kgg

To help you decide I used the following formula when calculating my tonnage needs for a clicker press. F (pressing force needed) = S (shear strength of leather / 2) x L cutting (running) length of die X T (thickness) of leather in inches X Sf safety factor Example for 10 oz leather with a 3 inch square die. S (shear strength of 10 oz leather) = 2900 psi L cutting (running) length of die = 12 inches T (thickness) of 10 oz leather in inches = 0.156 inches Sf safety factor = 2 F = 1450 x 12 x 0.156 x 2 => 5428.8 pounds (pressing force) So the question is the manual clicker press rated in Imperial tons or US tons? Also what is the price of the manual clicker press. 5428.8 pounds = 2.42 tons Imperial tons, 2.71 US tons So the question is the manual clicker press rated in Imperial tons or US tons? The reason being 1.5 US tons equals 3000 pounds while a 1.5 Imperial ton is 3360 pounds. Whether or not the manual clicker press will work is going to depend on both the bed size of the manual clicker press and the thickness of the leather. I decided not go the manual clicker press route even though a 5 ton probably would have done for the main reason, Money. A 5 ton would have cost north of $3000 Canadian and would have been a one trick pony. That cost versus converting a 20 ton hydraulic shop for about $700 Canadian total including cost of the shop press when I'm finished. Hum. I'm at about the 75 percent completion mark. kgg

I have to disagree. The Reliable Barracuda is just another clone of the Sailrite LSZ and made probably in China with poorer quality internal components then the Sailrite's. The OP indicates she wants to sew up 12 oz leather. The thickness of 12 oz leather is approximately 1/4" and the portable walking foot sewing machines can only handle about 1/8" thickness with a max thread size of V92. Also as the thickness of the item being sewn increase the stitch length will decrease so it can be difficult to maintain a constant stitch. These little machines were intended for sewing sail fabric. Besides using a Singer Class 15 bobbin another problem is the presser foot and feet dog are very aggressive and will imprint the leather. Since this is going to be your main machine you will need to increase your budget even for a used one in most locations. As far as space goes most industrial sewing machine tables take up a space about 2' x 3'-6" and noise isn't a consideration as with a servo motor they are almost silent. kgg

The Omgea WF22ZZ is a Sailrite LSZ clone from more then likely China. The Omega 307 is a domestic drop feed with zig zag. I personally think you will not be pleased due to their limitations as neither are industrial machines. With your budget I would suggest dropping into a industrial sewing machine repair / service center and see what they have available in a used industrial sewing machine. There should be quite a number of them in Montreal. If you find a machine and aren't sure of it's abilities just ask on the list before purchasing. kgg

Nicely done and nice selection on the servo motor. kgg

Sorry to say not up here in Canada. Your property, your liability even if the client / visitor is the negligent one. Even giving someone permission or unknowingly someone travels your land for hunting, etc it is a liability to the land owner. It's to the point you can't even help someone who gets stuck in the snow or drove off the road. If you use your tractor to pull them free chances are you will be accused of causing the damage to the vehicle even though it was caused by the driver and windup paying for the damages. Happen to a farmer neighbor a few years back. Gone are the days of being neighborly. kgg

Some machines can be very particular in the way you install the bobbin so it unwinds counter clockwise or vise versa. I would suggest installing the bobbin in the bobbin case the opposite way and see what happens. This maybe as simple as the bobbins are not to spec as in too small, center hole to big, not balanced, out of round. I would suggest replacing with a Juki spec bobbin. A couple of photo's of the threading path from the spool of thread to the needle maybe also helpful. kgg

I would imagine most policies have their exclusions. I gotta agree with the no welding, hot splatters and all. kgg

Wise move. kgg

Like that. kgg

No just a private driveway serving one 1200 sq ft. bungalow. In this area most driveways are usually at least two vehicles wide and smaller properties have at least a half acre of land. In my area about 15 minutes from town I'm the smallest property with 120 acres. My driveway is just a touch over 300 feet long, 4 or 5 vehicles wide at the entrance. By the house my parking area would be about 60 feet or so feet square. My closest neighbor is about 1/2 mile away, still to close. kgg

