Adler Class Iii - Early 1900 Leather Sewing Machine

[VanRhodes]

Very neat, well done! What kind of bobbin is it using?

[billybopp]

It's always amazing to see how sturdy-made and beautifully decorated some of these old machines are. And also how dangersous! LOL. Can you imagine any manufacturer today building a machine with so many exposed moving parts? Somebody would find a way to put a hand where it didn't belong and sue within a week of the first machine being installed. I guess the world changes.

Bill

[Constabulary]

Very neat, well done! What kind of bobbin is it using?

The system is obsolete and it is called vibrating shuttle or in German: Schwingschiffchen

However it is working very well.

It's always amazing to see how sturdy-made and beautifully decorated some of these old machines are. And also how dangersous! LOL. Can you imagine any manufacturer today building a machine with so many exposed moving parts? Somebody would find a way to put a hand where it didn't belong and sue within a week of the first machine being installed. I guess the world changes.

Bill

Yeah, back in the old days these machines really had a heart and soul I´d say. Nowadays every freakin` machine comes from China and is light grey or white painted (most of them) and from the outside you cannot even tell from which factory they come. I like these vintage machines very much and as long as there is "rusted old cast iron" out there I could not imagine buying a "modern" machine - except a 441 clone - maybe .

This has nothing to do with their quality but I just don´t like them.

Well, it just looks dangerous but I think there are still some new made machines out there with exposed moving parts. The Campbell Lockstich

[Constabulary]

Finally the Video is up - sorry about the quality I´m not a Video artist. Don´t know why it is so poor...

[VanRhodes]

Sweet! Great video! I believe youtube sometimes mess up the quality of it. Vimeo is often a better choice.

[cdthayer]

Nice old machine! I like the "Rusty Old Iron" too. What size thread were you using?

Did the manual bobbin winder come with it, or is it something you've rigged up?

CD in Oklahoma

[billybopp]

Thanks for posting both videos!

I love seeing "pure" mechanical things at work, so I'm a big fan of steam engines, big round aircraft engines and such, particularly when they have style and grace that modern machinery lacks. I have a 1940's or 1950's vintage Singer 221- that belonged to my mom and grandmother. It's a tiny little machine, but it still works and I still use it from time to time despite having a recent machine. There's just something cool about that old machine.

I'm still willing to bet the Campbell legal department makes them include a legal disclaimer sheet the size of a book .. And after watching the video I'm wiling to bet that one of the items in it is "Hearing protection MUST be worn". LOL

Bill

[Constabulary]

The Campbell is amazing! I also think one should wear ear plugs when working with it.

Aircraft engines - yeeees - I like the sound of the engines they used with the P-51 Mustang, P-38 Lightning,C-47 Dakota, B-17, B-29...

Finally I like everything that drove the Germans out of their trenches in WWII - but thats off topic.

@ CD

I used a 160 needle. Don´t know the exact thread size, it was an old spool of cotton thread with no label but I´d say it is a 207 or 138.

Thread size is still something that confuses me a bit, I always have to look at my comparison table.

The bobbin winder is the one that came with the machine - it´s a bit like the one you have on your Adler 205, right

[Constabulary]

soooooo - I´m selling it again. It was a lot of work (but it was fun too) and I like this beautyful machine very much but last weekend I have found a Singer 133K3 cylinder bed machine head for a bargain price. And since I have a space problem this nice machine has to go again. I can mount the 133K23 on the end of my long table (I had this idea anyway) and that saves me a lot of space.

So if someone is interested, I will ship worldwide as long as one is willing to pay the shipping. I would also sell just the head with accessories if one really wants it.

Edited August 26, 2014 by Constabulary

[Constabulary]

Machine is sold already but for all the "Vintage Sewing Machine Nerds" (like me) - especially for the one or two in Down Under who have some of these Adler II & III type machines I have revised / digitally improved a quite poor PDF file of an original manual as good as I was able to and put it into a new PDF file again (took me a few hours).

It is not the best quality but much better than the one I paid for and still better than having non.

So here you go (direct download link):

Manual for Adler Class II, III & Militaria Type Sewing Machines

It is in German language

[Singermania]

HI, thanks so much for the copy of the Adler manual, I've been searching for some time and have only recovered a few pages which I incorporated into my own homemade manual. I'm printing out your manual now and am thrilled to bits with it. Its really good of you to go to the trouble of sharing it with us less fortunate... If it wasn't for you and some others these manuals and information would be lost.

Thanks and regards again Steve

[Constabulary]

You are welcome. I wanted to use the machine for my self so the manual was meant for my personal use but since I have sold the machine (as mentioned above) I no longer have use for it and I don´t want to make money with manual copies. I like to share these things and I hope other will do the same for free.

Nice to have a feedback that someone is really has a use for it.