alexitbe Report post Posted August 13, 2016 I am wondering if you could help me... I have found this old Kohler for sale and cannot work out what it may be capable of. The owner does not know and its too far away to pop down for a quick look. I want to be quite sure before I make the Journey. Here are a few pics... The presser foot area looks interesting.. There is a 3rd bar coming down with nothing attached... What do you think? I would like to sew up to 1/2 " of leather.... If I can find out what its a clone of, then maybe I can gain some idea of its performance.. Cheers Alex Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Ferg Report post Posted August 13, 2016 From the info I could find it is not a Clone but an original. HERMAN KOHLER. Ferg Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
alexitbe Report post Posted August 13, 2016 Hi Ferg, Thanks for your help... I thought, that even back then, it was quite common for companies to copy each other's designs... I was hoping that this was maybe a copy of a Singer or Adler... A more common company, which I could get more information about than Kohler... Anyway, thanks for taking a look Cheers Alex Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Kohlrausch Report post Posted August 13, 2016 (edited) 38 minutes ago, alexitbe said: Here are a few pics... The presser foot area looks interesting.. There is a 3rd bar coming down with nothing attached... What do you think? I would like to sew up to 1/2 " of leather.... If I can find out what its a clone of, then maybe I can gain some idea of its performance.. Hi, looks similar to a Pfaff 35 to me. https://www.willhaben.at/iad/kaufen-und-verkaufen/d/pfaff-35-industrie-freiarmnaehmaschine-165994854/ You may want to contact Horst Kadenbach in Burgdorf, Germany. He has a Pfaff 35 on display in his shopwindow. The Pfaff 35 is the dual-feed-version of the Pfaff 23, if memory serves. The design of the Pfaff 23 has been - er - inspired by the Singer 17. All bigger sewingmachine manufacturers cloned the Singer 17 (rightstanding) and Singer 18 (leftstanding) sewing machines. These are light duty leathermachines. While the needlebar clamp is much more solid than the clamp in honesewingmachines the length of the needle is the same, thereby preventing the machine from sewing your desired thickness. Your are live in Germany, IIRC. There is a Necchi for sale in northern Germany. The Necchi is the Italian version of the Singer 45 and should max out at 12.5 to 14 mm depending on the presserfoot. Tweaking it to the max it might take needlesystem 794 and reach presserfootlift 21 mm. https://www.ebay-kleinanzeigen.de/s-anzeige/necchi-naehmaschine-alt-sattler/500591576-240-432 The Singer 45 also has been cloned by all major competitors, and an Adler 5 might be the more popular option in Germany. Greets Ralf C. Edited August 13, 2016 by Kohlrausch o Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Uwe Report post Posted August 14, 2016 (edited) It appears to be a Köhler 17-61 based on the info and pictures on this web page: http://www.naehmaschinenverzeichnis.de/verzeichnis-der-naehmaschinen/altenburg-köhler-textima/ The machine does have an optional walking foot mechanism that can be engaged and disengaged. That shaft across the back is there for that reason. Installing the walking foot and moving the screw indicated in the picture from the lower to upper position enables the walking foot. The walking foot installs on the front presser bar, but sits behind the needle. It's an unusual design and finding these specialty presser feet may be hard or impossible. Unless your machine comes with a box full of parts and feet, it may not be a practical candidate. Here's a picture with the optional walking foot installed: Edited August 14, 2016 by Uwe Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Constabulary Report post Posted August 14, 2016 (edited) It´s the class of an Singer 17, Pfaff 25 / 28, Adler 48 and the like but with additional top feed and a slightly larger feed dog. It will not sew 1/2 leather. it is by far not the Class of an 45K, Adler 5 / 105 or the like. I have an old sales leaflet form Adler - the Adler 48-3 seems to be more or less "the father" (or grandfather when you consider Singer 17 as the original machine) of the Koehler machine and that was used f.i. as a binding machine. See pictures + text. Edited August 14, 2016 by Constabulary Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
alexitbe Report post Posted August 14, 2016 Gentlemen, Thank you very much for your detailed and comprehensive help. I could never have found all of that out alone, with my shaky German. I will contact the guy about the Kohler, but I think it will be missing the presser feet, etc, so will probably give it a miss... I will have a look at the Nechi... I think that is closer to what I would like... What about a Claes 214?... I think I might be able to get my hands on one... However, parts seem very expensinve... Anyway, thank you All, once again... Enjoy the remains of the weekend... Alex PS I am in Mitteldeutschland Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Kohlrausch Report post Posted August 14, 2016 2 hours ago, alexitbe said: I will have a look at the Nechi... I think that is closer to what I would like... What about a Claes 214?... I think I might be able to get my hands on one... However, parts seem very expensinve... PS I am in Mitteldeutschland Moin, the Claes 214 is the East-German variant of the old Singer-45-topic. Spareparts will always be expensive, no matter the make. And although these machines look identical, there are miniture modifications to diameters of parts, threadsizes, lengths of screws etc. If a machine is complete but needs a cla; fine. Clean, lube and adjust it. If it needs parts, pass. My opinion. I have two Adler 5, even their parts aren't interchangable. Bottomfeed only, fully operational, with or without stand and motor. if you want one, shoot me a mail. I am willing to part with the older one. They are to be seen here: http://eyepix.de/Adler 5/ http://eyepix.de/Adler 5 neu/ Greets Ralf C. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
alexitbe Report post Posted August 15, 2016 Hi Ralf, Thanks for your reply... I have booked to see the Claes, but if it turns out to be a sack sewing machine with no feed, I will be in contact with you with regard to your Adler 5. Cheers Alex Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
alexitbe Report post Posted August 24, 2016 Well Gentlemen, I got myself a Claes 214 at the weekend.... It was a bit of a chore, but finally got it home... I have posted pics of it in the "leather machinary" section by mistake.... Have not yet managed to move it here... Thank you all very much for so willingly giving up some of your knowledge to help a fellow sewer. Cheers Akex Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
