TWerner

Seems like the Juki 1341 is a slightly heavier duty machine than the Pfaff 335. The Brother seems like it's pretty close to the Pfaff, and can swap parts with the Seiko and Consew 277R-2. Seems like they're all good options. Quick question though. Is 3 stitches per second and up too fast for a beginner?

Thank you. I thought the Brother/Seiko and Consew 277 parts would be interchangeable. (on some websites it's actually as the same as the Consew 277R-2.)

No tax just because City Sewing is out of my state and would ship it. I might be able to match the total Pfaff price through Bill's and pay taxes, so it would be a wash. Bill's is 2.5 hours away though. Not really close. I had actually thought the Pfaff parts would be more available since I didn't read that the 335 was getting phased out of production like the Juki 1341. I also saw in another thread that I'll never get a binding attachment for the Juki, although that probably isn't a big issue to me. The needle positioning feature and more powerful motor seem nice on the Juki. I guess the question is whether it's TOO much machine. Will it do canvas and denim weight fabric as nicely as the Pfaff 335? Also, as described, they said the Juki will go down to about 3 stitches/second. That's a lot faster than I'd prefer. Can I slow it down more? One last question. Why would you rule out the Brother branded Seiko version of a 277?

Too long or too complicated maybe. How about this. Are any of these good options? Model Condition Location Price Tax Shipping Total Motor Extras Pfaff 335 New City Sewing 2045 0 270 $2,315.00 CSM-550-1 Bobbins, Needles, table, motor, stand Juki LS1341 Rebuilt Bill's $2,000 130 0 $2,130.00 750w Sew Green with needle position Bobbins, Needles, table, motor, stand Brother version of Consew 277 made by Seiko. ~15 years old. Used Bill's 1300 84.5 0 $1,384.50 750w Sew Green with needle position Bobbins, Needles, table, motor, stand

Hi Everyone, I've been reading threads here for a while and have some ideas on what I'd like to get, but I wanted to ask for some expert advice. I got my first sewing machine, a Kenmore, when my daughter was 9 months old. I wanted it because I couldn't find mittens I thought were warm enough to take her snowshoeing in the backpack kid carrier. My wife gave it to me as a present and that night while Maddy slept I went up, measured her hands with my fingers, and spent the several hours making her a pair of mittens. I used lavender nylon, fleece, and synthetic insulation. After we bundled her up in her snow suit, I got them out of the kitchen and they fit "perfectly", right up to her elbows. Bit of an oops, but they turned out to be exactly what we needed to keep her warm outside in a Vermont Winter. That machine helped me sew (crooked) hems on kids pants, patch GI's, repair torn clothing, and for a while, it helped me repair my son's goalie gear. Just the elastic and velcro parts, because eventually I killed it trying to sew elastic back onto a set of gel filled neoprene knee pads. That was 4 years ago, so it survived 15 years. I won a patching machine on ebay after that, but the seller wasn't happy with the winning bid and never returned my calls about picking it up. I then almost got a super heavy duty (for me) Cobra Class 4, but while I was shopping, we found out my son had to give up hockey due to an injury, so I never bought any new machine. I don't like not having one. I have several projects that range from heavy pants and snow boarding clothing that need to be hemmed or repaired, elastic/neoprene/velcro straps I need to craft, drapes that need to be shortened, and I'd also like to be able to sew climbing harness weight nylon webbing and some light weight leather for guitar straps. I'm more a wood worker than anything else, but I plan to get a machine I can use to do 90% of the tasks I'll have, and I can go to the tack shop or a holster maker if I ever need heavier leather sewn. It may be my last sewing machine purchase if I get it right. Thinking about my above list, I almost bought a Seiko STH-8BLD-3. It had a walking foot, was under $1500, and seemed plenty strong. Then I realized I wouldn't be able to hem pants easily, or sew collars or bands that have small radii. That lead me to think that a cylinder bed machine with an add on flat table would be more versatile for someone of limited skills, like me. So now I'm looking for a cylinder bed walking foot machine, or even better, a triple feed machine since I won't have the skills to compensate when layers slide around. I don't need it to do Zig Zag, although that would be nice for sewing elastic straps. I do want it to have reverse, because in high school using reverse is how my home-ecconomics teacher taught us to prevent stitches from coming out. If I don't need it, that's OK too. I'm willing to learn. I know I'll need a servo motor that will let me sew slowly (Please accept that I will pretty much I suck at this since I'll use the machine every few weeks on a small project or two for probably then next 20 or 30 years) I want to able to sew 1/4" leather, maybe even soft 3/8" thick. Also, since I know I'll go slow, the ability to oil it manually seems like a good idea based on some YouTube videos. They made it sound like an automatic oiling system won't work well at slow speeds. I think what I have above puts me ideally, with a Pfaff 335 type of machine. Is that correct? So maybe: Pfaff 335, Cowboy 227, Juki 341, and maybe the CB341 or Cobra Class 26 if they aren't too heavy duty to let me sew webbing and elastic? Seiko CW8B is another one I have on my list. Not sure if I have listed the original and clones of one machine, or if I listed 2 sets of clones there. I'm trying to assemble a list of machines to watch for on this board and on Craigslist/SearchTempest. Thanks for reading and for any advice! Todd

