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Hello, looking for a 1890 Frobana manual.Thanks for helping

Whilst this unique sewing machine is no longer in my ownership, I sold it to a budding shoe maker in 2020, I thought it might be good for posterity if I uploaded photo's of the item, the "clarified" Owners Manual I uploaded as PDF's and gave readers some background on this machine. I answered a "local ad" in a paper for a "patching sewing machine" being sold by a local cobbler who was retiring, that turned out to be a Singer 29K on OE treadle base and I bought that and enjoyed the years I had using it before I then sold it also in 2020. The cobbler asked if I would be interested in a "side sole stitcher" that he had been unable to use for some years, the long and the short of it was he gave me the "Frobana" for free! I remember the effort it took getting it home in our Citroen 2CV! The reason why the cobbler had stopped using it was years before when his "shop" was inspected by the local building inspector he condemned the machine as "far too dangerous to use", he didn't appreciate the open drive belts and jury-rigged motor! It sat in the corner unloved. What I didn't appreciate then was just how rare one of these machines was fitted to their OE pedestal base, I joked after moving it into my workshop that the metal was so thick and so unnecessarily heavy that, given the likely manufacturing date was in 1950's Germany, they must have had so much scrap metal hanging about in destroyed tank's, etc that they didn't care on the weight! I never got around to re-fixing the electric motor and instead, courtesy of that pedestal base, we found we could easily use it by hand with the side wheel. We never used it for shoe-making, no, our business was bespoke "Adult Toys" and the way this machine could easily sew together two pieces of heavy hide we used it's very limited "throat" to stitch alone the edges of the blanks . . . we even did an alternative range where, of the two blanks, one side was heavy veg-tanned hide and the other rubber sheeting from old conveyor belts. I constructed and added a plywood table and jig to the face of the sewing head to make accurate sewing easier. When it came time to move on from the Light Industrial unit we used this machine, as well as other heavy kit, needed to be sold. It was only then when I researched the "Frobana" on-line that I realised what a rare example I had been using, by then it had become very hard to buy the unique needles. One example I found on YouTube was a guy in Poland who had jury rigged his sewing head to a metal frame with a giant electric motor underneath . . it had belts thrashing away everywhere and I wondered what that "local building inspector" would say about that example! I only ever saw old photo's of maybe three other "sewing heads" mounted correctly on their "pedestal base", most examples the head was sat on a purpose made wooden box to use by hand. (*) One very useful, indeed highly valuable asset, that came with the machine was an original, though very used, Owners Manual. This was so vital in setting the sewing head up so, before it went, I scanned it for posterity. Naturally the file then became lost in the depths of my multiple HDD's and it was only at the end of 2022 that I found the file and used my knowledge of image editing to "clean up" the digital pages so that the instructions could be read. My thanks here to Northmount (MOD) for uploading those pages and, I hope, adding that link here. Thus anyone who buys one of these rarities can now figure out how they work! I do believe I can honestly say that, if you were making "hand made" shoes, this side sole stitcher would be the Master! Owners Manual https://leatherworker.net/forum/applications/core/interface/file/attachment.php?id=192129

Hello all. Short and quick question that I know won't have a short answer. I have a Gritzner sole stitching machine that works like a charm. When stitching the wet leather sole, the chrome face plate is turning my leather sole black (chrome worn off). I am wanting to rechrome the faceplate but wanted to get everybody's opinion first. Has anybody successfully had parts rechromed for sewing machines? Would it be cost effective or would the tolerances be out of wack by doing so. The reason I want to rechrome is the wonderful world of google returns nothing as far as Gritzner or Frobana new parts. If anybody has a good source for parts I would be equally interested.

I'm not sure if there is a category somewhere that you can mention items for sale, apologies if this should be somewhere else. Likewise with almost all forum members being in North America my item for sale may not be suitable? I've owned a GENUINE Frobana "bent needle stitcher", or to give it it's other typical title, "Side Sole Stitcher" on it's highly useful pedestal base since about 1994. I've never used it for shoe-making rather used it's ability to stitch two pieces of very heavy material together by sewing down the sides, eg : heavy straps or belts. It was originally fitted with it's motor but the retiring cobbler I bought it from had to remove that and the belts as the "Health and Safety Inspector" - probably a "jobs worth" as we call them - was concerned the operator would get chewed up by them as they had no guards. The cobbler was happy continuing the use the machine by hand-crank and this is where it's genuine base makes that much, much easier. Later on I sources a heavy 230 volt single phase motor with stepping pulleys and independent clutch and was only going to add this into the base . . . but we all have projects we never got around to finishing, don't we? Time has caught up with me and now I get to retire too so I've been selling off that machinery that I reckon I'll not ever use again. Just sold my Singer 136w104 Post stitcher on a lovely genuine Singer cast iron base but retro-fitted with modern motor. I have my Frobana listed on eBay (UK) if anyone is interested? Item number : 274486486197 I am able to securely pack these items and strap to a pallet so, just maybe, long distance carriage is feasible? Twelve larger pix on eBay but a smaller posted here . . any questions send away! Roger

I'need a manual for this machine. It is complete, and should sew. It remains un-identified. There is a stamping on a boss that says SWISS MADE. It has a serial number. There is an obscure stamping that reads: F-52 My big problem is thread routing. ANY HELP WOULD BE APPRECIATED, THANKS!!!!

