Esket

Thank you so much for the help (really!) but this is where my limited knowledge, especially with this Sunstar machine, and my inability to find a full manual for my variant (KM-380BL-B) makes for a bunch of confusion on my part. I didn't have heavy leather or wood so I used a stuff piece of hard plastic that is 3/8" thick and just need to know where the adjustment points are. My confusion comes from different manuals showing different things and having no exploded diagram or anything that would help my novice brain. I took photos of my machine head from the side and back: https://imgur.com/a/jEp01eg and I'm using this parts guide (https://www.supsew.com/download/Sunstar/Sunstar%20KM-380BL,%20-380BLB.pdf) to try and find the adjustment points you listed but am coming up blank. I'm not used to a dual screw presser bar adjustment and trying to find certain parts you referenced (lifting height ratio especially) in the linked parts guide has come up blank. Other manuals for their 380B/390 have better descriptions and diagrams but different parts and adjustment points. The only manual I found showing my setup and adjustment was page 10 of this manual: https://www.manualslib.com/manual/925151/Sunstar-Km-380.html which says the projection of presser foot adjustment screw should be around 10mm and it is currently screwed down as shown here: https://imgur.com/a/xuf8oco but I've never adjusted it and it worked prior, so I don't know if I should start unscrewing that. Sorry for the reply full of confusion, I'm trying to walk the fine line between trying to repair it and not doing something that will make the timing off which will just bury me with more issues in a city where I may not be able to get assistance. I tried to request a specific repair guide or other dense manual for my specific machine but my calls and emails went unanswered in 2020/21, perhaps due to the pandemic. A huge thank you again for the help, I've read your reply multiple times and am still trying to sort it out, sorry I'm still learning this stuff and there isn't a ton of info online for cylinder arm machines, especially my specific unit.

I've used a few different oils: the big jug of Juki machine oil, unknown sewing machine oil I got from a (good) industrial machine shop, and lately AlbaChem 'Zoom Lily White' since I ran out of my last large jug. Unfortunately this Sunstar has had the same behavior with all of them. Thanks for the suggestion of heavier oil, I would have never had thought of that and will try it if just oiling the wicks leads to more leaking. Thank you, I actually ended up doing some version of this yesterday (removing the wicks at the reserve and manually oiling them) after I emptied the oil reservoir to look for cracks. I keep a pad where the oil pan is and definitely leaks through there and if I don't change the pad it'll go through the base. The vast majority of the leaking seems to be coming from the head, dropping down into the foot or roller seam guide, into the hook, then down onto the pedal which has a rag or paper towels on it to catch the oil. I seemed to have lowered some of the leaking by tying up a wick that had gotten loose and making it so another wasn't bottoming out in the bottom of the head (against the ground and wall). This sounds like the problem, thanks for the suggestion and I will be doing this going forward. Even when I fill the reservoir 25-50% (100% being at the red line) it will still leak, and the slow speed of the leaking and it fully emptying the reservoir sounds like what you're suggesting. At this point I've gone into this machine enough times to know where all of the internal oiling spots and wicks are, lol. Which leads me to my new problem: when I turn the handwheel on the Sunstar it gets stiffer when the needle is getting to it's highest position then smooths out again for the downstroke. It's a very noticeable stiffness at its highest point and while the machine was never as smooth as my Juki 1541 this is definitely a new issue. I did as much troubleshooting as I could: removed the belt and needle (setup for size 21 and that's all I use), oiled EVERYTHING as it's been sitting for a few months which smoothed it up some but didn't completely remove the stiffness, checked as many of the nuts/bolts/screws as I could and everything is tight. I've torn the machine down pretty well for someone who (barely, sorta) understands timing but because I can't find a Sunstar manual showing timing info I haven't started loosening things up. Everything is clean inside, no thread or other foreign objects in the bobbin area, can't find any metal with obvious wear marks, can't hear loud friction coming from any parts. I was going to undo a gear to figure out if it's the top or bottom half of the machine but again, can't find timing info so didn't want to add another problem to my pile. Gears are clean with no burrs or debris, for what it's worth. Timing seems good or at least isn't off in any obvious way I've found. I spent a good 6+ hours going through the machine yesterday. It doesn't make any additional noise during the stiff movement but it definitely ramps up stiffness until the needle reaches it's highest point then gets smooth again. I have not ran the servo motor yet as I'm worried about doing damage. I relocated a few months ago and both of my industrial machines rode in a U-Haul. I did all of the preparations I could find to safely transport them and they both arrived a few hundred highway miles later with no visible damage. I live in the SW (LA, now Vegas) and there is no rust on either machine. My Juki is fine and I've been using it in the meantime. Sorry for this tome of a reply and thank you to everyone who responded: I really appreciate all of the help! I'd like to learn how to do all of the work on this machine, especially now that I live in Vegas which has far fewer industrial techs than Los Angeles. I'd also like to fix it soonish as I just started streaming on Twitch where I teach people how to sew/pattern softgoods (I'll eventually upload these to YouTube). It's all totally free, I'm not selling anything just trying to help people learn because there isn't a ton of info online for this stuff, and am working on a patterning course to help folks go from design to pattern to mockup to prototype. If anyone is interested it's at: https://twitch.tv/frat_house/ Photo is my streaming setup + shop manager making an appearance!

