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Just upload videos to youtube and avoid all these system specific issues. That's one of the reasons youtube is so popular - it just works on nearly every device. Mark the video "unlisted" if you only want close, personal friends to know you take vertical videos.

It's hard to make suggestions without knowing what physical limitations we need to consider. Some systems can be adapted with hand controls for folks who can't operate a foot pedal. If manual dexterity is limited, certain controls can be shifted to leg/foot actuators, to allow for one-handed operation, etc. It boils down to finding somebody who's willing to put together a workstation customized for your needs. Any outfit that will only drop boxes at your doorstep is not really a good candidate. Once you find somebody local to put it all together, have them help you choose the pieces based on your intended use. Efka motors are great for many applications, but they may not be a good choice for what you're trying to do.

Some needle systems are close enough in size to make them work with a minor tweak. Your needles are WAY too short. No wonder your needle's eye is too high. There's really no way you can make those short needles work in that machine - if you just lower the needle bar, it will likely hit the presser feet. Wait for your 135x16 needles to come in. College Sewing in the UK may have better delivery times than some Ebay sellers.

My 135x16 needles are 44.19mm long butt-to-tip. All needles in that 135x16 system should be exactly the same length and only vary in thickness, and shape of the tip. Normally, needle systems are defined in terms of distance from butt to the eye of the needle as one key metric. Usually one adjusts the needle bar height AFTER setting the hook timing position. Get the hook to point at the needle at exactly the right "time", i.e. when the needle has risen a precise distance (check manual) from its bottom dead center position as you turn the wheel towards you. THEN you adjust the needle bar to make the eye of the needle sit a precise distance below the tip of the hook (setting it so the hook points at just below the mid-point of the needle's scarf is a usually good approximation.)

I made a video some time ago that shows the underside of a loop-pickup on a vertical axis hook machine. It may help visualize what's going on down there.

Perhaps I'm missing something. I've been wondering for a while now why I keep coming across variations of "A good time to stop and turn the material is when the needle has come back up a little bit." Even Al Bane says something to that effect in one of his videos. That guideline just goes against my understanding of the stitch cycle. Generally, folks stop to make a turn while the needle is buried in the material because it provides a good pivot point. In that situation it seems to me that the only really BAD time to stop and turn is when the needle has come back up a little bit, the thread is still busy forming a loop but the hook has not yet caught that loop. Thou shalt not mess with the loop, in commandment speak. So why do so many folks recommend to stop and turn the material exactly during that most vulnerable period? Is it the thrill of playing Russian roulette with skipped stitches? In my mind, a good time to stop and turn the material is either: A.) While the needle is still going down OR B.) AFTER the needle has come back up again far enough so that the hook has had a chance to positively catch the loop. I really am curious about the reasoning behind the common recommendation and I'd love to hear from others.

I'm guessing the bobbin case wasn't seated properly inside the hook and came loose. There's a second dimple just above the big one. The needle should never be anywhere those spots. When you insert the bobbin case on a horizontal axis bobbin, make SURE it snaps into place. You have to pull up the little tab to hold the bobbin case (this also hold the bobbin inside the case) then insert the bobbin case into the hook and let go of the tab. You should feel and and hear it "snap" into place. If the bobbin case comes loose and starts to rotate while you're sewing, all manner of bad, expensive things will happen.

That'll do it! Time to get out the dremel tool or get a new bobbin basket.

The standard LU-562 and L-563 do have reverse, but both machines were also manufactured in special "-3" subclass versions, as in Juki LU-562-3 and LU-563-3 (or LU-563 Subclass 3) . The "-3" subclasses lack the reverse mechanism, which allows for greater forward stitch length.

