Quality defects of copied sewing machine parts

Using the example of a sewing foot for topstitching of closing seams

Copied wear and tear parts for industrial sewing machines often show severe quality deficits and lead to bad sewing results. We want to show such problems using the example of a presser foot:

1. Bad fastening elements lead to wrong foot position

At the copied part, the fastening screw pushes on the left side of the foot bar (see picture 1). When tightening the screw, a flat area on the foot bar will evolve from this. If the first foot was positioned incorrectly, this cannot be corrected anymore. The next foot will slide into the wrong position also which results in a continuously bad seam quality. It may be necessary to change the foot bar, which leads to additional cost.
The fastening element of the original presser foot encloses the foot bar completely so that the round shape of the foot bar will persist. Thus, the presser foot position can be easily and correctly adjusted at any time.

Picture 1: Copied versus original sewing machine spare part

2. Bad seam center guide damages the material

The seam center guide protrudes a lot to the bottom at the copied part (see picture 2). Since the pressure of the guide is high, the sewing material (e.g. leather) or the seam below the guide is often damaged.
At the genuine part, the guide protrudes only a little with an appropriate pressure to avoid this.

Picture 2: Copied versus genuine industrial sewing machine spare part

3. Side tolerance of the guide is too high

The seam center guide of the copied part is not only very long, but has a big side tolerance (see following video). The material cannot be guided straightforward. The seams will not be parallel to the center, resulting in a bad seam appearance.

The guide of the original part has no tolerance to ensure best seam quality (see following video).

4. Missing finger guard

The copied part has no finger guard resulting in dangerous operation.(see picture 3).

Abb. 3: Danger by missing finger guard at copied part compared to Dürkopp Adler foot with finger guard

Hemmer feet for Dürkopp Adler classes 281, 271 and 272

Dürkopp Adler offers hemmer feet with attractive prices in proven quality from own manufacturing plants.

A hemmer foot is mainly used when sewing soft, "floating" materials like Chiffon, Georgette, Voile, Crepe de Chine, etc., and for hemming small tissues and sleeve vent underfacings.
Instead of sewing this in two operations, it can be done in only one operation by using these special feet on Dürkopp Adler machines classes 281, 271 or 272.

The advantage of a hemmer foot compared to the usage of an additional hemming attachment is that the hem can be guided or controlled until the hem is very close to the needle.
Details about how to order you will find here:
Hemmer feet program with remarks regarding adjustmens and operation

Klick on image to download hemmer feet program of Dürkopp Adler

Better fabric transport by compensating presser foot with controlled soles

When sewing folded, hemmed, tape-reinforced or bound fabric edges with different material thicknesses, a compensating presser foot with adjacent, controlled soles can be helpful.

Compensating presser foot with adjacent, controlled soles Dürkopp Adler

The pressure from the presser spring is distributed to both soles resulting in an optimized material feed in the whole presser foot area.

This enables a steady sewing of different material thicknesses with different numbers of layers.

Big differences in material thicknesses

Small differences in material thicknesses

For Dürkopp Adler class 272-140342, the compensating presser foot 0272 006878 with edge of 2 mm on the right side of the needle and max. 4 mm stitch length is available for light to medium fabrics.
The sewing equipment is completed by the feed dog 0272 006613 and the throat plate 0272 006516.
When ordering a new machine, the complete sewing equipment can be ordered with number 0272 E00023.




Dürkopp Adler Class 272-140342



Sewing foot turret for classes 211, 271 and 272 from Dürkopp Adler

When you need to change sewing feet often for different sewing operations with special sewing feet, a presser foot turret can be very helpful and give you a good productivity improvement.

You can mount this turret with three different feet, for example, a hinged presser foot, zipper foot and compensating foot.

The sewing feet need to have the right measurement from the throat plate to the fixing screw of the foot. Lever feet cannot be used.

The price has been reduced substantially on Dec 18, 2012 and is actually approx. 400 EUR when purchasing in Germany. If your local dealer offers much higher prices, please ask him for a price update from the factory.

The turrets are produced in very low quantities, so that you may need to wait a couple of weeks in case the part is not on stock.

The order numbers are:

Sewing foot turret 0271 000892 for classes 211 and 271
Sewing foot turret 0272 000912 for class 272

Sewing foot turret for Dürkopp Adler 211, 271 and 271

Presser foot turret for Dürkopp Adler 211, 271 and 271 with edge guide

Benefits of the M-Type series for maintenance and repairs

The M-Type, the best selling triple feed machine for medium heavy duty sewing ever, offers not only unbeatable sewing performance but also a lot of benefits with regard to service and maintenance.

