shoepatcher

Beautiful machine. I have three Durkopp shoe patchers. 2- 17 class, 1- 18 class. The scroll and decals on yours is fabulous. glenn

Constabulary, Thanks. I will add it to the list. Any manuals on this machine? glenn

Constabulary, GordonD shoepatcher is a patent elastic model. He did a superb job of restoring it. Looks like museum quality. I hope mine looks like that when it is done. My machine is built in the same style as that one only bigger. I have pics of the head and stand but have been unable to up load them yet. It is old and rusty but I will begin taking more pics of it later this weekend and hope to post early next week. glenn

Oakley, I heard back from Luke at MJ Foley. He can get you the screw here in the States for $26.45US plus shipping. best I can do. glenn

Here is the start of the list of shoe patcher manufacturers and models Adler 30-1, 30-5,30-7, 30-15, 30-10, 30-50, 30-70 plus the early Kochs Adler Durkopp 17 class, 18 class Singer U.F. A, 29-1 thru 29-5, 29k1-33, 53-56, 57, 58, 60, 62, 29K 70, 71-73, 29U71, 29U171A-173A, 29KSV6, 29KSV19, 29D60 Dandy Champion- yes, they made one Consew 29, 29B, 29L, 29BL Bradbury A-1 Repairer Claes # 8346/10 # 8346/20 #8346/30 Pfaff Metro Spezial 8346/10 and 20 and 30, 9346/10 and 20 and 30 Colibri Politype Patent Elastic Anchor name any more you can think of.

I will begin to post pictures soon. glenn

I wanted to let all the readers on the Forum in on a machine that I recently got from Singermania in Australia. I began to purchase this machine from Steve in April, 2014. I bought it on time and finished paying for it in October. He crated it up and I had it shipped to New York via Ocean Freighter. From there by freight truck to Detroit and then delivered to my place of employment 10 days. It was not cheap to get it here. Why would I spend money on this particular shoe patcher you might ask? Very simply, this is a monster compared to any shoe patcher of today. The arm length is 19.5". The shuttle is 3 times larger than a big bobbin Singer or Adler and at least 2.5 times bigger than a #30 large bobbin Claes. The lift on the foot is just under 1". The machine has to be gone over. Neither Steve nor I know who built it at this point. We don't even know what needle system it takes. One of the cast iron supports got broken in shipment so I have to get that fixed. In essence, it is a cross between a saddle machine and a shoepatcher. Steve sent me info on another one of these machines that is in a display at a castle in France. Other that, we only know about the two machines. I will be starting to restore it probably late this fall. I will get pics of the bobbins, shuttle , stand and head posted on this site soon. I am looking for any info that anyone might have on this beast, i.e manufacturer, manual, etc. It looks a lot like the early shoe patchers like Claes& Fenje, Bradbury, patent Elastic, etc. Finally, I have begun to compile a list of the different shoe patcher machines that were built. If you have any pictures of little know ones, please post the pics. It will be fun to see how many companies made this type of machine over the last 150 plus years. glenn

I wanted to let all the readers on the Forum in on a machine that I recently got from Singermania in Australia. I began to purchase this machine from Steve in April, 2014. I bought it on time and finished paying for it in October. He crated it up and I had it shipped to New York via Ocean Freighter. From there by freight truck to Detroit and then delivered to my place of employment 10 days. It was not cheap to get it here. Why would I spend money on this particular shoe patcher you might ask? Very simply, this is a monster compared to any shoe patcher of today. The arm length is 19.5". The shuttle is 3 times larger than a big bobbin Singer or Adler and at least 2.5 times bigger than a #30 large bobbin Claes. The lift on the foot is just under 1". The machine has to be gone over. Neither Steve nor I know who built it at this point. We don't even know what needle system it takes. One of the cast iron supports got broken in shipment so I have to get that fixed. In essence, it is a cross between a saddle machine and a shoepatcher. Steve sent me info on another one of these machines that is in a display at a castle in France. Other that, we only know about the two machines. I will be starting to restore it probably late this fall. I will get pics of the bobbins, shuttle , stand and head posted on this site soon. I am looking for any info that anyone might have on this beast, i.e manufacturer, manual, etc. It looks a lot like the early shoe patchers like Claes& Fenje, Bradbury, patent Elastic, etc. Finally, I have begun to compile a list of the different shoe patcher machines that were built. If you have any pictures of little know ones, please post the pics. It will be fun to see how many companies made this type of machine over the last 150 plus years. glenn