That means the client was from the insurance point of view a customer not a visitor therefor there for business reasons. Her insurance was for what would be considered a normal home owner needs not business insurance coverage. Personally I have both home owner and business coverage that way I'm covered either way should something happen to my equipment, property, clients or visitors. Home owner insurance sometimes doesn't cover or has limited coverage on certain types of hobby equipment. kgg

I think the grocery store would be considered a commercial / business not a home residence so would have different rules.In North America you can be considered trespassing and charged with trespassing at your local business under certain circumstances. Does it help with the dirtbags robbing stuff??? Proper thing. kgg

All visitors are trespassers. I love that. Do you get too "escort" them off your property with Mr. Winchester or at least a Shillelagh?? Sadly both are needed in this age but even sadder is the ones that will get the lions share are the lawyers. kgg

A friend of mind just this year and it's only January who has been operating her hobby in-house business for the last 15 years and was gearing down to retire has just been sued. She figures she will probably be severely hurt financially to the point of losing her home. She had operated a hobby in-house business on the assumption since it was just a hobby and operating out of the attached converted garage that she only needed to have normal home insurance. WRONG... Well she had a client do a pick up earlier this month. That client slipped and fell in the driveway breaking her hip. The three wide paved driveway had been plowed and salted / sanded by a snow plowing company. The women was taken to the hospital for treatment, hip replacement and is recovering. My friend received a letter from the clients lawyer basically stating that she and everyone else involved is being sued so to contact her insurance company. My friend did contact her insurance company who denied the claim as they considered it business related and she only had normal home owner insurance as well as they were canceling her policy. So the bottom line: It's probably worthwhile for fellow members to check with their insurance company and see if they have proper insurance coverage should anything unfortunate happen. kgg

All those depends largely on the machine. Some mods are basically a straight change out of parts while other modifications will probably require lathe work on various parts. The think this is a poor comparison for the reasons @dikman has previous said. I do some 3D printed modifications on all my machines which have included the Chinese frustration generator patcher, portable walking foot Sailrite clone, Singer 29k's, upholstery class Juki's and my Kobe TSC-441. I am what some call "matter hacker". I design in CAD, 3D print and sometimes convert to or combine with metal. Doing a machine from scratch is not an easy task as it would be time consuming, involve a wide range of skill sets and would be expensive. For now I am quite contented too matter hack things. kgg

Just like the rest of the 441's the head weighs about 125 lbs. Assembled the complete unit should weight about 300 or so pounds. kgg

If you end goal is for a class 441 machine buy the presser feet / feed dogs / needle plates for lighter items and purchase / make a flatbed table attachment. Purchase a machine from whom you feel will provide the best after sale service. In the US the popular 441 clones are Cowboy 4500 and Cobra Class 4 in Canada you have Techsew 5100 and Kobe TSC-441, all of which are basically the same machine with different name tag but able to take the same accessories. They are all essentially cloned after the Juki TSC-441 however the Juki will set you back 10K. Yes you will need a class 411 machine for holsters and all the class 441 machines will take up to V415. Most of the class 441 machines are mounted on the pedestal style tables and probably operated while in a standing position. The major consideration with this style of stand is the possibility it being more prone to being able to be tipped over if struck the wrong way. So consider your particular situation and whether you are going to sew stood up or sat down. I choose to go with a more conventional style stand and modify it as I have dogs and when they get rough housing you never know. When you get your machine have a second person help as these are heavy buggers that are nose heavy and clumsy to handle. kgg

