Adler 205-64

[cdthayer]

Well, a lot has happened to my Adler 205-64 since my last post in February. I have it sewing today! Not bad stitches starting out, and it never missed a one! That lets me know that the hook is good (and without being able to try it before spending some major bucks, I was worried), so I’m a happy camper.

Here’s what is going on with my handcranked Adler 205-64 so far:

1. I went with Trox’s suggestion on using a suicide knob clamped onto the rim of the balance wheel. I think it will clamp tight enough to work without damaging the wheel or the knob. I’ll have to see how it holds up to heavy sewing. I put a piece of vinyl in the clamp to help with grip. It will need a counter-balance on the opposite side of the wheel to offset the weight of the knob (it’s a heavy one) so that the needle doesn’t come down when I’m not ready. I’m thinking rolls of pennies in thin rubber tubing tucked into the curve of the rim, but I’ll have to experiment.

2. Since I don’t have a suitable stand, I mounted the machine on the top of a fairly large toolbox. Without a motor to counter-balance the weight of the machine, I’m going to use tools in a cabinet instead. The toolbox has wheels under it too, so that’s important when you’re getting stove-up like I am. I’m always having to move my machines around in my small quarters. The two wheels that are pivot castors have locks on them, but I didn’t need them for my test-sewing.

3. I opted to forgo the replacement parts to the automatic tension release for the time being (it’s a money thing). I’ll just release the tension manually for now using a thumb and finger to spread the tension disks.

4. For winding bobbins manually, I’m using a handcrank bobbin winder that I came up with to use for my treadle Singer 31-15. I think it’s a bobbin winder for use in some other fiber craft, but I don’t know which one. I snagged it off of that auction site. A piece of rubber vacuum hose on the unused small spindle (I don’t have any bobbins with that small of a center hole), along with the thickness of the thread laced through the center of the bobbin when I slide it on, makes a nice tight connection to turn the bobbin. I provide tension with my left hand as well as guide the thread wraps while I crank with my right hand. I could have done the first bobbin a little neater, but I was anxious and in a hurry.

5. My test-sew indicates that my top tension is too loose. The knot is just barely inside of the bottom side of the leather in my sample. I could catch the knot with my fingernail every once in a while along the stitchline, so I’ll be working on getting the tensions set better.

I think that most of my sewing will be making repairs in woven materials (mostly webbing), so before I go too far with tension settings, I’ll get a different test-sew sample. I’m using poly 277 in both top and bottom right now, and I’ve heard that some Adler 205 machines work better with a size smaller thread in the bobbin, so I’ll have to experiment. For repair work, I’d like to use the same size top and bottom. Here are photos of the orphaned Adler 205-64 as it looks now.

CD in Oklahoma

[cdthayer]

It hand cranks through 1/2” of webbing easy enough, if you start with the needle up and keep just a little momentum going. I’ll miss having both hands on the webbing straps, but it is workable.

CD in Oklahoma

[Constabulary]

I’ll miss having both hands on the webbing straps, but it is workable.

CD in Oklahoma

Thats why I´d prefer a motor driven machine. Isn't a heavy treadle the better idea for a such a heavy machine?

BTW - is that 1.5" wide military webbing?

I´m looking for such webbing Any chance that you have a source for surplus military cotton webbing of difference Classes + Types??

[Darren Brosowski]

I have seen 45k hand cranks going through 10mm of leather with no problem but my preference is treadle. The old Singer 7 class treadle will easily run any 205 or 441 style machine at low, medium or high speed without having to make any adjustments

Thats why I´d prefer a motor driven machine. Isn't a heavy treadle the better idea for a such a heavy machine?

BTW - is that 1.5" wide military webbing?

I´m looking for such webbing Any chance that you have a source for surplus military cotton webbing of difference Classes + Types??

[Constabulary]

No doubt it will go through the 10mm material. I also have hand cranked machines when I was testing them (Adler 4, 104, Class III...) but as CD said, I always felt that my right hand is missing to guide the material properly. But everyone has it´s preferences.

