Restoration for Juki LU-562 & upgrade to LU-563 Bobbin

[Vinito]

I've been doing just a bit of preliminary digging, and to me it looks like what the bobbin situation is, is:

The hook shaft and cam are identical diameter, so that could  be extremely helpful for fitting things together without having to purchase a couple or few hundred dollars of parts. There is extra shaft length on the larger hook, but essentially that doesn't functionally make any difference and would be just a bit of extra shaft sticking out the bottom of the 562 saddle. Things are otherwise very similar.

It seems to me that the only modification necessary to make things function for the least money is that the hook/bobbin is only slightly taller on the 563 vs. the 562 parts, so one might be able to mill a tad off the top of the bushing so the 563 bobbin sets deep enough. However, a better solution would be to loosen the set screw holding that bushing in place, slip it out and turn the excess length off in a lathe. The reason is a bit esoteric, but it would probably be important to do it this way rather than shave the top of the bushing down with an end mill as was demonstrated in the bobbin conversion video by BRE. The short story is that the result will be a flat plane rather than a slight cone thus would last longer / wear much slower. If this is all a bit confusing, don't worry - I'll explain what I need to do on it in detail a little later.

I am picking up a few other parts both for comparison and also to feed my OCD which leads me to want the hook assembly conversion to be more as-designed. Honestly, I can't think of any reason why the smaller 562 parts (saddle, etc.) wouldn't last most any of us a lifetime of perfect function, so I'd say "save yer money". But another side reason for me to get these additional 563 parts is simply because out of curiosity I want to know the difference, and also to report these differences and subsequent opinions for posterity.

Also as an additional note, apparently it is necessary for proper function to upgrade the take-up lever as the 563 lever is a bit longer. I have found that this 563 take-up lever is a bit difficult to acquire for whatever reason. Maybe it's just a bad moment in time or something. But it's not exactly cheap either, so I'm going to think on other options to solve this problem. I can't think of any good reason why the 563 take-up lever needs additional arc to it such that it has. As long as it clears obstacles and the thread hole is the proper distance from the fulcrum, it should be all disco. I don't think there's going to be a way to lengthen the take up lever without welding, brazing or at least soldering. But if you can do one of those, that might be the most economical way to still end up with perfect functionality. I'm kinda just guessing on this so far though so I'll report back once I lern somethin'. If anybody knows something I'm missing, please yell it at me.

p.s. just a couple more added touches of progress:

Edited October 19, 2019 by Vinito

[Constabulary]

maybe someone with a 562 and 563 can measure the distance between thread eye on the lever tip and the "bushing" on the outside - just to get a rough idea if there really is a difference in length or if it is just the more pronounced arc.... Just an idea...

You at least need a different bobbin case opener and mill / grind down the corner of the thingy the opener is mounted to to make room for the larger hook.

Edited October 19, 2019 by Constabulary

[Vinito]

Yeah, that would be handy. There also might be a difference in angle (or coordinate delta) of the thread eye to the fulcrum/lower stem which would also be important (maybe) for clearances or timing or whatever. A bit more tricky to measure, but (obviously) could be done.

Maybe I'm missing something, but if it just had more arc and nothing else different, that would seem completely unnecessary for function.

It appears to me, at least on my parts, that the actual opener lever is no different. I've ordered a 563 opener lever and it looks to be the exact same thing, but I suppose it could be that my machine came to me with the lever replaced with the wrong one at some point.

I have noticed that the 562 opening lever crank is indeed too tight on one corner and will interfere with a 563 hook, thus will need a bit of material removed for clearance. In the parts book, there does indeed appear to have a corner milled away on the "proper" part so the larger hook will clear, but there are other subtle differences in the profile between the two parts as well so I'm not positive if there are other dimensional differences or not. Hopefully I'll verify either way on that soon too.

Edited October 19, 2019 by Vinito

[CowboyBob]

Yes,we have converted alot of these over the yrs.You need to either get the hook saddle from the 563 or mill the top of the saddle are for the hook & bobbin case opening lever to set lower since it's taller,the 562 lower bearing will work.Now is a good time to replace the upper bearing if needed they usually are worn & allow sideplay. .

Edited October 19, 2019 by CowboyBob

[JJN]

@Vinito, it makes sense that a larger hook will require a take-up arm with a longer pull to take up the slack thread once the thread passes around the bobbin. I measured my machines and the 563 take-up arm is almost 1/2 inch longer than the 562.