Nice work! I'm a big fan of putting instructions and information right where you need it. My label maker gets lots of use. One of the first things I do when I start working on a new machine is make a needle system and size range label and stick it on the machine. The other thing I often need a reminder of is which way to insert the bobbin. I made a graphic and lasered it right on the inside of my bobbin cover of my Adler 205 (a clear sticker would work just as well in that spot, but I have access to a CNC laser and I really wanted to try out the metal marking fluid). I think I'll start lasering bobbin threading graphics onto the hook slide cover plates of my flatbed machines. The advantage of laser etching bare metal is that it doesn't wear off.

It's time to launch "Eric's Needle Emporium LLC" to support formerly gouged leathercrafters.

A nice, used original will cost about as much as a new clone. Five years from now that nice original will likely be worth just a little bit less if you take care of it; the new clones will drop in value considerably more over that same time period because, well, they're just used clones by then. A used clone is worth perhaps half as much as a used original, at least my book. If the used machines are in good condition and have been properly serviced by the dealer, I'd still vote for the Juki.

Buying from a local, reputable dealer is a BIG plus right there, shipping always comes with risk and cost. Typical is a clone manufacturer who enjoys a good reputation and has a significant presence and distribution network in Europe. The Juki LS-341 gets my vote on your list. Aside from the improved quality and resale value of an original, you also enable Juki to advance the state of the art. Otherwise the clone manufacturers won't have anything new to copy ten years from now.

So . . . do you have a basement full of Adler 767 machines and other goodies now? That was quite the local opportunity for you there. Auctions of that scale don't happen all that often, at least not in the Detroit area.

Regarding needle pricing from the manufacturer's perspective, I had an interesting exchange with a Groz Beckert representative in Atlanta. I had asked about some rare needle system, and he said something along the lines of "Yep, we're the only manufacturer of that needle system worldwide. But we don't charge more for it or gouge people. (pauses to think for moment) In fact we haven't raised needle prices in 25 years - we're crazy!" I guess the manufacturer holds or improves their bottom line by lowering cost of manufacturing, economies of scale, and automation. What happens to pricing after the product leaves the manufacturer greatly depends on the distribution network and how many layers or relay stations there are. Hypothetical price is irrelevant if there's no product to sell or buy. For example, toilet paper is super cheap in price controlled Venezuela - they just don't have any to actually sell. The store shelves are just empty. Even in a free market, if there's no money to be made on the distribution end, nobody will bother to distribute the product, which means you can't buy the product. When I consider how hard it is to actually make a good needle (try making one yourself if you don't believe it's hard to do), I'm thinking $0.30 per needle in small quantities is rather a bargain.

All of the sudden there's a bunch of hook candidates! The Singer 111W151 hook (part number 240240, available from Sharp Sewing on Ebay as of June 2016 for ) looks very promising, too!

I saw a Singer 112W140 double needle machine this afternoon that also had a hook with the improved needle guard design. Looks like a good candidate to me, but I'm not sure it would really fit or work on a Consew 225 or Singer 111W155. If anybody has these in their stash, a quick few measurements would be appreciated before I gamble money actually buying one.

I ordered the cheap HDU-249 from Ebay yesterday just to have it on hand for a closer inspection and to explore. Constabulary, I'm curious about your specific Singer 111G156 setup with the DA hook. Did you do the change-over yourself or did it come that way? Did you have to replace the hook saddle or other parts, or is the hook+shaft a direct drop-in replacement on that machine. Any pictures of that setup would be greatly appreciated! I couldn't find your DA OEM hook on DA's sew24.com parts website. Perhaps I wasn't plugging in the right part numbers. Where do you buy your DA OEM parts? I'm also striking out on a source for the modular shaft that goes with the hook head. The Cerliani website is a treasure trove of hook related information! Hooks like that Hirose hook (HSH1215MM5) you found with the extra deflector are also made by Cerliani. They call it the heavy thread version of that hook.

