leerling

The picturs look ok to me. Are they taken as the needle is lifted 2 mm from the deepest point ?

134 is not the same needle system as 134-35

I have mailed with Sieck. They are located in Bayreuth (Germany) but there outside stock seems to be 700 km south from Bayreuth. About 1400km from where I live. So looking in real life at the machine is not a option for me. And in the same mail they write (sorry we had to recalculate the price.)

I tryed without succes to find a respectable Juki dealer in a range of 200km from where I live.

The DA969 can be used with needles 120 to 300. In my opinion a machines optimal performance will be somewhere in the middle. Hence around needle 200-250 and 3/4 to 1 inch thickness. And that is my intended use. I think the Cowboy 4500 has on paper compatible specs. But for example looking at the complex tension setup of the DA969 it would be imaginable that it is has less problems with left twisted threads. Overall I like to have a machine that does what I want it to do and not have to put-up a fight.

Be aware that frequently there are DA 69 on the secondhand market in the Netherlands that have had a hard industrial live. And therefor be prepared to spend some time and money bringing the machine back to full working order. Look out for machines that have had a paint job but the worn-out parts are not replaced. I purchased mine for 700 euro and spend 500 euro in replacing parts. Exclusive my labor.

The 69 feed dog only moves forward backward. Except a very rear subclass 69. I suspect the 269 feed dog moves elliptical. I don’t have a 269.

I’m a sucker for things I can look at and understand. With electronics my brain stays blank when looking at it. I have no talent at all in that department.

Spare parts is a thing of concern. From where I live, at a 30 minute drive there is a large distributor with 15.000 different parts Durkopp / Pfaff in stock. Even for my 50 year old DA69 they still have spares. I have no idea were I would be able to get spare parts for a Chinese copy. Exempt from ebay and being surprised after two months what will arrive.

I have been a lurker for a time. At the moment I use two second hand Adler machine’s. A 69-373 and a 267-373. But I’m now in for a heavy class machine. Is there a justification for spending twice the amount on a Durkopp-Adler 969 Pure then a Chinese clone like a Cowboy CB4500 ? I have no experience with a Chinese clone.