Raw Binder

[Sovran81]

I am thinking about buying a single fold binder, but know nothing about them except what I found on youtube. I have a consew 206rb-5 and run mostly 138 thread with #22 needles. I plan on sewing 2-4 oz upholstery leather and binding with 2 oz upholstery. My concerns are if the proposed leather will feed through most of the binders I find? What are things I should look for before choosing one? Any particular brands to search out or avoid? Do swing-aways have any issues that make them less desirable?

[Wizcrafts]

There are a few binder attachments for thick material, mostly for carpet binding machines. I would recommend contacting an industrial sewing machine dealer about this. He will be able to match the best unit to your machine, as well as the specialized throat plate and presser feet (they are usually sold as a set) that is required for a right angle binder. A straight line binder uses your standard throat plate, but benefits from the binder foot set. This features a very wide inside foot and a left toe only outer foot. Typically, these feet have teeth on the bottom, but can be ordered without.

[Wizcrafts]

There is nothing inherently wrong with a swing-away binder. But, one that bolts down in place will be more predictable. The best type is the right angle folder, with a special throat plate and feet. This binder allows you to sew inside curves as easily as outside curves. A straight-on binder is more difficult to use on inside curves.

Further, it is a good idea to mount your edging so it feeds smoothly from the right front edge of the table. If your edging in on a roll, you should get a bias tape roll attachment for the table. Otherwise, feed it as straight as possible, to avoid having it twist on the way to the attachment.

[gottaknow]

I would look for an off angle folder that mounts on a swing away mount. The off angle brings the binding tape into the sewing area at a 45 degree angle instead of a 90 degree angle. What this does is still allows easily doing inside and outside curves without making your heavier tape make the turn at 90 degrees. Running heavier binding is all about having the tape run through the folder with as little friction as possible. Too much friction will result in a puckered look as the binding will stretch and then snap back like a rubber band. The swing away mount will allow you to easily overlap your binding onto itself if you're not running off the end. You get close to where you started, pull the folder away and cut your binding. You can then fold it over your starting point and do a nice clean tie in. The folders I don't make myself, I buy from www.atlantaattachment.com they build the best folders out there. They also make the best swing away mounts that hold your folder as tight as if it were hard mounted. If you plan on doing a lot of this work, send a sample to them of what you want to do and let them pick your folder for you. There's nothing worse than trying to make a cheap folder look nice. I've been buying folder from them for over 30 years. Also, if you look through their website at their folders, you can learn a tremendous amount. A good folder will make your projects look professional, so they are worth their cost. Regards, Eric

[Sovran81]

Thanks for the input Wiz and Eric. I will talk to both my machine dealer and Atlantic.

[Cobra Steve]

As Eric said, there are Attachment Companies that can do this job, ie. Atlanta Attachments, but there are also custom attachment makers that work inside of some of the larger Industrial Sewing Machine Companies. They will need your binding, thread, material, and in some cases your machine(head only), and they will build the attachment to your machine. Steve