Uwe

Very nice. I shouldn't even be looking, but I'm tempted to sell my Pfaff 335 and go all Adler in my shop.

I look forward to seeing what alternate system you come up with for lubricating this machine. I wonder if the original system was really suitable for sewing really slow, at about 1/10th the rated speed. Perhaps the lubrication system works okay for sewing leather at medium high speed like in those youtube videos where they sew sofa covers or similar things and only slow down at the seams. My leather sewing speed is 1-3 stitches per second at most, and I somewhat doubt that the spiral screw channel oil delivery system would work well at that speed even if it were working perfectly, without any corrosion.

I'm not really an expert on these machines, but the various subclasses on that model normally are just various combinations of base plate, presser feet, feed dog, etc. On some machines you can change a machine over from one subclass to another simply by swapping out certain parts. This particular one does not appear to be one of those. This document gives some details on the "normal" subclasses of the Pfaff 335 H3: https://www.universalsewing.com/images2/parts_lists/all/echbr8a0.pdf To me this machine does not look like what a stock Pfaff H3 17/1B "should" look like, so it may be a custom build for the Polish market or modified later in life for some custom application.

Sometimes machines simply get left out in the rain at some point during their storied life. Nothing like a quick downpour during a yard sale or a leaky roof in a storage unit to get water into places where it shouldn't be. I was at an estate sale recently looking at a seemingly nice Pfaff flatbed machine. When I lifted the presser foot there was a crusty, rusted outline of the foot on the denim fabric. The fabric along with the rest of the machine had gotten quite wet at some point. I took that as a bad sign and moved on.

I think my $25/gal. ZipperStop oil is the same as the AlbaChem Lily White, but I'm not positive yet. They sell the little zoom-spout bottle with definitely is identical, because it says AlbaChem right on the bottle. The Gallon size bottle get new reseller labels. There's apparently a bit of leeway in oil viscosity that will work in a machine. AlbaChem Lily White has a ISO viscosity of 22 Pfaff 335 manual specifies viscosity of 22 Durkopp Adler manuals specify viscosity of 10 Juki Defrix No. 1 has viscosity of 7.4 So the AlbaChem Lily White oil is a perfect match for my Pfaff, and apparently close enough for other manufacturers. Perhaps the lack of long term residue or nasty corrosive effects are equally if not more important than precise viscosity. I still have almost a gallon left, which seems like a lifetime supply in manual drip oiling - yay!

A disconnected oil line will create some havoc regardless of the oil used, I imagine. It would be super useful to get a list of a few "good" oils, that are still commercially available (ideally on Amazon or my local AutoZone) identified by brand and item name/number. Also, a list of (corrosive?) oils to positively avoid may be equally useful. Or will this set off a near-religious war of the oils? I've come across many references to "Lily White" oil and even ordered some from ZipperStop for my SunStar sump machine. But I've realized the term simply refers to the clear color and says very little about the chemical formulation. Is there an original "Lily White" oil by some manufacturer? Automatic transmission fluid (ATF) may be a great choice but I can't get over having everything in sight stained red. I've read blogs recommend fully synthetic 0W20 oil, but the one I bought to try looked like maple syrup in coloring. I use rather expensive Tri-Flow to manually oil my machines - it was recommended by my local sewing store. Another youtube sewing tech highly recommended Marvel Mystery oil, saying it was developed for sewing machines originally but later marketed for automotive use to actually make money. It's very confusing, what with additives, detergents, anti-foaming agents, synthetic or not. It seems we should have a sticky post with a list of definitive sewing machine oil recommendations.

Thanks for the details on the lubrication issue. I'm on vacation, so I spent way too much time reading up on the lubrication system of the 467. The service manual for the Adler 467 (available in English or German) explains how the oil lubrication is supposed to work/flow on pages 12/13. It sounds as if that pump inside the machine is there to suck the excess oil from the head back to the main sump and to the hook case. Apparently the oil is delivered to the head by way of spiral grooves on a "pump" shaft and a brass tube. The oil should be dripping from the brass tube (3) in the head when the machine is operating. The little viewing window (K) should show oil "bubbles" during operation. Its seems if the head is bone dry, there is either no oil dripping from the brass tube, or the oil is not hitting the wick when it's dripping from the brass tube. The manual talks about bending the brass tube "just so" to make it drip onto the wick and into the hole below in the return tube. I've not seen the 467 in person and was wondering if you mind confirming if that brass tube is indeed visible and dripping oil as indicated in the attached diagram from the manual. The diagram has two version of the head dripping chamber. Could you let us know which one is on Venator's machine?