It seems like the TechSew 5100 is very similar to the Cobra class4 and the Cowboy 4500? I watched a 30 min video on the Cobra one yesterday to understand how it works and is maintained. Those are machines Tim The Toolman would love.

Rude may be the wrong word, but I know there are many people whose skills and plans justify owning a machine like those much more than mine do. I don't feel "entitled" to own one maybe? Anyway, on selling leather work, I used to suture pretty well, but I sew like a chimpanzee wearing mitten. It's unlikely I'd work off the price of the machine. I'd be better off renting time on the machine to other hobbyists if I wanted to make money. Thankfully, nobody cares what my son's goalie pads looks like, not even my son. So if the stitching is strong, all is good.

Bummer the patching machine won't feed pads as thick as I need. The ability to turn the head was such an awesome feature! Based on everything I've read, several of the Chinese made machines are very well built. Cowboy and Cobra get good reviews here, as does TechSew. China has some incredibly high tech manufacturing facilities and they are working hard to get past their previously justified reputation for low quality/low price. There are a lot of very smart people in China, and there's a lot of national pride. I'm not saying everything made there is high quality, but you need to get over the idea that made in China always means lower quality. It doesn't. The problem for me is those companies selling high quality Chinese made machines are pretty new, so I don't expect to find an older model at a bargain price. Honestly, I'd feel a little guilty owning a $2k machine to use 5 or 6 times a year on my pet projects. I won't rule it out, because it will likely be a lifetime purchase for me, but even so, it seems rude in a way. Todd

Hi, I'm not planning to make a full set of goalie pads, but my son plays hockey, and I am frequently re-stitching parts of, or modifying pads. On my next project, I'll be sewing 1/8" neoprene around some 1/5" thick sastec to make a thigh shield, which will get sewn to gel knee pad that is about 3/4" thick. I might be able to squish everything to 1/2", but it would be difficult. So I want to sew thick material, but soft. Not like sewing a 1/2" of leather, but lots of drag on the thread. It stripped the gears on my little Kenmore machine I won a Singer 29K from a cobbler shop on Long Island a couple of years ago on ebay. I won it for $300 with the table and motor, but they backed out of the deal and refunded my payment. I've been watching ebay now for a while, but really haven't had the space for something like that. Now I do, and it seems like a patching machine would be ideal for the type of sewing I want to do because it can change direction without turning the material. I'll be sewing the front of knee pads that are tubes, and can't be turned well. Sort of like sewing on a boot. Or inside the arm of a chest and arm protector. As I said above, the materials I'll be sewing are thick, but they are much softer than leather. Is a patching machine a reasonable option to be looking at? I am not having a lot of luck finding one cheaply, that seems functional and looks reliable, but I could get an econosew 29E72LBT for around $1500, and I see 29K or Adler 30-15's for sale periodically for under $600 with no motor. I don't mind a pedal since I'll really be doing small amounts of stitching, but I want to make sure these machines can do what I want. It would be nice to stay below $1000, but I view it as a power tool that helps me keep my son safe, so I'm a little flexible on price. I also saw a Tippman machine for sale on here and looked it up. It would be a great option I think, if the throat were deep enough to let me work on larger pieces. Just looking for advice. Thank you, Todd