Uwe

If the pressure plate does not have a channel worn into it on the underside then you may be able to simply remove the pressure spring and bend it down a slight bit in the middle. That should allow it to better squeeze the thread for improved bobbin thread tension control. It's worth a try.

Did you not get a manual with the machine? There's almost nothing available online for that machine. @Techsew Ron is your guy for definitive answers and hopefully manuals. Based on an ancient video snippet on youtube, I'm guessing the shuttle hook is very similar if not identical to that of the Juki TSC-441 or Adler 205 class. Both have an adjustment screw for bobbin tension: Depending on how old the machine is, the pressure plate for the bobbin tension may have a groove worn into it from the thread. If it has a groove you may not be able to adjust bobbin tension anymore. A new pressure plate or whole new hook may be in order. I covered how to adjust bobbin tension in a video for the Adler 205 class (starting at the 14:39 mark). Your shuttle hook bobbin case may or may not have the lock screw shown in the video.

You'll have to check you machines parts manual to see if you have all the parts to make the knee lift work. Usually the oil tank models have a umbrella-like pin that gets pushed up through the oil pan by the knee lift. That umbrella part in turn pushes up against the internal foot lift mechanism of the machine. That pin often goes AWOL during transport (it's missing on both oil pans I have sitting in my garage). The pin looks like this: I'm not aware of another practical way to get the feet lifted all the way up.

If your machine has pneumatic automation bits (air cylinders etc.) installed but you're not using them, then you have some limitations. Removing pneumatic bits and converting a machine back to manual mode is often complex and sometimes not feasible. Sometimes you can simply add a knee lift mechanism and keep ignoring the pneumatic cylinders. Or hook it up to an air compressor and use it as intended.

A needle will generally last quite a long time in a well-adjusted machine and without abuse. If your needle develop burrs it usually means it's touching something it shouldn't. The needle may get deflected by lumps in the material, or by a snagged thread pulling the needle sideways. Does you feed dog hole look all jagged around the edge? Chances are that your needle burrs and thread snags are caused by the same or a related problem. I suspect your top thread occasionally snags somewhere as it wraps around the hook or elsewhere in the thread path. Verify your hook timing is spot-on. Make sure the needle guard actually does its job of protecting the needle. If you recently installed new throat plate or feed dog, make sure they are burr free. Inspect your thread/hook action as you make a few very slow turn by hands with the hook cover slide removed. Is the bobbin case opener pulling the bobbin case back enough for the thread to slip through the gap easily, and then get out of the way quickly enough to let the thread pass? Here's a video snippet of how the thread should wrap around the hook and how the bobbin case opener should operate on a well-adjusted LU-563 class machine (on my machine the timing belt synchronization had been off before): Here's a short video on how the needle guard should be adjusted:

According to the Juki DDL-5550 Manual your machine should have 13mm foot lift using the knee lifter mechanism. The hand lever may have less of a foot lift.

I came across a previously super-rare Adler 167 Service Manual today and scanned it to PDF for the greater good and to collect some karma points. Here's the PDF: Adler 167 Service Manual.pdf (40 MB) The manual originally contained multiple languages, but only the English language pages were left when I found it. Page 32 and the very last page are intentionally blank for booklet printing. The graphic pages at the end have page numbers starting at 301 (some page numbers at the end are a little hard to read)

I came across an Adler 167 service manual in my documentation archive today and scanned it to PDF: Adler 167 Service Manual.pdf (40 MB of high resolution goodness!)

Congratulations on finding such a great deal on such a beautiful machine. LOVE that stool, too!

Thanks for that link to the CLAES info page, Alex - great info and lots of detailed pictures! For slim diameter arm cylinder arm machines it is actually unusual for the feed dog to have vertical movements. Neither Pfaff 335 nor Adler 69 have vertical feed dog movements in their standard configuration (rare subclasses add the full-motion feed dog movement to those two machines.)

Interesting machine, Alex! That looks like a surprisingly big bobbin in that machine. I'm wondering if the feed dog goes up and down as it moves, or if it is only a horizontal movement. You're mixing up walking foot lift height with total foot lift. Your total foot lift height determines how much material you can put under the feet, and how thick your machine can sew (7mm in your case) The walking foot lift height is the up-down movement the feet make as they walk. That determines how big of a step up or down they can take, but it does not determine how thick a material they can sew. The design of your machine has very little in common with a Pfaff 335, though. Your machine is a very close relative to the Singer 108W20: I have a similar flatbed version of that design, a Singer 151W1

These feed-off-the-arm chainstitch machines are normally used for side seams on jeans, attaching tape, or similar operations. For $100, you can't really go wrong, though - it'll be good entertainment and learning experience no matter how it turns out. It's a gamble, though, especially if you can't find a service manual for it. I imagine it takes advanced sewing mechanic skills to keep these machines with three needles and six thread paths happy. Do a picture search and find a machine that looks very similar and has manuals available (e.g Brother DT6-926), then hope that the machines are very similar.

The mounting screw thread is a regular/weird 9/64"-40 thread, same size and pitch as the Juki LU-562 foot mount screw. Upon closer inspection, my adapter may actually be home-made from an existing foot, by cutting/filing it just so. Hmmm, looks like a useful little CNC mill project to me. I'd probably give the mounting hole a standard metric thread size, though (M4 or M3.5).

Careening my Land Rover away from the cliff and back towards the topic, I stumbled across a little adapter that looks much like what @Chayse considered making. It allows installing low-shank feet on the big boys.