[cdthayer]

Treadle operation would be better than handcrank. Electric would be better yet. If I ever come up with a treadle for it, that would be great. I have power stands and motors that I could cobble together for a home-built electric one. So far, I haven’t done anything to this head that can’t be undone to convert to either treadle or electric later. The problem with either stand will be floor space to put it. Mounting it on an existing toolbox made it possible to have it in my crowded space. And since it will no doubt see little use, I can’t justify the cost or the need of a more convenient power system.

Yes, that’s 1.5” wide webbing, and it appears to be military surplus. I just have the one roll of it (maybe 12” diameter) that I bought at a garage sale a year ago. It was in at least two pieces on the roll. I cut my sample at a splice made with metal staples. I haven’t unrolled the rest of it to see what it looks like. I don’t have access to any other supply of it.

Thanks to everyone for helping get this old beast up and running. Although it’s not complete yet, it’s to where I can use it.

CD in Oklahoma

[Constabulary]

Hey CD - any chance that you are interested in a machine mounted bobbin winder for you 205? I remember I still have one from a Singer 45K. It has a rubber wheel that runs on the hand wheel. I don´t want money but maybe we can talk about your 1.5" wide webbing roll. I know shipping will not be cheap but maybe we can figure out a deal. I will post a picture tomorrow.

It looks like this one - I think it could work with your 205...

[cdthayer]

I appreciate the offer, but I’m good on bobbin winders. I can wind bobbins on my handcrank winder, and I have the original surface-mount bobbin winder as well. I’m in the process of getting it limbered back up now.

CD in Oklahoma

[Constabulary]

I just thought because of the hand crank as there is no belt but no problem at all, it was just an idea

[cdthayer]

You’re correct, there will be no belt, but the surface-mount BW can be converted to a mini handcrank winder by drilling one hole in the fiber wheel and mounting a rotating knob like Jim Morse is doing over on YouTube (Search: Morse Industrial Hand Crank Sewing Machine). It may look dinky and flakey to some, but it gets a bobbin wound without electricity.

I know you want the military webbing, and I can appreciate that with what you do, but I’m going to hang onto the little bit that I have. I have WWII parachute guys in my town, so the vintage WWII stuff is popular here too.

BTW: What is your first name please? And may I call you by your first name instead of “Constabulary”?

CD in Oklahoma

[cdthayer]

I’ve been tinkering with the upper tension and pre-tension assemblies today. Using 4 layers of woven upholstery fabric, my knot was just barely showing on the bottom. (I ripped all of the stitches out of the 1.5” belting that I used for photos earlier. That army green belting showed the stitches a lot better than the multi-colored woven fabric that I’m making stitch after stitch into now.)

Back during clean-up, I took both of the upper tensions completely apart and cleaned the rust and debris out of them. The bobbin tension canister looked clean enough that I didn’t take it apart. So now I’m bringing the top tension up to match the bottom tension.

Is there any rule-of-thumb for coordinating the tension and pre-tension assemblies on the Adler 205-64? I’m not sure that I understand all I know about pre-tensioners, which is very little.

And another question, what feet designed for other machines will fit the 205-64? I want to try grinding one down for closer work.

CD in Oklahoma

Edited August 2, 2014 by cdthayer

[cdthayer]

This afternoon I fiddled with my Adler 205-64 Handcrank. A friend of mine broke his big tow strap close to one end, so I sewed a new eye into the end to rebuild it. It’s the first real “project” with the Adler, and I’m pleased with how it sews. I really do need to get to work on rigging up a foot-operated presser foot lift though. I found a peddle for it, but need to locate a piece of pipe to run across under the toolbox to mount it on. It’s something that’s really needed to operate the machine for any length of time. The eye splice took quite a bit of sewing, and my arm was starting to feel the strain by the time I was finished. One full revolution per stitch makes for a lot of cranking, but the steering wheel spinner knob works just fine. I think it will be just fine for these kinds of repairs, but wouldn’t be adequate for any type of production with the machine.

