Uwe

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!

It looks great but I'm concerned about the load bearing ability of that design. I'm thinking you'll need a cross brace at the very least, better yet two - and even then you may be pushing it. As it is, any sideways motion of the heavy top is going to get amplified into a VERY large twisting motion at the bottom center T-joints. Don't underestimate the power of levers and you have a formidable lever that has a 30" vertical lever twisting a pipe (joint) that is perhaps an inch thick, giving you a roughly 30x torque multiplier - it may very well twist the pipe itself if you bump into it hard enough with that much weight on top. Adding a few T connector vertically will improve the situation a great deal.

Now I'm curious what a European "tablespoon" table looks like. I've always felt a little jealous of the nicely engineered tables with fold-away options that are available to european buyers. Even the DA promo video for the flatbed 967 shows a super nice, thick plywood table the 0:22 mark in the video. I took apart and re-finished my Adler 205 stand that was made by Weaver some twenty years ago. While the welded metal parts are super strong and confidence inducing, the tabletop itself was an unworthy laminated particle board affair that I replaced with a butcher block piece of wood. Thanks for posting the little trip report and the photo - it does give a good sense of scale! I do hope that the Weaver people will be up to the task of supporting this piece of modern machinery, although I don't mentally put the Amish together with modern, computer controlled high-tech equipment. I'm surprised they allow electricity. But having somewhat local (i.e. "on this continent") support is important for this type machine. Overseas phone support can only do so much and it's not like you can just quickly mail this behemoth to a service center to have it looked at.

I'd buy the original part. It's not that expensive and time is money, too. You probably already spent hours researching the screw online and trying different things. You'll spend more hours trying to make the other part work drilling and tapping an otherwise perfectly good piece of machinery. Unless you put no value on your own time, you won't save any money, really. But that's just my opinion.

Please post a trip report (and a selfie with the machine of course) if you go to Weaver and actually see and touch one of these mystical machines. I've contemplated making the 3.5 hour trip myself just to see it in person, but current weather conditions make that impractical. I'm ready for a spring road trip to Mt. Hope.

I recently installed an edge guide on my Pfaff 335. I bought the guide through eBay from Nick-O Sew for around $90. The edge guide looks to be a Kwokhing and is actually a very nicely done guide. It also needed a bracket to attach to the Pfaff 335. Alas, I cannot bring myself to drill holes in these machines. I figured out a solution using existing holes and making a little custom bracket from a scrap piece of aluminum. It worked out quite nicely, fits under the cover panels and does not interfere with with anything. I'm attaching some pictures that hopefully show how I did this.

I knew I'd figure it out myself as soon as I asked. It's apparently an "American Straight Needle Stitcher" and may or may not be made by Landis. It's worth somewhere between $500 and $1,500 based on for sale postings I came across. It weighs around 500 lbs and will *not* find it's way into my basement. There a nice tutorial by boot maker Lisa Sorrell on youtube on how to operate the machine: If anybody is interested, here's the CL posting that is asking $950 for the machine near Toledo, Ohio: http://toledo.craigslist.org/for/4871315670.html

Welcome and thanks for sharing the price quote!

This machine came up for sale locally. I shouldn't even be looking, but I'm intrigued. Does anyone recognize it and have some info or resources on it? The person selling it knows *nothing* and I'm certainly no expert on these machines. What's a reasonable value for a machine like this assuming it's in good working order?

Thanks for the kind words, Gregg! I'm not really familiar with Efka models, but I had come across some other servo motors that are designed with separate motor, controller box, and pedal actuator that connect via wires. The Goldstar GBSM 550s is one example. This is where I got the idea to separate the pieces, but I have no experience with that brand of motors.

So I've been working on getting my newly acquired Adler 205-370 set up the way I like it. I'm not fond of clutch motors and got an Enduro Elite SM1050-2PF motor and refinished/modified the stand. The problem was the new motor design did not allow me using the existing pedal linkages and speed reducer. After some testing I decided to move the optical control unit from the motor box to a remote enclosure to avoid constructing some weird linkage with too many joints. On this motor there's a five-wire cable that connects the optical input to the control board. I made an extension by soldering an extension in the middle. I have surely voided any warranty! The end result turned out quite clean and functional and with very precise control due to direct actuation of the control lever via the pedal without any relay linkages. The trick was to get the pedal axis perfectly aligned with the axis of the optical control lever, so that they rotate in perfect unison. In any case, I thought I'd share my solution in the hopes that somebody else might find it useful. I'm attaching some pictures that hopefully tell the story better than my words. In case you're wondering, those nice wooden pedals started their life as Ikea cutting boards, mounted to the base via sturdy door hinges.

I got the same Enduro Pro SM645-2P motor for my Paff 335, also from Universal Sewing. I also modified the optical blade to get a better gradual throttle response and I rather like the motor. However, I could not get the needle positioning to work properly. I went over the setup procedure several times thinking I did something wrong, but the needle would always take two steps before stopping in the down position instead of stopping at the down position immediately following my letting go of the pedal. Heeling the pedal advanced the needle in the correct up position. After fussing with it for a while unsuccessfully, I called Universal Sewing and they connected me to an Enduro tech in under a minute (yay!) He basically said "Yeah it's not working, we know, sorry about that. The 110V versions over-rotate, the 220V version works properly." For a resolution I asked to refund the difference between the NP version and the regular version ($30), which he readily agreed to and Universal Sewing posted a refund. I just got the more powerful 220V version of the Enduro Motor (SM10502PF) for my Adler 205 and I can confirm that the needle positioning system works properly on that motor. Alas, I found I don't really like using the NP system since I sew very slow and I prefer the motor just stop instantly when I let go of the pedal. I now have two needle position sensors I'm not using, just in case any body is interested :-)