Still dealing with this issue, anyone own a Sunstar cylinder arm or work on on?

In the nylon world it can vary a lot between the different types of binding tape/grosgrain and bias tape, add to that the different stretch values and stretch direction of each fabric. This is before accounting for width, too, haha. This is why I keep it to one mil-spec binding from one manufacturer- it always handles the same and I can design for it easier knowing how it will act.

Another good place for quality nylon binding is: https://www.rockywoods.com/NARROW-GOODS/Binding-Grosgrain-Ribbon?display=table You probably will want 5038 binding tape, it's the stuff you will most commonly see on tactical gear and durable softgoods. If you have a reseller/wholesale cert and are going to go through a decent amount of binding Texcel has excellent quality and prices on binding tape and webbing. Their mil-spec binding tape is a bit over $0.16/yd on 300yd rolls, I suspect Rockywoods sources their binding tape from here as they (I'm near certain) source some of their mil-spec webbing from Texcel. I think min order from Texcel is $100 but their minimum order quantity is by the roll, rather than by the case. http://www.texcelindustries.com/

I fell down the rabbit hole after getting frustrated with binding curved pieces. I mostly do bags/backpacks and was having a hard time properly binding the foam and Cordura sandwich on the back panels. Someone on gearmaker (rip) suggested I needed to get a good binder, made for my machine and materials, and suggested three places: B&J Attachments (Montreal) http://www.bjattachments.com/ Tennessee Attachment Co http://www.tennattachment.com/ Atlanta Attachment https://www.atlatt.com/ I own two B&J's, a 1" needleplate and ¾" swing-away for my Juki 1541s and it improved binding tremendously. I live in Los Angeles and tried three local places assuming because I had a common machine with a common foot that it would be easy, especially considering how many industrial machines are in the city- I was wrong. All three stores absolutely botched the binders, they were modifying cheap Chinese clone pieces and most didn't even fit and the ones that did either didn't work well or the cut-down feet weren't sized correctly. After spending weeks spinning my wheels I realized why good binders cost more (~$175-250). When you order from the places I listed they will have you send in what materials you plan on using. It's such a huge upgrade and really alleviates a lot of the headaches. I've since acquired a cylinder arm w/ synchronized binder that makes binding even easier to but still keep the attachments for the Juki on the days I need to do two colors or different setups. I cannot stress enough how much frustration and cursing are alleviated by replacing a crap binder with one that's specifically made for your materials and machine. All three of the companies I listed make quality attachments so you have options. EDIT: An easy way to sum it up: the materials you use for binding might be totally thicker or thinner than the materials I use, same with the materials we're pushing through. No Goldilocks binder exists, so imagine how hard clean binding is to achieve when either your binding material is too tight or sliding around in the folder and the materials you're binding are either too large to fit through so they're not feeding evenly or are swimming in the open space. This is why getting a binder made to your individual specs is so crucial. More precision = cleaner stitching and a more even binding

Photos of the leak and lubrication system: https://imgur.com/a/ZIpNo72 Longtime lurker, first time poster. I purchased a new Sunstar KM-380 BL-B cylinder arm machine in January 2020. I learned about the machine on here (thanks!) and it's been great, especially for the price. Synchronized binder works well, thread tension is good, and no issues going through lots of thick nylon materials like Cordura and webbing. The issue I'm having is that is regularly leaks oil in a few places. The primary leak is at the bottom of the bobbin case onto the foot pedal, the oil usually pooling on the back wall of the head, down the swing-up roller guide and foot, and into the bottom of the bobbin cover and then slowly dripping down from the bobbin case bottom and holes at the bottom of the arm. The other leak happens in the area of the body with the upright shaft- there's an oil pan at the base but oil will pool within a few hours and also leak from the rear of the hinge and down to the bottom of the machine base. I stay on top of it but it will literally drain a full oil tank in a week or two and it doesn't matter if I'm sewing or not. I have inspected the wick sysem the best I can, noticed no cracks in the oil resevoir, moved the wicks slightly so they're away from the walls, and still have consistent leaking. I've checked the oil pan regularly while sewing and will still notice it leaking near the rear hinge bolts which leads me to believe at least some oil is going down the back wall of the body toward the base. I purchased locally here in Los Angeles and can bring it in for servicing but trying to avoid doing that for a few weeks, unfortunately right after I purchased this machine the pandemic started so that hampered things. Hoping it's an easy fix, I know some people on here are familiar with the machine and this is the best resource for cylinder arm info on the internet. Checked the lubrication system against the one in the parts manual and nothing looked off: https://www.jati.su/files/sunstar_detailing/KM-380BL_380BLB_PME.pdf My next plan was to stuff the machine with cotton fabric overnight, let it soak up any extra oil on the felt pads, and try it again. I might have over-oiled in the beginning (coming from my Juki 1541s which likes oil) but have ran the machine a bunch and let it 'dry out' a bit between oilings but never ran it on an empty resevoir out of fear of damaging the internals. I have always followed the oiling instructions from the manual. None of the manuals have troubleshooting for oil leaks and googling hasn't shown me any working solutions so far. Thanks, appreciate any help and insight!