sparky20006

Cheers Mike. Going to put a sneaky 300 quid snipe on it. Thanks for the heads up. If you were closer I'd buy you a cold one.

Bloody hell I'll take that as a 'no' then I was just wanting a machine to sew wallets, bags and maybe 2.5 mm veg tan leather belts...that sort of stuff Would it be ok as it is for that ? I really can't be arsed hand saddle stitching literally every thing I plan on making. Cheers for taking the time to help guys. I do appreciate it Paul

Is it possible / easy to change up to a larger bobbin? (Show's how much I know!). With my wife being a commercial embroiderer you'd think I'd know something!

Cheers fellas. It's got a servo motor on it as well. It's at £200 but nobody bidding on it and it's only 30 minutes away from me. Bit of a no brainer I thought if I could get it for around the 300 quid mark. What do you reckon? Paul.

Any idea guys as to which model this Seiko is? It's just up the road for me and wanted to investigate before deciding. Cheers fellas. Paul

Any of you guys any experience of the Pfaff 1183? No mention of them on these forums.

Don't bother guys -just found out it's an industrial blanket stitch machine.

I wager someone in here will know! What is it and is it any good for leather work?

Thanks for the advice guys really appreciate it. I have much to chew over!

You called them up! Cheers bud! I think I'm going to need a servo motor to be honest Mike, having read what you say. By the time I add on the price of a servo I reckon it's going to start shoving this towards 700 quid and despite the wife's arthritic back i think she'll still manage to connect a boot to my crotch if I splashed that on a sewing machine. Mike do me a favour mate have a sniff around ebay and elsewhere and see if you can see a 'bargain' for around the 400 quid mark. I live near Glossop and can pick up as I have a Berlingo. Is it OK if whenever I see anything I send you a link in here? You have probably forgotten more than I know and knowing my luck I'd buy a lemon. Paul

Mike Is this the one you bought? Is this a good price and is it a good machine? How can you tell if it is has a servo motor on it by looking at the pics? Is it a general purpose machine that would do most things? (I know a machine can't do absolutely everything but you get my drift) http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Singer-211-U166-Compound-Feed-Walking-Foot-Industrial-Sewing-Machine-/281929894243?hash=item41a454c963:g:PN4AAOSwUuFWt901 Paul

Thanks Mike and Lumpen. really useful advice there. I'm thinking about early retirement (approaching 56) and have played around with saddle stitching and making a few belts and wet formed bags so was toying with the idea of giving myself something to do when i pack work in to stop me turning into something from the veg rack. I have no intention of selling anything tbh, just making stuff for fun really. Hence why I do not want to go mad on the price. The reason I'm looking into a sewing machine is. I love the therapeutic element of hand saddle stitching a thick leather belt but the thought of messing around doing it on 1 to 1.5 mm thick veg leather stuck in a clam with a wallet and all its fiddly elements puts me off a bit. I would much rather design a pattern, cut it out, do the edges, run it through a sewing machine and then do a bit of trim on it such as press studs etc. I'm 6'4 and 19 stone so you can imagine the shovels I've got for hands! Homer don't do fiddly Your posts have made me wonder about two things now - 1. The servo motor thing. Does a servo motor make it so you can have it sew really slowly and get faster the more you press the control? Are these difficult / expensive to fit as this sounds a much better approach. 2. The top and bottom feed bit - I have no idea what that is on about. Is that the feed of the thread or the leather? Why is it important enough to comment on? Cheers again for the advice.folks much appreciated. I've got hundreds of pounds worth of tools upstairs and three dead cows in the spare room waiting to be cunningly fashioned into something. Mike - LOVE Brittany. We usually drift down there every year in our motor home and drink gallons of cheap pampelmousse rose wine from Aldi. Paul

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Walking-Foot-Heavy-Duty-Sewing-Machine-/162087666245?hash=item25bd2d8245:g:LMoAAOSw7ehXTI~b This is just up the road from me for collection only. Would it be okay for bags, wallets, dog leads etc using double thickness of 1 through to 2.5 mm veg tanned leather? That means it would have to be able to sew through up to 5mm. If it can handle it why wouldn't it be a good buy if it's a well known brand? If it can't handle that sort of work relatively comfortably then what is it being made and marketed for? Why would anybody buy one? It's all very confusing. Paul

I have got about £400 (580 USD) to spend. But could get a Singer 95K40 or Brother DB2-B755-3 for a lot less local to me. The Highlead GC 3108 is a heavy duty walking foot machine and from what I gather and researched has quite a good reputation. Am I mistaken? There is one reasonably close to me for $580 in good condition. Would that not sew veg tanned leather for belts, bags, wallets and dog leads etc? Sorry to sound stupid but I'm about 10 hours into researching these machines and it's getting confusing now. Regards Paul

Hi everyone from the UK- love this site and have wasted many many hours flicking through it. I have decided to invest in a sewing machine to make things like wallets, bags, dog leads and similar and am faced with a MASSIVE number of machines to choose from. Walking foot / flat bed, cylinder arm etc...it just goes on and on. Considering what I want it for could I ask for your opinions on the following please? Bear in mind funds are not limitless and the two last ones I mention I can get well within budget. SINGER 110K124 SINGER 31K47 Highlead GC 3108 Singer 95K40 (Can get this one cheap) Brother DB2-B755-3 (Can get a good condition one pretty cheap) Many thanks in advance fellas Paul