Uwe

Does it have the needle position adjuster feature and it's just missing the knob/lever? If it doesn't have the mechanics behind the knob, ordering a knob won't do you much good.

Not 100% sure about this particular machine and tension unit, but there's usually a relatively big pin that pushes from the back of the machine, through the machine and onto a plate on the back of the tension unit. That plate in turn pushes on a teeny-tiny pin that finally pushes one of the tension discs away from the other. It's a surprisingly complex mechanism. I had one machine where the teeny-tiny pin was missing. That pin is so tiny most people wouldn't even notice it falling out if they disassembled the tension unit. I made a replacement pin by cutting a very thin nail to the right length and smoothing the ends on sandpaper. You can buy a complete tension unit for under $20 on ebay. Keep that in mind as you run up hours trying to fix yours.

$900 will be a good price if it's complete and works well. Plan to invest in a servo motor. I've never met a clutch motor I liked. These machines are still made today in Germany today by a company called - are you ready? - "SL-Spezialnaehmaschinenbau Limbach GmbH & Co. KG" Their website has some Adler 30-10 detailed specs, parts drawings etc. Prepare to get a second mortgage on your house if you need to order anything from them. People have lamented in the past that Adler patcher parts are almost ten times the price of their Singer equivalents. A nice Adler 30-10 manual is available on manualslib.com I'm not really an expert in these machines but I came close to driving halfway across the continent once to pick one up.

I've used a hairdryer on several occasions to warm things up enough to get stuck parts going, either due to expanding metal creating a tiny bit of wiggle room, or softening matter that was causing the friction/sticking. It may help a little in your case if the oil alone isn't doing the trick. Tim Allen's character from Home Improvement would take a blow torch to the hook and melt that nylon thread right out of it - and then buy a new hook or machine.

I made a table attachment for the normal/short version of the Durkopp Adler 205-370. I'd like to make longer variants to fit the long-arm versions of that class of machines. I hoping I can crowd-source some measurements. If you are lucky enough to have one of these (and have a few moments to spare) could you please take a measurement for me? Measurements from clones are welcome, too (Cowboy, HIGHLEAD, etc. ) I need to know the distance between the mounting hole in the arm near the body and the two mounting holes on top of the mounting platform near the needle. I took two pictures that hopefully explain what I'm looking for. I put an M5 screw in the threaded hole on top of the arm close to the body and made it stick up 20mm, roughly level with the mounting platform: ... and measured from the center of that bolt to the line I drew centered between the two mounting holes. In my case that measurement is 253mm (25.3cm): If you're able and motivated to take the same measurement on a long-arm version of the 205 and post the results here (or PM me), I'd greatly appreciate it.

Hmmm, the German and English versions of the Adler 169 service manuals don't match. I always look at the German version by default, and it is the correct one in this case. The English version is really for the Singer 169, which has a different hook design (more like the Adler 69). On the plus side, the Adler 169 German/English USER manual, my timing video (just the hook area), and the parts list diagram, and your machine all match up nicely. Ignore the Adler 169 English Service manual - it's just the wrong one. If your timing slips easily, it may be because the cone gear that sits on the horizontal hook driving shaft is not tight enough (the one I loosen/tighten in the video). Or it is because something binds strongly or hitting something, causing things to shift. Simply tightening down that gear may not solve the root cause. Something slipping is a better failure mode than something breaking. Raise the pressure foot with manual flip lever, remove thread&material and remove driving belt. Your machine should now turn over very smoothly and quite easily by hand. If there are any hard spots or resistance during the turn, something is binding/rubbing/hitting and you have to find out where.

Post some pictures of your machine, including close-ups of the hook area and the nameplate. We need to know what you actually have to figure out what might be wrong. Use the "More Reply Options" button in the lower right to see file upload options.

