf) Be sure to read the rest of the manual, too.

If you come across another machine that meets your requirements, I'd like to know about it. We live in an age where a Toyota Camry is more of a true American car than a Jeep. For "true German" machines designed and made in Germany while the company was still a German owned company, you have to go back a few decades. I have two very nice Durkopp Adler 268 post bed machines that meet that criteria. I might be willing to part with them to fund my Durkopp Adler M-Type H868 Classic piggy bank.

The only machine in I'm aware of that meets your requirements is the Durkopp Adler M-Type H868 Classic, which is on my list of machines to own before I die. Make sure you sit down before you open that quote.

@Parfektionisto No, I didn't make the decals myself - they were part of a larger sewing parts inventory I bought last year. Sorry, I don't have a decals reference.

To be fair to Juki, I don't think the Juki LS2342-7 and the Pfaff 335 are in the same class capability wise (the Juki is about 50% larger, offers 9mm stitches and 20mm foot lift, the Pfaff 335 has 6mm stitches and 14 mm foot lift). When you sit in front of it, the Juki will appear HUGE compared to the Pfaff 335. The Juki also has features you can't get on a Pfaff 335 for any price (e.g. dual stitch length mechanism). You're not really comparing apples to apples. Comparing the Pfaff 335 to a Juki LS-1341 would be more meaningful. I also doubt that phone quote for the Pfaff 335 included a modern servo motor and control system that's comparable to the Juki's integrated drive system. Ask for pricing on the Pfaff 335 with the P40CD drive control system and all available options. I suspect the price gap will narrow somewhat.