I have been leatherworking for about a year now and after making a couple of bags have decided to buy a cylinder arm sewing machine. I am specifically looking at the Techsew 5100 and 2700 and want build classic briefcases (think Saddleback bags).
My dilemma comes from the large range of thicknesses I will be sewing through. In places I will be sewing through up to 3/8” leather (around the d-rings for example) and in others I will probably be only pushing through around 5-6oz of leather. These weights put me at the bottom end of the 5100 and the top end of the 2700 capacity. The people over at Techsew have recommended the 5100, which I completely agree with but I am wondering how these machines operate when working at their bottom working capacity. Any thoughts on this or considerations I may have missed?