Looking at the stand, I believe it is a very early Adler stand. Hell, that is probably worth more than the head. It would be fun to rebuild it but if you have to order parts, whew! I have Adler 30-1 and 7 parts and they are not cheap. A genuine 30-1 or 10 foot today from Adler is $145.00US when you can buy a generic Singer foot part #82007 for under $20.00. Adler patchers are nice but not at $500.00Euros for this one. glenn

Constabulary, It is an Adler but looking at the shape of it, $500Euros is nuts. If it was in good shape, yeah but that one, I would not give over $100Euros for it and then I am figuring it's a parts machine. glenn

Steve, Any of the later Singer machines manufactured with the letter A in the model number was manufactured by Adler. I have a Singer 144A203. It is the same as the Adler 220-50-73 machine I have. It's the same machine other than the nameplate. Parts list is an Adler part list. glenn

It is a special thread. I was trying to find a clone of the 1245 and hopefully be able to get you a clone part. Ferdco sold a clone of the 1245Pfaff. The unfortunately are out of business. If you tried Pfaff, Metro Spezial and Mauser Spezial machines, they re all now made in China. I believe someone out there has some of these parts. I would email MJ Foley in Detroit. Ask for Luke. They were the largest Pfaff dealer in the US at one time. I deal with Luke all the time. They are now the largest Juki dealer in the US. glenn

Take the end cover over first. Timed much the same as a Singer 111W155. Take needle to Bottom Dead Center (BDC). This you can see by the eccentric arm at the end of the machine. Continue to raise needle by means of the balance wheel and by hand until it has risen about 3/32" from BDC. End of hook should be in center of scarf of needle about 1/8" above eye of needle. That will normally tell you if hook is early or late. Adjustments to the hook can be made by loosening the set screws on the vertical gear that drives the hook. This is assuming the needle bar is at the right height. It was nice back in the early days when needle bars had timing marks on them. glenn

gunk, The H2 is for a lighter material. I believe the lift is the same as the H3 but the hole in the feed dog and inside foot was probably smaller to accommodate the smaller needle and lighter thread. The Stitch length should be a maximum of 6mm. How heavy of leather do you want to sew? This 545 is a B class machine meaning the balance wheel may be smaller than on a C or D class. If the hole in the feed dog is too small, it can be enlarged to accommodate a 160 needle t0 180 needle. Needle system would either be 134-35 or a 190. Send us pics of it if you can. glenn

Where you are located would probably determine who you should buy from. Just my 2 cents. glenn

VanRhodes, I have personally had both machines. I had 5 Adler 267-373 machines in Canada at a plant in the late 1980s'. I still have a honey colored 1245. Sewn on both machines extensively. The Pfaff 1245 was smother, would sew heavier and has the best bobbin winder on the marker. Adler bobbin winders on their 267, 268, 269 machines suck! I was always fixing them in Canada. If you want a double needle, look for a used 1246 machine. I believe Miami sewing has a few of them. These were the German machines and are very good. glenn

Ryanmotley, We have 2 of the Adler 269-373 machines in our plant. They are set up with #138 top and bottom and they handle 8 oz. leather with no problem as well as thin materials. They can sew #207 thread. Remember, the 269-373 is the cylinder arm version of the 267-373. Great machine. They are no longer made having been replaced by the 869. Finding used ones can be a problem. I think Miami Sewing in Florida carries some in stock. Juki machine is also good. It would be a the LS-341 or the replacement which is the LS-1341. Both good machines as well. Consew 227 is in the same class as the Adler or Juki although I think the Juki and Adler may sew a little bit heavier. glenn