The biggest advantages are:

• Low service and repair cost due to 30% less mechanical parts than in the former 767 series. Less parts reduce the probability of defects and save cost for stocking spare parts.
• Only 5 tools for the adjustment of the complete machine. Who is using different machine types like flatbed, postbed, long-arm, etc., will appreciate that the same tools can be used for all types. It will also save time for technician training.
• Quick machine cover disassembly. Only 10 screws must be unfastened to disassemble all covers before you can already start servicing the machine. This will save valuable working time.
• Many sewing gauges of class 767 and other Dürkopp Adler machines can be used. Who has some gauge parts of those machines on stock can use them on the M-Type, too. See an overview of the usable parts. Also a couple of  piping and zipper feet of other machines are used on the M-Type.
• An oil control glass with warning light will avoid late oil recharge and will increase the machine lifetime.

Servicing the machine can be supported by a preventive maintenance plan. With this plan, all maintenance work and spare part consumption can easily be documented.

Open product overview M-Type




Dürkopp Adler M-Type class 867-140342

Best Practice: High quality top stitching of large leather or upholstery pieces with pneumatic seam center guide

The Dürkopp Adler classes 767 and 768 can be equipped with the pneumatic seam center guide N800 005611. This guide perfectly supports the top stitiching of large and heavy leather or upholstery pieces in 2-needle applications.
The result are high-class fancy seams with an exactly equal distance to the assembly seam.
The up- and downlifting of the guide is done easyly and practically by an intgrated push button. The guide can be adjusted in height by means of a lever. The guide can also be used for 1-needle applications as an edge guide.
To use this attachment, the machine must be equipped with an electropneumatic seam tacking and electropneumatic foot lift already.



Dürkopp Adler class 768 with pneumatic seam center guide

It is also necessary to replace the standard transport feet by special compensating feet:
0768 222264 Compensating foot 6mm needle distance
0768 222274 Compensating foot 8mm needle distance
0768 222284 Compensating foot 10mm needle distance
0768 222294 Compensating foot 12mm needle distance




Pnematic seam center guide N800 005611




Lever for height adjustment



Useful: Sewing Gauge Catalog for Adler Class 67 and 167 - Vintage technical documentations

One of the biggest sewing gauge catalogs of the world belonged to the Adler sewing machines class 67 and 167. Many of these throat plates, feed dogs and sewing feed are still available as regular spare parts or can be made by special manufacturing. Here comes the download of the Catalog of sewing gauges for Adler classes 67 and 167.

Other historical technical documentations and Information how to get obsolete parts can be found in the Download section of this blog.

Best practice: How to sew fancy seams with double needle in leather on the right and left side of the welt

For 2-needle machines class 768 and 868, Dürkopp Adler offers a special sewing gauge for the exact and steady sewing of fancy seams in leather on the right and left side of the welt. A special guide with a tunnel grants an always constant distance between the seam and the welt on both sides.
This type of seam is often wanted in home upholstery.

For 6-7 mm piping and 10 mm needle distance, please order the following numbers
0768 V91167   Compensating foot
0768 V91166   Presser foot
N800 V91181   Center guide with tunnel

Other measures on request (other prices possible)

Since Oct, 27, 2011 these parts have much better and affordable prices.

Best practice: How to sew felled seams in leather with special foot with integrated guide

For felled seams in leather normally an adjustabe additional edge guide is used. With the innovative sewing feet with integrated guide from Dürkopp Adler you will not need this additional guide anymore.
Adjustable guides are a great help, but have the disadvantage of slightly varying distance between seam and edge due to manual adjustment.

The advantages are:

• easy handling due to small sewing gauge size and free sewing area
• always correct and constant distance between edge and seam
• constant high quality sewing result

Dürkopp Adler offers tw types of feet (see attached pictures):

• feet with long sword for mainly straight seams
• feet with short sword for frequent curved seams 

All feet are available with integrated guide on the right or the left side of the needle.

Click on the photos to enlarge:

Special sewing foot with integrated edge guide with long sword

Special sewing foot with integrated edge guide with short sword

M-Type 868-390322 using special sewing foot with integrated edge guide with short sword

The whole program with part numbers can be checked in our attachment brochure starting on page 31.

The sewing feet can be used in the following Dürkopp Adler classes (only one-needle machines!):

367, 467, 767, 768, 667, 867, 868, 669, 869

Which sewing gauge parts from classes 767, 768, 467, 367 and 267 fit to M-Type Class 867?

Many sewing gauge parts from older triple feed machines can be used in the Dürkopp Adler M-Type class 867. Here is an  overview about the compatible sewing feet.

Where do I find attachments, guides, special feet, etc. for Dürkopp Adler machines?

In the actual attachment catalogue, you can find a big selection of standard attachments for Dürkopp Adler machines. If the required equipment is not listed, your specialised Dürkopp Adler distribution partner can help you.


The catalogue contains the following categories:

• Edge guides
• Roller guides and straight guides
• Seam center guides
• Tape roll holder
• Swivel rails
• Special attachments
• Other attachments
• Special sewing feet
• Sewing feet with guide