My machine has three of these thread carriers. the inner, grooved roller is fixed, however the outside slotted shell has 2 seperate slots that can be adjusted to affect the thread path. If you study the picture you can see that where the thread exits the slot. If you look carefully at that ring at about 7:00 o'clock you can see the thread entering the other slot. Can the orientation of the slots affect the thread tension? In my minds eye if the ring was rotated counterclockwise so that the thread exited at ...say...12 o'clock instead of 3 o'clock it would be harder to pull. Am I on the right track??

hi guys, just wanted to let you know if you are looking for frobana 761 needles, they are available in size 4 and 5 in the netherlands. if you need translation help send me an PM. link provided https://www.schinsleder.nl/aflapnaald-761-fb.html

Hello, I am selling a Gritzner sole stitching machine in a good working condition. It was cleaned and oiled regularly. Pictures from the machine and stitching done with it can be seen at the following link: https://drive.google.com/open?id=1SbHjPHS4q-634VPuNwNaDd8E9KXapoFl Please let me know if you can't see the pictures. Price: 300 eur + shipping costs via transfer service (like Transfer Go, Transfer Wise, etc.) or paypal. Shipping from Romania. Weight approx.30kg Let me know if you are interested so we can find a good shipping solution. Best regards, George

Dear All, I am new to the forum and have a question that I imagine may already have been looked at by some of you. I was given a Frobana outsole stitcher in dubious shape but am keen to get it stitching. I am struggling a little to adjust the timing of the hook and am wary of getting too physical with the workings until I know which screws etc I need to deal with. Does anyone have any suggestions on this? I'm not sure of the model but it has a wooden base and no cowling over the machine....... looks like the one in this youtube post: Regards, Alex

For sale is a Frobana (Wuppertal, Germany) made Sole stitcher. I bought this machine in 2007, got the inside oiled and working again, but somehow never got around to using it much. It takes up too much space in my shop, and it really breaks my heart that this machine is not being used, so I have decided to part with it. It is working perfectly fine, and I would say the overall technical condition is good, with the look being fair. Still the original paintjob, only the wooden base looks quite a bit worse for the wear. Please judge the machine according to the pictures I have provided. I have also made a video showing the machine stitching some 13 ounce leather. Machine: Machine, as seen in pictures and video, with one new needle mounted Key to change leather thickness (if I find it) photocopy of the manual, and a large spool of linen thread - I had to use a wrong type of thread for the video and pics. I will help you get parts and needles at cost, if I can get them Asking price: 290$ plus actual shipping costs Also for sale: 7 needles for the stitcher. These are all unused, though the three on the left had some stains when I got them from lying around the shop a bit, the four on the right are like new. I would prefer to sell these along with the machine and will only sell the seperately if the machine sells first. Asking price: 20$ per needle, or 120$ for all, plus actual shipping costs, 95 if bought together with the machine. Payment up front by Paypal or bank transfer, or cash on pickup in Cologne, Germany. Pictures of machine and needles (including shots of the interior of the machine, and of the stitching): https://www.dropbox.com/sh/31lolk8vcnbfo44/AAC3OfPe8wJrv2QxgctTDqgua Video of the stitcher in action:

Hi everyone, I am a total newbie but an enthusiastic one I want to make leather shoes and I figured out in order to achieve this I need a leather stitching machine. I would like to make cup-soled (soft rubber) boots (or moccassins if you like) with a 4-5mm thick sole and leather upper. The sole is more like a crepe-sole but the edges curled up. Can anyone suggest the best machine for this intended purpose? I've been looking at a hand driven Frobana, its seems like an affordable and suitable candidate, but you tell me. I'm also wondering if there are other Frobana models or only one? Because in the forums I saw some with a channel cuter knife and others with only teeth. Or it is only a question of changing parts? Also a lot of people mentioned the size of the holes the needle makes. How big is it actually? And is it possible to feed the machine with anything else than waxed thread? Im thinking about wild colored artificial threads. Any help is greatly appreciated, Happy Holidays: Robin