CD in Oklahoma

[cdthayer]

I got a foot presser bar lift rigged up on my Adler 205-64 that I have mounted on a 3-drawer, 1-compartment Popular Mechanics toolbox that I happened to have had available. I think the foot lift is going to work fine, but I haven’t sewn anything with it yet. I sewed some on a dog leash the other day, and sure wished then that I’d have gotten a foot lift on it sooner. The only lift that I had was by hand on the foot lift actuator lever. I haven’t replaced the hand lift lever parts that are damaged yet, and I have to release the tension manually each time. I power the machine by hand from a seated position using a steering wheel spinner knob on the balance wheel.

I drilled a hole with a step drill bit in each side of the cabinet, as close to the bottom of the lowest compartment as I could get. Then I put 1/2” black rigid pipe across through the holes, added an old Singer foot plate that I had, a shim on either side of the plate, and put hose clamps on both ends of the pipe to keep it from walking out one end or the other. I used 1/8” plastic-coated cable and cable clamps to attach the peddle to the foot lift actuator arm. The cable doesn’t rub the edge of the cabinet very hard, and it’s rubbing on wood, so if I get a groove worn I’ll put some kind of metal shim under the cable to protect it.

The whole set-up looks Redneck, but it’s just perfect for a small repair shop like mine. Cost of the new parts was about $15.

CD in Oklahoma

Edited October 9, 2014 by cdthayer

[silverbullet]

I would bet you could mount a servo motor on the side of the tool box by the hand wheel , most are reverse able now. Or hang it just off the back of the box . Come on use you abilities the ingenuity of the rest shows up. Think up a way , where's ther a will there's a way . The servos can be had for under $150. On ebay delivered. Gary

[VanRhodes]

You could easily fit one of the JK-type servo motors on that stand, behind the machine head and have it power the macine. The 1hp version is real small and neat.

[cdthayer]

The spinner knob for hand cranking is working alright for now. A servo motor may be in the future, but I still need to get about $300 worth of parts to restore the hand presser bar lift and the automatic tension release. I’ll probably concentrate on getting those parts before a motor. I’ve only used the machine a couple of times in the past couple of months, and one of those was a free gratis job, so it may take me a while to make enough money for just the parts.

In the mean time, it’s one of the quietest-running machines that I have.....

CD in Oklahoma

[cdthayer]

I’m still looking for feedback on narrower feet for this Adler 205-64. Something that I can sew up next to the 90-degree area of a wet-molded leather case. Was there a narrow foot or anything similar to zipper feet (left & right) ever made for the Adler 205-64 jump-foot machine? If so, do they require matching feed dogs? Are there any other brand of feet that are compatible?

CD in Oklahoma

[silverbullet]

Hey CD , try calling Bob Kovar , he's on this site and his banners on top, The cowboy is his big machine and his dad and him have forgot more about industrial sewing machines then most will ever know. I bet he may have the foot you need or he can point you to one . Great to deal with and very helpful . Gary aka silverbullet

[Wizcrafts]

Weaver Leather might be able to make a customized foot from an old one, if they have one laying around. Otherwise, finding an affordable Adler foot to modify may be an elusive task. Otherwise, seek out any Adler dealers, both in North America and Europe. College Sewing in the UK has lots of obscure parts. Our members down under may have a foot for that model. Ask Darren Brosowski, in Australia

[cdthayer]

Thanks silverbullet and Wizcrafts for your help.

Evidently, there aren’t many surplus feet lying around unused, and that’s kind of what I suspected. I’ll just keep going with the one that I have, and maybe bump this thread up again in a few months to see if anything has become available. My machine is working great for nearly all of the repair tasks that I’ve needed it for, with the exception of getting in really close in an area or two.

CD in Oklahoma