@CowboyBob, do you stock this part?

Here is a genuine Juki take up arm that appears to fit the LU-563.  I have bought many items from this seller with only 1 wrong part.

$52.50

Juki part # B1905-563-000

For Juki LU-1508, LU-1508N, LU-1509N, LU-1510, LU-1510-7, LU-1510N, LU-1510N-7

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Thread-Take-Up-Lever-For-Juki-LU-1508-LU-1510-Sewing-Machine-Genuine-Part/401116112683

Edited October 19, 2019 by JJN

[Vinito]

@JJN yeah I would think there's something like that going on regarding a longer take up arm. I originally ordered one of those exact arms from that seller (cutex), but they sent me a message saying they were out of stock and didn't know when they'd have them, and still didn't remove that listing either so I don't know what to think about that. I am currently waiting (for a while now) on a different supplier to either send one to me or eventually tell me the same thing I guess.

I made a bit more progress today though:

I just realized, you can't really see much of the progress. It's mostly all the stuff below that I've put back together so far, so sorry you can't see it there.

The observant will notice I didn't put the timing belt in yet but still put the bearing and hand wheel on. I am kinda mocking up the upper stuff so far, but the nice thing is that it all slips on and off nice and smoothly since it's all clean & deburred, so partial disassembly for getting back to that is pretty easy at this point. Gotta love that part.

By the way, I painted this with a spray gun and mixed in some catalyst which is the only reason it has cured and hardened well enough to handle some assembly like this. I dunno if the rest of you have used Rustoleum the past few years, but in my experience, in its unmolested state it takes days before it's even not tacky, let alone able to handle. It didn't used to be that bad, but they changed something I guess. Mixing and using spray guns is a bit of a hassle, but the results of the catalyst makes it worth it for sure.

Edited October 19, 2019 by Vinito

[JJN]

I will check with MJ Foley on Monday to see if I can get these parts from them. I have bought genuine Juki parts from them in the past. It took a while because some of them had to come from Japan, but they finally came through. Hopefully they have these parts in stock. I think the parts I need are:

B1905-563-000 thread take-up lever
B1830-563-0A0 vertical-axis sewing hook asm.
B1824-563-000 bobbin case opening lever

I may also need B1129-563-000 frame thread guide-upper, as it may work better guiding the thread with the longer take-up arm.

@Vinito, do you see any other parts needed? I think CowboyBob has a good idea to replace any worn bearings in your case since it is disassembled.

I am really liking that color!

Edited October 19, 2019 by JJN

[CowboyBob]

Ok,I just got the measurement.You need to have .100 milled off the top for clearance.

That color looks great!

[Vinito]

That's an interesting observation regarding the thread guide. That probably would never have crossed my mind. I'm gonna see how it goes with what I've got first, but good catch on you I think.

I can't think of any other parts. But I'm absolutely new to all this so I'm probably the last guy to ask anyway, unfortunately. But as far as I can tell, the other three parts is probably all you need for functional upgrade it at minimum expense. Note that this WILL require a bit of material removal for it to work. I am a machinist by trade so I have probably every tool known to man, but I'm going to see if I can think of a good way for a non-machinist to do it with less expensive tools and just some care applied.

I would agree that it's always a good idea to check out the bushings, but it might be worth actually checking them out before buying anything. You're gonna have to mill the top off the upper bushing anyway so be a shame to buy an unnecessary bushing and immediately go whittling away on it. I'm not sure yet if the saddle needs more machined away or just the bushing. In my case, for whatever reason, even though it was packed full of guck and stuffing, my bushings show no noticeable wear at all.

Are you sure it's .100" @CowboyBob? That seems excessive to me. I did a little measuring the other day and at first blush, I would have guessed it might only need .010" or so. That was all just a first glance though and it would depend on what point a guy needs to pick for a reference plane. You may very well be correct - it just hit me as maybe quite a bit more than I first thought. I do remember that I was struck thinking that the apparent scale of that big ol' bobbin was actually not a ton taller than the smaller one. It's all kinda fuzzy memory in my head now, unfortunately. I did write down my measurements, but I won't have access to them until at least Monday.

p.s. @CowboyBob thanks for the kudos on the color. It's already growing on me too!

Edited October 20, 2019 by Vinito

[CowboyBob]

You need to measure the thickness from the top of the flange of the opener cam(bottomside of the hook)to the top of the bobbincase tab,this will hit if it's not milled enough.