According to the Singer 111W155 manual (Singer 111W155 Manual print.pdf), these machines use System 135x17 needles (for fabric, also called DPx17 or SY3355) or System 135x16 needles (for leather, also called DPx16 or SY3378). If you type "135x17 needles" into the Ebay search field, you get 1,700 results. Any of our trusty banner vendors have these in stock, I'm pretty sure. You just have to ask for the right thing.

I second the Youtube approach - it's THE place made for sharing videos. You can share them as "unlisted" so only the people you tell about the video will see it (as opposed to the whole world.) Many of these trouble shooting tasks come down to three general steps: 1. You need to know how things SHOULD be (and how things should move) 2. Notice which particular detail is NOT how it should be 3. Make a correction so that everything is again how it should be Step one is actually the hard part - it takes time, observational skills and lots of experience. The best way to start is to look at a machine that works exactly as it should. Then compare that to your machine and figure out how yours is different (easier said than done - put on your Sherlock Holmes hat for that step.) To help get you started I made a short video showing how my Adler 205 moves to make a stitch. Compare it to yours - pay attention to the range of motions and also the sequence of motions. Your adler may have a cover of the take-up lever. I'm also referencing two other videos that should help with step 1 - knowing how things should be. Here's the video (filmed on my iPhone 6 using a $10 selfie stick clamped to a chair. I uploaded it to Youtube in "unlisted" mode. You can upload to Youtube directly from your phone, too.) For a general operation guide to the Adler 205 you can watch this video. (Make sure your threading is correct) Lastly here's another video showing how the Adler 205 makes a stitch

Your machine looks like a very close relative to a Brother DB2-B755. Check out the Brother DB2-B755 manual (db2b755.pdf ) and see how closely it matches up with your machine. Also, most industrial needles of this general machine class have a round shank, only domestic sewing needles have a flat side on the shank. The two types are not interchangeable. Since the needle shank is round, you have to pay attention as to how you insert it. The manual will tell you how.

I think you might be able to use non-Adler feet on your machine, including some Singer feet. You always have the option to buy a second presser foot bar (generally inexpensive and often interchangeable with other machines) and modify it to make it fit other feet, but that may not be necessary. A quick survey of my stash yielded a small collection of feet that may be candidates. The all have the same width mounting channel (7.6mm or 19/64") and all are very close in height (about 35mm hole center to bottom). The hole for the mounting screw on some is a tad smaller (4mm instead of 4.6mm), but that's easy to correct with a simple drill. The center four feet in the bottom row are original Adler feet (onePart #0055840 and three Part# 105220010) that mount on the right side of the presser bar and have teeth. Those four original Adler feet are the only ones I'm positive which machine they belong to (the 105220010 feet appear in the Adler 105-RM25 parts diagram.) The bottom right foot is very close to what you currently have. All the others have smooth bottoms for bottom (and needle feed) machines like yours. I don't know which machines they go with, but very likely some Singer model. The feet with round holes are for machines without needle feed, since there's no room for the needle to move. In any case, I think you have some options to move towards presser foot nirvana on your Chandler 305-64. All the feet in the picture are for sale, by the way. The original Adler feet are $80, all the others are $40 each.

I doubt anybody stocks and sells these cast rawlings. Usually they only exist in the factory between two processing steps. You can have your own made by various chinese suppliers if you're willing to order a few dozen or a few hundred. I have some cast rawlings in my parts drawers, but I have no idea where they originated. I don't even know which machines mine are intended for. I'm pretty sure, though, that they're of no use to you, sorry!

Thanks for the update, @HatoriKun! The Anker website sure uses a nearly identical factory image that is on my machine in their scrolling banner images on their Anker history page. That settles at least my portion of the mystery machine. Yay!

Many synchronizers have two discs inside that you can rotate individually to adjust position for UP and DOWN. When I set up a machine with needle positioning, I usually set the DOWN position to when the needle is rising, but still in the material (don't make it stop in the hook timing position unless you enjoy skipped stitches.) For UP position I set it to when the thread take-up lever is at its highest point. With a little luck your position sensor will look like the graphic below on the inside. It's the notch in the disc that signals STOP when it reaches the light sensors at the bottom. Loosen the "screw" to turn the disc that needs adjusting while holding the other discs in place. It take a little practice but it's not too hard. Don't forget to tighten that screw again.

I got motivated and connected my SewPro servo motor to my Singer 7 Class in a test setup, just to check speeds and take measurements for the real table. I'm planning to mount the motor to the top of the table, rather than cutting a slot and mounting it underneath. This mounting concept would also work if you want to have the machine just sitting on top of the table. Here's a video of my test setup - just for reference since you're looking at motor options. The real test will be sewing a thick stack of webbing, but speed control looks quite suitable and slow enough to me, even without a separate speed reducer pulley.

The shaft itself is the same, it's the hook driver that's different. We'll "just" swap hook drivers and all should be well.

I was in Frankfurt in May for the Techtextil and Texprocess trade fairs. It's the place to be to keep up with modern sewing technology. The Frankfurt show floor was nearly ten times the size of the show in Atlanta last year. I'm working on getting a Singer 7 class motorized and I also plan to mount a servo motor directly to the base frame like they did in the video. The motor in the video is an Efka system, I think. I'll have a go using my 1,100 W SewPro servo motor and see how well it works without a speed reducer pulley. I also have a new Consew 733 class machine still in the crate that will be next up for big boy work.

Now I know which machine the guy at the trade show was talking about when he said that the new H-Type 967 fills the void left when the "Adler One Twenty Two" model was discontinued. I'd been searching for "Adler 122". "Adler 120-2" makes more sense. Nice finds, congratulations!