It turns out that Pfaff is one of the few manufacturers that include CAD drawing of the table top cutouts in their manuals, at least for the modern machines. After some searching I had found dimensioned CAD drawings for the tabletop cutouts as part of Pfaff manuals, both for my Pfaff 335 and also Pfaff 1245. I took the screen shot of a section of the PDF drawing, imported it into Adobe Illustrator, scaled it to 1:1 life size and then printed it out on a 11x17 piece of paper to mark the cutouts for my testing work table. Worked out quite nicely. My Pfaff 335 test stand is quite ugly (with pretty details), but it's functional and the holes are in the right place. I'll post a picture once I figure out how to do that in this forum. The Pfaff 1245 appears to be a standard flatbed design as far as tabletop cutout dimensions are concerned. The drawings use the euro style mount hinges. I'll probably use the 1245 drawing to create a CNC file for carving the cutout for my Consew 225 (and future upgrades). The PDF manual file for the Pfaff 1245 can be downloaded here: http://www.pfaff-industrial.com/pfaff/downloads/technicaldoc/new/ba_1245_1246_05-12_e just in case anybody else finds it useful. The dimensioned drawings for the tabletop cutouts are on page 19/20. The tedious part will be to recreate the cutout design in CAD program to drive the CNC machine. I'll post the CAD file and CNC file if it all works out.

I finally came across a website (http://www.np-z.de/969-190382.html) that has a price stated. Apparently it starts around 10,000 Euro in Germany, which is just shy of $12K at current, lowest-in-nine-years, exchange rates. But 19% of that price is VAT tax, so it's practically a bargain! Now I just have to check if it'll fit in the overhead bin on my plane, haha.

Here we are in 2015 and apparently it's still a secret how much these machines cost. I'm going to Germany in March. Maybe I'll take a road trip to the DA headquarters and sit in the lobby until they tell me.

For buying supplies and leather, Tandy is a likely if not exactly cheap choice. I just recently got started as well and noticed early on that anything marketed for leather craft will carry a premium price. The same thing marketed for a different segment may cost much less. Some basic supplies like needles, thread, and small leather pieces will be available from general craft stores like Michaels. For many tools, you don't need a "leather" version to get started. Any utility knife will cut leather, you don't really need the $90 rounded edge version at first. A cheap mat cutter cuts perfectly nice, straight pieces of leather, I found. Many tools are optional or simply a convenience. Make your own tool combos if you can. I use a cheap metal locking clamp and two pieces of wood blocks with felt to hold small pieces of leather when stitching small pieces - no need for the $80 stitching pony yet. For large pieces, my knees come in really handy until I get a cramp, haha. Cheap tool stores like Harbor Freight (there's one in Arlington) have specialty knifes, arbor presses, and things like that. Youtube is vital resource for me. Leather craft gods like Ian Atkins and others happily share their skills in instructional videos - their quite addictive. I did buy one book for figuring out out how to construct bags and specifically gussets (Leatherworking Handbook: A Practical Illustrated Sourcebook of Techniques and Projects, $16 on amazon.com) For buying larger pieces of leather relatively cheap, I've used Maverick Leather (http://www.maverickleathercompany.com/). They often have nice bargains on leather, including the famous Horween stuff. Just work around or embrace the flaws (character!) that often come with second run leathers. Having some basic skills in a vector drawing is handy for making your own, precise patterns. I make patterns that have the stitching holes placed and spaced precisely where I want them for repeatable stitching. It takes a little longer to mark the stitching holes but is more predictable for me than using the little wheel tool for marking stich locations. Get your hands on some leather and experiment - enjoy!

LOVE that dark butcher block top and metal base you made! I'm contemplating using the ShopBot CNC router I have access to at my local TechShop to create the cutout in a new table top for my flatbed machine, a Consew 225. If it works out, I might make a few extra pretty table tops for the local Detroit market. It seems to me the cutout is fairly standardized for this class of machines. I'm also sure I'm not the first one to think of using a CNC router. The commercially available tops are clearly routed by CNC machines. Is anybody aware of available CAD files for CNC routing or do people re-invent the cutout wheel, so to speak, when they make their own table? I'd like to experiment making the CNC cutout with some cheap(er) plywood before I carve up my precious butcher block tops.

I wanted to take a moment to introduce myself here since I signed up a few weeks ago and spend a fair bit of time reading other member's posts. I'm located in Garden City, Michigan, just outside of Detroit. I'm a German import, originally from southern Germany by Lake Constance (Bodensee) near the swiss border. I'm mainly interested in making bags and accessories, although I should probably consider doing adult leather gear for many of my friends. By training and education I'm a computer programmer and engineer, and a self-taught photographer. I do mostly hand stitched items right now, but I'm looking into sewing machines for future work. I have a Consew 225, and I'm tinkering with a new Pfaff 335 right now. I set up an etsy shop with my first few creations here: https://www.etsy.com/shop/RawCargo Happy New Year! Uwe (pronounced OO-veh)

I thought I'd post an update to this older thread, since I recently made a little video when I was selling one of my sewing machines. I had just gotten an new iPhone 6 and wanted to try out close-up video shooting and editing capabilities of that phone. You can see the video in all its 1080 HD glory here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dg12IXhcqkU The video was filmed and edited entirely on my iPhone 6 using the built in software that comes with iOS 8. The superimposed text elements were added in the youtube annotation editor. Other elements of this little production were seriously low-tech, though. I used scotch tape dispenser as a stand for my phone. I think it's important to lock in focus and exposure for these kinds of close-up shots, otherwise the exposure and focus will change constantly as you move in front of the camera. On my phone, you can touch the screen to lock focus on a specific area and adjust exposure for the duration of that particular video snippet. I hope this helps.