Eric, the shaft diameter of the hook in the Consew measures 9.5mm, the cam measures 12.5mm in diameter. I appreciate the offer of the genuine Singer hook - but hold on to yours for a little while longer. I just picked up a Singer 111W155 in St. Louis last weekend - my first ever genuine boat anchor with a bent main shaft, I think! On the plus side, it has an original Singer hook in it that I'll investigate. That Singer 111W155 boat anchor was fortunately accompanied by a gem of a Pfaff 545C H4N10. It all balances out, I guess. Constabulary, using a Dürkopp 239/241 style hook in a Singer 111 class machine sounds like a very promising path for a "proper" fix and a nice upgrade - I'll have to look into that! Do you have a part number that goes with that Dürkopp hook (and shaft)? HDU249 seems to be the compatible Hirose part number.

Surely Ron at Techsew in Montreal ( LW member TechSew Ron) can conjure up some leather needles for the machines he sells.

I had also considered putting on a full circular ring on the underside of the hook instead of just a cantilevered tab, but I was worried about covering up the threaded holes, haha! There are spacer shims available (intended for machinists) that would be a perfect match size-wise, available in various thicknesses from several millimeters to 1/10th of a millimeter:

Great find! I think you may be onto something here. The Singer 212 hook design has a special hook thread guide "bridge" that get screwed into place. My hook actually has threaded holes on the bottom as you noticed - I didn't know what they were for. It would be NICE if the Singer 212 hook thread guide bridge would fit my hook (it's actually a Hirose HSH-11-55, not a Koban, as I stated earlier). Clearance may be an issue tough - it's super tight. But a screwed-in-place bridge would certainly be more confidence inducing than a glued, cantilevered tab.

I appreciate your feedback and honesty Eric. Time will tell if the fix lasts and you may very well be right about it not lasting. But it's not quite same as painted-over bondo on a car to hide evidence of an accident. I'm always upfront with what I do or did to a machine. I'm on good terms with the buyer and we both investigated the problem together. We were delighted when we finally could reproduce the problem to know how it happened, and agreed that it was basically a design flaw. I think he'll appreciate the fix (I even sent him a link to the video) but if the fix doesn't last, I'll install a new hook for him. Alas, with an unmodified hook, we're back to getting thread caught under the hook, which is super annoying. Is this simply an unavoidable design flaw of this class of machines and hooks? The more modern hook designs all seem to have some design element in the hook to minimize or prevent this failure mode. Are there any hooks out there that fit the Singer 111W155 class of machines and don't have this flaw? I bought the Koban hook because I thought they're one of the better brands for hooks. I'd prefer to just install a new hook that doesn't get thread caught on the underside by design, rather than operator skill or luck.

So I spent a few hours checking on things that folks had suggested (thanks to all!). Alas, I really could not find any adjustment that was out of spec or one that I could tweak to reliably resolve the problem. The springy-ness of the bonded polyester may exacerbate the problem. Nylon and Cotton may not want to"spring" downward as readily as this polyester thread does. Alas, when sewing for outdoor applications, Polyester is among the few durable choices. I started considering the hook design itself and comparing it other hooks I had on hand. I recently got a Pfaff 545 which has a notably different hook design, that I think makes a big difference for this particular problem. I decided to make a slight modification to the Consew's Kobani hook and add a very thin stainless steel plate that keeps the thread from "falling down" if it goes slack for some reason. Other hook designs have this type of plate and it seemed like a good thing to try. My fix is reversible with simple nail polish remover and in a worst case scenario the hook itself is cheap at around $30 in case we need to go back to square one. I had actually sold the machine a few weeks ago and the new owner, being a novice, ran into trouble quite frequently with this particular issue, causing frustration with an otherwise perfectly good machine. I think the fix is a good one for my particular situation. I'm not suggesting that anybody else should do this. Below is the updated video with footage added at the end to show the fix I decided on. Sorry about the occasional muffled voice. I know I need to step up my microphone game if I am going to be doing more talkies.

I just a got a new modular $200 servo motor from SewPro which is 1100W strong and starts at a low 100 RPM. I have high hopes for it, but haven't installed it yet for testing. I'll report back this coming week after some testing.