Apostolos

Hi, I'm pretty sure the knife in the top picture is a plough gauge blade. The notch under the handle is there to slot into the guide. Is there no makers mark on it at all? Someone with more expertise on old tools may chime in to correct me.

Thanks Glenn, I searched bobbin case opener and came up with an older thread about the part on an Adler 67. Uwe links a video there where he explains its function and how to adjust it. It seems mine was a little off, so there was no gap for the thread to pass freely through where the tab met the throat plate. I'll see how much of a difference this will make with the stitching. I couldn't manage to get it to sew the thicker pieces for the bag handle , but I suspect it is also an issue of the leather being stiffer, as it sewed the same thickness (6mm)of soft chrome tan with no problem. I've got some #160 needles on the way, so hopefully they might be the way to go when sewing thicker projects. Apostolos

Thanks Glenn, I'll try and get some #23 needles to give them a go. If you mean the sliding plate that hides the hook assembly, it's not catching there.

Thanks Wizcrafts, it seems like that's going to be the job for this evening. Regarding top tension, is there any difference between the three tensioning dials or do they simply add up tension on the thread? Thanks for all the suggestions, this place is gold.

You're right, I should play around with settings some more to see how it behaves. I was hoping someone might have some experience with this model and could confirm whether or not the thread and leather thickness are within its capabilities. On the site linked it does list main applications for the thread, which include belts and small leather goods. The dealer asked me what I would be sewing with the machine and suggested the particular thread, he doesn't supply it himself, so I doubt he benefits from getting me to use it.

Maybe you're right jimi, I might give it a try with #30 top and bottom. I'll have a search for the thread you're referring to DrmCa The thread I'm using is Onyx by Amann group (also sell serabond/serafil), it was suggested to me by the dealer who sold me the machine. https://www.amann.com/products/product/onyx/

Hi all, Longtime lurker, I have benefited a lot from the knowledge on here, it is time to ask for help on a specific matter. I recently got a Durkopp Adler 269-373 from, after many years of hand sewing. It is set up with 140/22 needles and I'm using #135 thread(EU 20). The dealer advised me to use 105(30) for the bottom thread, which I did for a bit but switched to same as top as it was problematic when sewing was visible both sides. That took a little bit of tinkering with tension to get right. I am working on a tote bag design and managed to sew the side panels to the base with few issues, just a couple of stitches in the run are a little more diagonal and loose (see pic). That was on roughly 4mm total thickness, 2mm suede and 2mm (probably)combination tan , medium temper. I want to sew a part of the handle that is going to be about 6mm thick, 2 pieces of 3mm of the combination tan leather, so I did some test run on scrap pieces. It's all over the place, bottom thread is pulling the top thread though and tinkering with the tension dial hasn't made any difference, even tried loosening the spring on the bobbin case, to no avail. From what I understand this machine shouldn't have any issues sewing with this weight of thread, or these thicknesses of leather, I'm pretty sure the needles are right for the thread size, not sure what's going wrong.. Also, when backstitching I often get a big mess of thread at the bottom (see pics) and occasionally when I start a stitch run it messes up on the first two stitches and if I continue it knocks the timing out so I need to block the hook assembly and operate the handwheel in reverse until it clicks into place. Thanks in advance for any advice, Apostolos