Wiz, you're right, trying to sew thin leather with a 441 machine is just going to be frustrating. ELeBlanc, you should probably try and trade this machine in for a nice small cylinder arm machine which will be much better suited to what you're trying to do. I have a pristine Adler 69 that I'm not using much - just sayin'!

Just try it out if you have the machine. Use the smallest needle the machine takes without major reconfiguration and the leather you're trying to sew. Not a whole lot can go terribly wrong at the low end of the spectrum. If you're sewing two layers of thin-ish 3oz leathers together, you're already looking at 6oz total weight/thickness. If you're just trying to put a stitch line on a single layer of 3oz leather, you can use your LU-563 or any domestic sewing machine instead. For long term use on leathers around 6oz or less, you'll be happier with an Adler 69/169/269 or Pfaff 335 class machine.

MJ Foley has this tap kit with 20 popular sewing machine tap sizes in their catalog: They also sell all of the above and theses additional tap sizes individually: No dies, sorry. They also have a box of "popular" Union Special screws, but I don't know what thread sizes those part numbers correspond to:

Being in denial about the impending sewing machine addiction is very common among members who are new to this forum.

I'd make a day trip to pick up this Phoenix area Craigslist gem: http://phoenix.craigslist.org/nph/for/5322409183.html For $75 bucks you seriously can't go wrong. The table alone is worth that. And the machine may just do all the sewing you need even though it is not a walking foot.

Not sure where you're located - it makes a difference. Having something local to look at and touch is worth something. Not having seen pictures of the machine it's hard to judge, but the prices seem on the high end. For around $900 that Singer 211 had better be sparkling clean and sewing flawlessly! You can buy a brand new Consew 206RB5 head for $1035. Speed reducer pulleys are VERY nice to have with any motor if your goal is to sew slow. Expect to pay just as much for a speed reducer as a servo motor (not exactly sure why that is, actually.)

Now I had to look up what a GB2972 is. I'll add it on my list of machines to avoid. Personally I find it really useful when people provide some basic context by filling out their profile or have a signature that gives some indication about location and business affiliations. Everything is "local" on the internet, but the physical world doesn't work that way. Many answers and questions depend on where somebody is located on planet earth. Some (not all) misunderstandings and ungrateful reactions due to unmet expectations can be avoided with basic context. There's also a thin line between helping and enabling, at times. Some threads apparently start with a thought process like "Golly, it'll take me five minutes to look this up myself. Let me just post a quick question on the forum instead and have ten people spend half an hour each researching and composing elaborate responses." It takes considerable effort to suppress a snarky "Let me google that for you" or "Let me look that up for you in the manual I gave you yesterday". Sewing machines also should come with warning labels like "Do not loosen that screw unless you know what it does" and "Do not take it apart unless you know how to put it back together" Ahhh, all better now. A little rant once in a while feels good.

The feed dog can be adjusted sideways to center it with the opening in the (fixed-in-place) throat plate. If the feed dog is not centered it may hit the edge of the throat plate opening and push up on the throat plate. You can also adjust how high the feed dog moves during the stitch cycle. If it is set too high, it will touch the underside of the throat plate and bind (the AZ adjustment screw in Figure 22)

For sale is a Chandler branded Adler 67-GK373. This machine was made in Germany by Kochs Adler and imported to the US by Chandler. Everything is made by Adler except the Chandler stickers. I made a few YouTube videos with this machine. One of the videos is a hook timing video which shows the condition of the machine well: This is an unrestored original in excellent condition. I installed a new throat plate and feed dog. The presser feet and accessories shown in this picture are included as well: I drove all the way from Detroit to Cincinnati to pick this baby up and it pains me a little to put her up for sale. Alas, I have too many machines with nearly identical capabilities and I need to let a few go. The price is $850 for the head. I can box her up for shipping if you like, but you'll have to pay for shipping. I'd package her really well with foam pads and a box-within-a-box. The shipping weight is just under 70 lbs and the box has outer dimensions of about 13"x20"x24". If you're within 100 miles of Detroit, we can arrange pickup or delivery, or meet somewhere in the middle. If you're near the Detroit area, you have the option of buying this machine in a complete, ready-to-sew setup with a very nice table and servo motor for $975.