VanRhodes, The machine I would recommend to anyone that was trying to get a 267-373 would be the Pfaff 1245 which is also the Metro Spezial 1245 and the Mauser Special 1245. All three are now made in the same ultra modern plant in China. Chinese made yes, but plant was set up by Germans, workers were trained by Germans and taught to make it like they did in Germany plus most of the machinery in the plant is German made. Still a pretty good machine. glenn

As Wiz pointed out, Weaver Leather has the really only remaining stock on Genuine DA 205-370's. They have both the 12" and 16" machines as well as 12" used heads available for rebuilding. I know, because they are rebuilding one of our 205-370's for my place of work as we speak. There may be a few dealers in the US or Canada that have one or 2 left in stock but that is not many. I think Miami Sewing and Michael Simard's in Canada still has a few. Because the 969 was delayed for almost 14 months, this problem with the discontinuation of the 205-370 should have happened a year ago. Weaver is currently testing one of the first 969 available and I think they are bringing in a few ECO models for the showroom. Prices for the new 969 ECO which has air lift and a 220 volt direct drive motor standard will be $8,500.00. The other version with toys is over $11,500.00. NOT CHEAP!!!. My advise to anyone looking an original 205-370 is do not wait. They are going fast. Of all the clone 205-370's that I have seen, I think the Cowboy one that Bob Kovar sells is the best. Nice machines. You may want to consider that when looking for a 205. P M me if anyone has further questions. glenn

That machine is probably a little out of time to begin with. and I would also check the needle placement in the feed dog. glenn

davehorseblanket, Off the to[p of my head, I would say a long flatbed like a Singer 144 class in a 20". I have an Adler 205-370 with all the toys, a 335 Pfaff, Adler 767-573 with all the toys, Juki 1508, Pfaff 1295 with toys and a few other machines. After 40+ years of sewing, I found that you must buy a machine based on what you want to sew. No one machine will do everything. That can't be over emphasized. Most of the people on this board who have sewn for any length of time will back me up on that fact. Sewing machines overlap somewhat in what they can sew but all have their limitations. If I was looking for a machine to sew what you do, I would first want to know the following: maximum thicknesses of the item, what it is made out of, i.e. felt, leather etc., how big the items are ( horse blankest can get decent size and hard to fit under a normal size arm), how big a stitch and the type of thread I want to sew with. How much do I want to spend or can afford to spend on a machine? The more info you can provide, the better the chances of getting a machine fit to your specific needs. Example: I once had someone bring me a horse pad made out of 1+" of felt. Could not sew it even it with the 205, just too thick. Had to hand sew it. In this case, there are very few machines capable of sewing it. Weaver Leather makes blanket pads out of very thick felt. They had 2 Adler 205 stretched to 26" or 30" to sew these and that machine is absolutely maxed out sewing it. One reason they have been waiting 13 months for the new 969. I talk to a least a couple of people a month who call me wanting to know what sewing machine they should be looking for. I have them answer all the questions in the above paragraph including budget and then make a recommendation. I hate to see someone buy a machine that will not work for them. Been there, done that! Feel free to email me if I can help you with any additional info. Bob Kovar is a great person since he sells machines and is very knowledgeable on them. I rebuild patchers so I know their limitations and what you are facing. glenn

Tramps, Depending on the thread, a #22 needle is about the smallest needle that will handle #138 thread. We have a 767 Adler here at the plant I work at and we can get #138 to sew on a #22 needle but not always. Depends on the spool of nylon thread. glenn

Alexitbe, I found the best lubricate for those areas was STP. It is thicker than oil and thinner than grease. Really works well. The problem with grease is that it will hold dirt and other things that you do not want in the gears and roller cam tracks like metal shavings or broken needles in the gears. glenn

Dwight, Only use pre-lubed nylon thread on the machine as it was not built to use waxed thread. #138 is about the limit you can sew on the is old girl. glenn