Most mortals would have looked at your adjusted stitch sample and said "my work is done here." Thanks for going the extra mile. I just went to inspect the cast-off point on my Consew 225 basket now that I know what it's supposed to do, lol. It's a little sad that apparently nobody has written a comprehensive "this is how it works and this is why this detail or adjustment is important" treatise on this decades-old technology. If there is such a thing, I'd love to know about it. Most service manuals just say stuff like "loosen these screws and align these marks", but they generally don't say exactly why or how things are connected beyond the obvious. I'm glad you're chipping away at the tradition of revenue-protecting secrecy amongst many sewing machine techs and share your expertise with us.

Thank you Eric for posting these detailed problem solving steps and photos. I'm a little excited that my suspected presser foot roughness was part of the problem, but the whole set of problems was clearly much more complex than could have been debugged remotely. I'm glad you got your hands on the machine to inspect and fix it. Your posts are very educational indeed and I very much appreciate your efforts in documenting the process.

I worked on a SunStar KM-235A machine over the past week and put it up for sale on my local CraigsList (http://detroit.craigslist.org/wyn/bfs/4994972902.html). It's not really a leather sewing machine, which is why I'm not keeping it. I bought it for the table, really, but then I decided to fix her up. I made a little demo and how-to video for the machine on YouTube and I thought I'd share it here for your entertainment: https://youtu.be/roF2t16TiqQ

I posted this in the other thread, just reposting here to have it all in the same place. The service manual (http://semsi.com.mx/...00N SEM02_.pdf) talks about how to adjust forward/reverse stitch length on pages 26/27.

The service manual (http://semsi.com.mx/Manuales/JUKI/LU-1500N%20%20SEM02_.pdf) talks about how to adjust forward/reverse stitch length on pages 26/27.

Make sure you watch the guy do his work. If it'll fix your machine and make you resolve that you will never pay another tech to adjust your timing, it'll be money well spent.

I bought my Consew at a local goodwill store partially as a training machine, so that I can try things out before I work on my expensive Pfaff and Adler. Many of the machines are slight variations on each other. Edmonton may not be a hot bed of used industrial sewing machines, but Toronto should be okay. Consider getting a cheap machine just to poke at without breaking out in a sweat.

Google is your friend http://www.manualslib.com/manual/464955/Duerkopp-Adler-467.html

It's not in the tech's interest to make you feel comfy about doing it yourself. The nice thing about these machines is that they're VERY mechanical. If you're okay with a wrench on a car, you have a VERY good chance at becoming good at working on these old sewing machines. Don't make a change and floor the gas pedal, make an adjustment and very gently turn the wheel by hand. It'll be very obvious if something is way out of whack that might damage the machine. Get hold of a service manual and read it. Chances are it'll seem less problematic than you think. I just got done reading a service manual written for military training(!) for my Consew 225 to adjust my bobbin release lever and it's quite straight forward (turns out it was loose and didn't do anything at all!) It's not rocket science, but rather sewing machine science invented about 150 years ago. But it's your call, obviously. $500-$1000 sound very expensive to me for a slight timing adjustment.

I've seen a few needle/thread charts and they don't always agree. There's a number of factors that determine if a needle/thread combo will work or not. The chart at Toledo Ind. Sewing Machine's website indicates you might be okay with a 207/23 combination: http://www.tolindsewmach.com/thread-chart.html But if using a 24 needle solves the problem, you're golden! Alas, I also once had an issue with the hole in the inner sewing presser foot getting too small for a particular needle/thread combo, causing the thread to fray. Changing out the presser foot for one with a slightly bigger hole fixed that problem. Another time I had a brand new presser foot and it had some rough edges at the bottom, again causing the thread to fray and break at times. Smoothing the bottom of the presser foot with very fine sand paper solved that problem. I'd also recommend pulling the thread loose at the top tension and alternating this with pulling out the material, at the end of a seam. If you inadvertently bend the needle just a little by pulling hard, it may cause trouble. Proper spacing between needle and hook is often about the thickness of one sheet of paper, and any excessive bending of the needle will surely mess that spacing up. (Almost) Last point is to hold both loose threads firmly for the first few stitches. It makes it less likely that loose thread underneath the material will cause trouble a few stitches into the seam. Now I'll go and look up what a latch opener is and what adjustment my machine may need, haha.

Since I have an iPhone 4 and clearly too much time on my hands (or procrastinating things I should be doing instead). I made a little video snippet using my iPhone 4 and recorded a making-of for your entertainment and education, haha. You don't want to hold the phone while you sew. My high-tech setup includes scotch tape dispenser and a AAA battery to adjust the angle of the phone. Touch and hold the part of the screen you want to be in focus until the focus lock and AE lock message appears. Then start recording, then start sewing. Actually, it would be interesting to see your machine turn without a thread and without the drive belt connected. It should turn by handwheel quite easily and not snag or bind at any time during a full cycle. It's easy to miss a bind if the motor just powers past it. If you turn by hand it will be very obvious if there is resistance at some point due to parts touching or rubbing. Making-of how-to video is here: https://youtu.be/twl_V_vlq2Q iPhone 4 close-up is here: http://youtu.be/S0YaHrA0aqQ

You can download manuals and parts lists for your machine from Durkopp Adler here: http://www.duerkopp-adler.com/en/main/Support/downloads/index.html?action=search&prop0=%2Fcommons%2Fdownload%2Fpublic%2F467-180%2F&prop1=

For local repair options, check with your Central Sewing Machines Store in Edmonton. Any reputable sewing machine store will have access to repair people to fix machines. No need to move the entire table around, they just need (or rather, want) the machine head. The repair person will drop the machine head into their own table for testing and repair. Your machine may have arrived on a pallet, all assembled. Most industrial machine heads can be lifted out of the table after tilting it back and disconnecting the drive belt. The head itself will be quite heavy but manageable - no need for a truck, just a trunk. I have a handy little folding cart to move my machine heads around when needed. Your machine head will be bigger, but not dramatically. (http://www.amazon.com/Magna-Cart-Flatform-300-Capacity/dp/B002TITK8O).

For remote, internet based debugging, try find a friend with an iPhone 6 and try to take a close-up video like mine at https://youtu.be/Dg12IXhcqkU (2:40 mark) to show what's going on inside when you're stitching and the thread is breaking. A real close-up video snippet with that kind of angle, resolution, good lighting, focus (even better in super slow motion) of the thread breaking would go a long way toward figuring out what's going wrong, without schlepping the machine around. Just an idea.

Your problem may have to do with the needle as well. Your thread appears to "break" right after you reverse. I noticed that when I use leather tri-point needles, the needle will sometimes actually cut the thread in a previously stitched hole if I reverse the stitch. The leather point needle tips are like little knives and they cut leather (and thread) quite easily. Your thread may be cut instead of break when reversing, or the thread may be cut partially and then break when it's pulled tight in the upward stroke. Personally, I no longer use reverse when I stitch thick leather with a tri-point or similar knife-edged needle. I just finish the seam by hand, which is a little more manual work, but to me it looks cleaner and is less frustrating than messing up an otherwise fine seam on the second to last stitch. I'd try sewing with a different needle (regular point, not a knife-edge needle) and see if the thread still breaks upon reversing. If your thread also breaks when stitching forward into new holes, the problem is not the needle. Try to eliminate a few possible causes.

Thanks for your replies and the referral to College Sewing in the UK. I ordered a drop down guide from them. The price was reasonable and the shipping wasn't bad at around $10. Of course not even a day later I got a reply from Kwok Hing, too. I asked for a quote on a bunch of items I'm interested in and it seems I might be able to order stuff. I'll report back.

So this company named "Kwok Hing" in Hong Kong makes a bunch of really interesting sewing machine parts for two machines I own. They have a website at http://ww.kwokhing.com I've contacted them four times over the past two months through email to get pricing and ordering information, but I've yet to receive any response from them. I know that some folks on here have successfully ordered things from them. I also see parts made by them on eBay every so often. The drop down edge guide on one of my machines is made by Kwok Hing and it's really well made. I'd like to order a few more parts from them. Is there a magic word I'm supposed to use when I contact them directly? Is there a reseller I should use instead? If you've successfully ordered directly from them or know of a reseller, I'd love to hear from you. Perhaps theres a contact person who handles U.S. orders. Thanks in advance for any help you can provide.

Nicely done Tor! Interesting variation on the more common U-shaped table tops. The photo reminds me of scenes from "Dexter" (a TV series where the walls often get covered in plastic to contain blood spatter instead of paint). This solutions certainly looks like it won't fold flat when it gets bumped. Now you got me contemplating using an old cast iron base for my Pfaff 335 table. Thanks for posting this project!