I've accumulated too many sewing machines with nearly identical capabilities and it's time to thin the herd. This machine sews like a champ and she has starred in several YouTube videos I've made over time. The hook timing video is perhaps the best one to watch to get an idea of the the condition she's in: This video shows how thick stack of veg tan leather she can sew: I've installed a new Hirose hook as well as a new feed dog, throat plate, and presser feet. I've gone through the adjustments as shown in the video. She received a careful repaint job a few months ago, so she looks all pretty in hammered silver. I tapped holes on the back to install a swing-down guide and I'll include a new KG-867 guide. The price is $550 for the head. I can box her up for shipping if you like, but you'll have to pay for shipping. I'd package her really well with foam pads and a box-within-a-box. The shipping weight is just under 70 lbs and the box has outer dimensions of about 13"x20"x24". If you're within 100 miles of Detroit, we can arrange pickup or delivery, or meet somewhere in the middle.

Information on the old 335's is sparse. It may require a little trial and error. Move the presser bar/clamp a little and see if it improves the situation or make it worse. Adjust until you like it or go back to the original setting. The only thing I could find is this technician instructions page: You can download the PDF versions of the Pfaff 335 (old casting) Instruction Book and the Pfaff technician instructions from my web site.

The Singer 211G156 Service manual would be a good place to start figuring out how to take things apart and put them back together. Often the presser bar/rod/shaft is held in place by a clamping block, which allows adjusting the presser bar height (or removal of the bar/rod/shaft). The Singer 211G156 Parts Manual will tell you which part numbers to look for. The presser bar is part # 208566 , which is available and cheap in case you need to replace it.

Anything with a handwheel that large is worth saving from the heap.The rest is just details and I'm certainly looking forward to reports and pictures as the restoration story unfolds.

Start cheap and learn until you know what you're doing and really need/want. If the Juki makes a nice stitch on what you want to sew, go for it - buy a nice servo motor with the money you save. Later, if you decide you need a walking foot after all, just buy a head. You already have a nice table and servo motor. The Juki head by itself is worth perhaps $100-$200. You can swap heads in and out of a suitable industry standard table in just a few minutes. I bought a Sunstar machine similar to your Juki just for the table, actually. That nice table now holds my Chandler/Adler 67. I put the Sunstar head in the crappy table with clutch motor the Adler originally came in and sold it cheap. I now have a nice table/motor/adler setup.

Some leather types are tanned to hold impressions and wet-molded shapes for making relief designs using stamps etc. (veg tan leather is usually in this category.) Other leather types are tanned more spongy/springy to resist impressions and bounce right back to the original surface shape (e.g. for sofas and car interiors). Some leathers fall between these extremes. The problem arises when folks use leather designed to hold impressions with machines that make unwanted impressions. Likewise, trying to make a relief design on a leather that doesn't hold an impression is a futile effort.

You can also watch my timing video for the Adler 67 to get a rough idea of what's involved. Despite the 67 being a flatbed machine with a small bobbin, you'll recognize many details on your Adler 169. The hook design (and timing adjustment) is nearly identical to your Adler 169. Your hook timing spec calls for a needle rise of 2mm (instead of the 1.75mm in the video). Between the video and manual, you should get there most of the way.

The Adler 169 Service manual would be a good starting point. I'd compare the machine to the target settings to see which ones are off the mark and need adjustment. Then you follow the manual to make those adjustments.

I made this little platform to allow using the Durkopp Adler 205-370 in Needle+Upper feed mode rather than compound feed. Turning off (removing) the bottom feed dog can help minimize marks on the bottom of the workpiece for certain sewing operations. The idea popped into my head while contemplating a topic in another thread about working with veg tan and prefinished leather. Here are some pictures of the platform: