Uwe

Looks like a design based on the Singer Class 7 type machine. There are many present day variations, some of them listed in this Kaplan Sewing web page.

No worries, Eric. You're right, my needle guard didn't do much in the thread loop video (I was concentrating on that damn loop, haha.) I fine-tuned my needle guard and hook distance the way you recommended - I think. This is a close as I can get, I hope you approve:

Congratulations! You'll have five or six sewing machines like the rest of us before too long - it's an addiction that has not yet been recognized by the WHO.

I was experimenting with my newly adjusted Consew 225 and my macro photography gear to make a little video snippet about what's going on under the needle plate with a properly timed hook. In case you've ever wondered what they mean when they say "the hook catches the loop" or "Schleifenhub":

The drilling of the mounting holes was not so hard, actually, just a little nerve wracking because it was the first time I drilled into a machine. I triple checked the locations and depth to make sure I'm not drilling into anything I shouldn't. The cast iron on my machine was surprisingly soft in terms of drilling. Use a vacuum to suck up the metal shavings - you don't want to get those into the gears and bearings. Placing a magnet right next to the drill area might work, too. I had placed the machine on its front on a work surface and used shims to level the area to be drilled. Then I used a hand drill with a bubble level on the back so I can drill as vertical and straight as possible. For tapping I used two identical tap bits, but on one I had the tip purposely broken off. This allows you to get the threads as deep as possible into the holes after starting the threads with the normal bit. There are special blind pocket tap bits available, but they're expensive and a broken-off bit worked just fine for me. The picture shows the tap bit modification. (The picture is from a stripped-thread fix on my Adler 67 - your drill and tap size for swing guide installation may be different.) Get your swing guide and bracket before you start drilling. The KB-09 extension bracket uses a smaller screw size than the swing guide itself. Make sure you drill and tap for the exact screws you will use. For sourcing the swing guide, they're available from various vendors online, usually with a "fits most machines" type statement. Very few vendors carry the adapter brackets to actually make the guides fit a particular machine. I always get a few extras when I order stuff from Kwok Hing for my machines. I put the extras in my Ebay store to help finance my sewing machine habit. I have guides and brackets.

After fretting that no owner manual exists online for the old Pfaff 335 I realized that there wasn't one available online for my own Durkopp Adler 205-370, either. So I scanned in my printed Durkopp Adler 204/205-370 Owner Manual and uploaded it here: http://docs.uwe.net/Durkopp Adler Owner Manual 204-370 205-370.pdf I had also found a Durkopp Adler 205-370 Service Manual in PDF format some time ago. I uploaded it here: http://docs.uwe.net/Durkopp Adler Service Manual 204-370 205-370.pdf Both manuals have five language sections: German, English, Spanish , French, Italian There are reference photos are at the end of each manual. I also uploaded both PDFs to http://www.ManualsLib.com, so they may appear there too.

You may be out of luck finding a manual for the old Pfaff 335 online other than some subclass parts lists. Your best bet may be to start with a manual for the Pfaff 145 (or the Pfaff 145 Parts Manual). The 145 was essentially the flatbed versions of the old 335. Everything above the bed should be the same, including threading diagram, stitch length regulator, needle system info, etc. For what's going on inside the cylinder arm, look at the manuals for the new Pfaff 335 version (see manual links at bottom of the linked page) and hope that very little has changed in the cylinder arm area. As for dating a Pfaff machine, I came across this attached chart some time ago: Figuring out how to post a picture in this forum may be harder than getting your Pfaff 335 to work properly.

To answer your question about whether swing down guides are more versatile, the short answer is yes. Bed mounted guides are often one-trick ponies - they're mostly one-size roller guides or straight edge guides. Rarely can you easily switch between the two modes. Bed mounted guides are useless when you need to follow an edge of a small top piece in the middle of a larger bottom panel (like attaching a smaller pocket in the middle of a larger bag front or back panel.) The bottom panel will simply cover the bed area and you can't use a guide from below. A guide that descends from above can deal with that scenario quite easily. The swing down guides are more of a system with many attachments available for straight edge, various roller sizes, zipper guides, center seam guides, etc. I'm attaching a screenshot of a guide page at Kwok Hing that illustrates the various attachments available for the swing-down guides. So if it is versatility you need the swing down guides may well be worth the investment.

I caught the tinkering bug yet again and made a cover plate mounted edge guide from parts I have sitting around from my various Kwok Hing swing-down edge guides. The KG-AA straight edge guide and the KB-09 bracket lend themselves quite nicely to making a custom edge guide. Cover plates are available on Ebay for about $9 (and I'm sure our resident vendors stock them as well), and the two guide parts run about $25 by themselves (I have some of these). So for about $35 in materials and twenty minutes of work, you have something in the middle between the cheap, cool magnet guides and the elaborate, more expensive swing down guides. Drilling and tapping holes into a cheap and easy-to-replace cover plate is considerably less stressful than drilling into your precious machine. I drilled two holes into the thick part of the cover plate and tapped 10-32 threads. The screws are ground off level with the bottom of the plate, so the whole affair slides in and out of place as usual, making for an easy five second swap between regular cover plate and a cover plate with mounted edge guide. Hopefully the pictures help tell the story.

The bed mounted guides will be cheaper, partly because they're fairly simple designs and easy to make. The swing down guides are more complex to make and cost more but they're also more versatile. It's matter of personal preference often. Swing-down guides will require drilling and tapping holes on a 111W155 class machine - not something everybody is comfortable with. I had installed a swing-down guide on my Consew 225, which is nearly identical to a 111W155. I did not use an extension bracket like Constabulary. My guide sits closer to the presser feet, but the extension bracket (KB09) could be easily added for increased adjustment range. I had posted some installation pics in another thread before, but here they are again:

I've made another how-to-time-your-hook video. This one stars my Consew 225, which represents a class of machines that has a lot of surviving members in the wild. I don't even want to admit how much time I spent on this, haha. It may be a while before I do another one. Here's the video for your entertainment and education:

The Chandler 406rb1 and the Consew 206rb5 appear to be identical except for label sticker and price, according to CowboyBob's website pages. Both have surprisingly wide range for material/needle/thread handling specs and that makes them versatile in that sense. Many machines have a much narrower design specification range. CowboyBob carries both machines and may be able to shed some light on the difference beyond labels and suitability for your particular purpose. Generally I'd say a cylinder arm machine is inherently more versatile than a flat bed because it's easy to turn a cylinder arm machine into a flatbed, but turning a flatbed into a cylinder arm is going to involve a plasma cutter.

Thanks guys! I do hereby promise to make a hook timing video for any serviceable industrial sewing machine donation that shows up on my doorstep, haha! Eric, my needle and bar had rotated slightly when I was adjusting its height. After fixing the needle rotation, the hook no longer touched the needle at all. Alas I didn't notice the rotation and slight touch until I was editing the video footage on the big monitor. At that point I was out of energy to re-shoot that segment and just made a little text annotation instead. I'll step up my precision a notch in the next hook replacement/timing video for my Consew 225.

There's no mistaking that pop! You're good to go.

I see. I was just going by the drawing and deducing how it should work. I was wondering why they didn't just offset the two ball orbits slightly and it turns out they did! So at this point I don't know why the check holes don't line up when you have the clutch engaged. Perhaps they actually do and we're not seeing it. From the drawing it looks like the check pin would never go all the way through the clutch. Perhaps the check pin would just go a little deeper if the clutch was engaged versus disengaged. Watch the check hole as you turn the clutch and see if anything else goes by as you turn especially just before it pops into place or right as you disengage it. Somebody who has an actual 267 in front of them will be in a better position to figure that detail out (that person may be you!) It may not matter all that much. If the clutch is engaged, it's engaged. As you said you know it's engaged because you turn the clutch until it REALLY pops into place. We may be overanalyzing the check hole thing. The check hole may only be of use to check if the clutch is engaged without having to actually disengage the clutch first and then re-engage it. Disengaging and then re-engaging may be the better check. I would feel comfortable at this point to time the hook and sew. You're in a MUCH better state now than you were when the clutch was frozen. After doing the timing on my machine it seems more likely that the large gear inside the gearbox under the hook slipped on the shaft a little rather than the set screw at the clutch end of the shaft. You may have to adjust the two clutch spring screws if the clutch lets go too easily as you sew.

Nice job of getting the clutch to work - yay! Obi-Wan Kenobi would say "This is not the hole you're looking for." The hole that you see at the bottom of the viewing/check hole in your video is not the check hole, but rather the hole the little ball pops into when the clutch engages. You're turning the clutch exactly 90˚ from the "pop" to showing up in the viewing hole. The main difference between your clutch and mine is that mine has only one ball and matching hole - it will engage only once every full rotation (360˚). When mine pops into place it's in the right position. Your clutch has two opposing balls and it will engage every half turn (180˚), or twice every full turn. Only one of the those two pops per full 360˚ turn is the correct one. So the clutch engages either in the correct position or exactly 180˚ off. The point of the viewing/check hole is to make sure it is in the "correct" 180˚ position. Keep turning the wheel until the clutch engages and the check holes line up. You were exactly 180˚ off in your video. All is well, really, just give it another half turn.

I made a how-to video for timing the hook on my Chandler/Adler 67-GK373. The original post is deep inside another thread, and since the video may be of general interest, I decided to make a new top level topic for it. The instructions and details are taken from the service manual for the Adler 67. Hook timing steps for Adler 167 and Adler 267 class machines are nearly identical. Here's the video:

So I made one since my last post, just because I had to get it out of my system and because I have issues with procrastinating on work that actually pays my bills. Time: 2 hours. Materials: $8. The problem is that I value my time and to sell this would cost you the same as a commercial swing down guide. So just to offer one potential home-made solution, here are some pictures of mine:

If you want it cheap and time is not important, just make one yourself from a scratch piece of aluminum. Cut the shape you need out with a hack saw, drill two mounting holes and then bend it in the right place. $5 in materials and perhaps a day fussing with it. Make a bunch more and sell them on ebay. Or start with something that's close, like a suitable angle bracket with a slot and modify it as needed. If you google "slotted L bracket" images, you'll see candidates like window blind mounting hardware etc. Go wander the aisles of your local hardware or hobby store and look for suitable brackets to modify. It'll take some tinkering, but it seems doable.

I finished my how-to video on timing the hook on my Adler 67. I believe the only real difference to the 267 hook timing procedure is that the 267 has a different safety clutch and that the needle bar rise should be 1.8mm instead of 1.75mm (good luck dialing in that extra .05mm!) I could not move my hook shaft bearing, the screws are totally seized up. Moving the hook shaft bearing to adjust distance from hook to the needle is not often necessary. I have a feeling mine has never been changed since the machine left the factory. In any case, here's the video - enjoy! Nice bike seat design, by the way! If you're gonna sew that thick top vegtan piece of leather to the quilted bottom part, that may be stretching the specs of the 267 a little. I'd be reaching for my Adler 205 to sew that piece. All the more reason to have a working safety clutch! I'll have to try that special penetrating oil thing Tejas mentioned, since I could not loosen those two hook shaft bearing screws on my machine no matter what I tried.

The 0216 00052 screws were the right ones to loosen in order to turn the safety clutch more easily. Since that didn't help, I'm thinking the two clutch part are somewhat rusted or "glued" together. The two set screws deep inside those threaded holes are what holds the clutch to the shaft. They are probably tightened pretty well. I have a strong feeling these set/clamp screws rotated/slipped on the shaft when the clutch didn't release. This is not a good thing in the long run as it will damage the shaft by creating circular grooves around the shaft. The point of the clutch is to keep this from happening. Here's what I would do next: take the machine out of the table and put it on a piece of carpet so the hand wheel stick up in the air like this: Then get some WD40 or similar rusted-bolt-loosener liquid and put some along the edge where the clutch cylinder meets the clutch "cup" all the way around. Use the little tube that attaches to the spray can so you don't get the stuff all over the place including the timing belt. Let gravity and capillary action pull the liquid into the space between the two clutch parts and loosen the rust/corrosion. Let it sit for a few hours or a day. Then use the hairdryer to warm things up and hopefully the clutch will move. If it moves, add some oil and move it to loosen things up. Ideally, you take the clutch out and apart and clean it properly, but that's a major undertaking. If the clutch moves you're good for now. You can disassemble the thing after your motor show. If it doesn't move, pack the machine in a box and ship it to me for proper disposal :-) I looked at my Adler 67 and it is pretty much identical in the hook gear area. The hook timing adjustment process is the nearly the same as for the 267. I'm gonna make a little how-to-time-your-hook video for my 67. You should be able to follow it closely to time your 267. It's not hard to do from what I've seen and done so far. Don't try to get the timing belt off the toothed wheel. It's somewhat fragile, quite expensive and REAlLY labor intensive to replace. Re/Moving the timing belt is NOT part of the hook timing procedure. While you're at the hardware store to get your WD-40, also get a few tools like some super short and some very skinny screw drivers, and a set of hex wrenches with T-Handles for your clutch set screws. I have screwdrivers and hex wrenches that I only use for my sewing machines and nothing else. Having the proper tool makes all the difference with some of these screws. If you strip that clutch-to-shaft set screw deep inside that threaded hole you're, well, screwed.

I found a nice Adler 267 Parts manual for your machine that shows how the safety clutch pieces fit together in great detail. So the main two clutch parts are the toothed outer "cup" (267150100) and the solid cylindrical part (0268150260) that fits inside the cup and is supposed to be able to rotate freely inside that cup. The only intended connections between the two are the little spring loaded balls. Perhaps the toothed outer cup and cylinder are ceased/glued together on their overlapping surface by some varnish left over from evaporated old oil. That edge looks little brown and wet in your picture, almost like it was rusted a little. Perhaps some moisture wicked into the crevice some time ago. I've had two sewing machines I worked on that had totally ceased together in certain parts due to oil that had evaporated into glue. The "high tech" solution both times was taking a hair dryer and warming up the parts well and gently applying twisting force until the varnish softened and the parts started moving again. Once they start moving, you can get some cleaning oil and it will absorb or dissolve/expel the varnish. So try using a hair dryer and warm up the whole clutch assembly - it may work and can't do much harm. Try not to get oil on the toothed timing belt - it's not supposed to be slipping and sliding. That screw and collar you pictured looks like it is not part of the clutch assembly but rather holds the shaft steady against the ball bearing. If the clutch is ceased together your timing may have slipped because the two set screws (9205102498) that hold the clutch to the hook drive shaft twisted a little. Often there's a groove in the shaft that one of the set screws goes into, but I'm not sure if your shaft has a groove. Without a groove the set screws can twist on the shaft given enough force. The set screws look like they have a flat tip, which indicates no groove (usually the set screws for a grove have a pointy tip, the ones that go on top of the shaft have a flat tip). If the clutch is truly and permanently ceased together you have two options: 1. Ignore the clutch and treat it like a solid, permanent connection between your timing belt and the hook drive shaft (Since you didn't know you had a clutch in the first place you may not miss it all that much.) Just go through the hook timing steps as if the clutch was in its proper engaged position (which it is as it appears). 2. Take a photo of the machine with some dried fish and a case of Tor's favorite beer or wine and try to lure him to your office.

The Singer 111G manual on page 12 has the same steps for changing stitch length as all the other 111 type machines I've come across - pressing a button in the machine bed and turning the hand wheel. Are you saying your machine does not have the button in the bed you press to change stitch length? It's seems very inconvenient having to get out the screw driver every time you need to change stitch length. The basic task is to shift/slide the two halves of the connector dovetail groove to change the offset between the two. A few photos for context and detail might really help in figuring this out.

If you're lucky enough to live in a metropolitan area with industrial sewing machine dealers, it's worthwhile checking them out. There's value in being able to see a machine in person and trying it out before you buy it. The Dallas area has Sunny Sewing and Dema Sewing Automation for example. No harm in spending an afternoon checking them out and see if you get good vibes from them. Even if you end up buying remotely from the LW vendors, it's good to have local resource for repairs and parts. I don't know much about the Dallas area companies, but they seem to have a reasonable web presence and an interesting selection of new and used industrial sewing machines.

I still think the safety clutch may be involved. Perhaps the safety clutch does not move easily like it should after the machines sitting for a long time. I checked the safety clutch operation on my Chandler/Adler 67. The safety clutch design on the 67 is different from that on the 267, but the concept is the same. Because I'm in major procrastination mode, I just finished making a little video that shows how my safety clutch works and how to verify hook timing on my machine: You should be able to disengage and re-engage the clutch similar to what I did. Hold the hook drive shaft carefully with a wrench (don't be scratching up that pristine piece of machinery!) and turn the hand wheel. It's didn't take all that much force on mine to pop the little ball in and out of its seat. The safety clutch is supposed to let go before something gets bent or damaged. If you can't move the safety clutch at all, it may have slipped and/or bound up for some reason. If the safety clutch is indeed engaged and working properly then you need to go through the hook timing procedure. That still wouldn't explain how you can slip/jump the timing this bad while sewing - the only way to do that is if the hook drive gears skipped a few teeth while sewing and that seems very unlikely.