PapaWolf Report post Posted April 6, 2008 Anyone know somewhere or some brand of sewing machine for leather that won't cripple the pocketbook of someone just starting out with one? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
bcurrier Report post Posted April 7, 2008 It depends entirely on what you have in mind for projects. If you keep to leather weights no more than medium, there's a lot of walking foot machines at reasonable prices, both new and used. It's the heavy stitchers that run up the $$. You'd be looking at roughly up to $1,500 or so new, often less than half that used. Check Artisan (www.artisansew.com) for well-made Asian imports with good service. Sailrite (www.sailrite.com) carries some interesting machines, if portability is important. They start out with a pretty rough import and make improvements to where they're pretty good. The arm isn't real big, however - but neither is the price ($600 or so for an LS-1). There are a lot of used Singer 111's out there. You might luck into a good one for a few hundred dollars. Sailrite imports a new 111 clone for about a grand, but at that point I'd go to Artisan. Bill Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
PapaWolf Report post Posted April 7, 2008 The thickest I would be sewing would be around 8-9oz. leather for saddle bags and such. Is that considered medium leather? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
bcurrier Report post Posted April 7, 2008 I should say that light/medium/heavy depends on your frame of reference. I consider 8-9 oz veg-tanned leather to be in the upper range of medium-weight for things such as belts, bags & cases, and misc. goods. You'd be ok on most industrial walking foot machines at 2 layers at that weight. 3 would be starting to bump up against the limits of some, over on a few. Also, just to be clear, there are a variety of types of feeds. Best for leather is compound feed, which is a combination of needle feed and walking foot. Bill Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
rcsaddles Report post Posted April 17, 2008 Try talking to Ron at ferdco.com They make machines and also have a place on their web site for people to sell equipment. Ron has done nothing but good for me. He has talked me through problems with my two Adlers over the phone. Very knowledgable and will help you get the best for your money and for what you need. Joe Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