The 1 hp brushless servo motor to my mind a 735 (1hp) watt would work nicely as a lot of us run 550 watt servo's on this class of machine. I would suggest going with a smaller servo motor pulley. It will reduce the speed. Example a 60mm pulley on the servo motor at 100 rpm's with a 100mm sewing machine pulley. The 100mm sewing machine pulley speed will be 60 rpm's. Reducing the size of the servo motor pulley to 40mm will reduce the speed down to 40 rpm's. The most important question is how many internal coils does the 1hp servo motor have??? The less expensive brushless servo motors have 6 internal coils, mid grade have 9 internal coils and the better ones have 12 internal coils. The more coils the better the startup torque. The next important question is what is the startup speed of the 1 hp motor, 100 or 500 rpm's??? Some people like the needle positioning feature and others not so much. Either way most of the brushless servo motors will NOT work with a speed reducer. This will depend on how thick / tough the material you are sewing is going to be. In this class of machine they are usually rated for V138 with a top thread and in the bobbin. Some will run V207 top and bobbin but once again it depends how thick / tough the material is. Why?? Some people like them and others not so much. I do have a drop down guide but I didn't like it so it lives in my "special" box somewhere. Having a flatbed is always nice but it also depends on what you are mostly going to sew. If you are mostly going to sew close to or over the 3/8" thickness or use v207 or larger thread go with a Class 441 machine as a primary machine and a used upholstery class flatbed machine or vise versa. Another option is go with a Class 441 and the modified needle plates that a couple of members make. Out of curiosity why the Cobra 4??? kgg

That is a fair bit of savings. For an idea of what the £700 saving is equal to in other countries ----- >about $1200 Canadian Dollars or $1350 Australian Dollars or $890 US Dollars and a new not used machine. That saving can go into other related items like leather, etc. As long as someone is fairly apt with sewing machines buying direct ( fresh off the boat) can be a cost effective way to go. kgg

Nice go. I think you should be pleased with the capabilities of a 341. At least they are honest with their labeling / numbering which is nice to see. JL for Jiang Long, 341 as to what it is basically cloned after. kgg

I just measured a LS-1341 bobbin which is a style "M" bobbin also used in the DNU-1541 or DU-1181N. Just measured a 1341 bobbin diameter is 25.44 mm x 10.59mm. The 28 mm bobbin is a style "U" bobbin which was used in the Juki LU-563 and LU-1508 at 28mm x 12mm. My understanding is that the Juki LS-1340/1341/1342/1342-7 all use the Style "M" bobbin. You may want to check and see what bobbin case and hook assembly they are using. kgg

I like that idea. kgg

First off what continent are you on so members close to your location could help narrow suppliers. To help sort out what would be good options for a 1.5 x 1.5 sq. meter area: i) How thick of leather are you planning on cutting. ii) What is the running length of the largest die you want to use. You can determine roughly the tonnage that will be needed by the formula I use. Formula: F (pressing force needed) = S (shear strength of leather) (2900psi / 2) x L cutting (running) length of die X T (thickness) of leather in inches X Sf safety factor of 2 Example: 10 oz leather with a 3 in square die which gives you 12 inch running length of die F = 1450 x 12 x 0.156 x 2 => 5428.8 pounds (pressing force) 5428.8 pounds = 2.71 US tons or 2.42 Imperial tons I looked at I think most options out there for the largest size die that I want to use would require just over 4 Imperial tons (4.5 US tons) pressing power. I came to the conclusion that a 20 ton shop press would be the way to go with way more pressing power then I would need and it still will be able to be used for the normal things that a shop press was designed for. This for me is the least expensive option. kgg

Have you checked the fuse on the servo motor??? kgg

The Consew CP206RL, Rex RX-607 to name a couple are all basically clones of the Sailrite LS. They are a straight stitch machines without the zig zag feature, the build quality generally appears to be not as good as the Sailrite and the support can be iffy with the clones. They were designed for repairing sails while on the water, they will only handle V92 thread, use a small class 15 bobbin and the max sewing thickness is very limited, maybe 3/16" out of the box. These portable sewing machines would definitely not be my first choice. What is your budget as maybe someone can suggest other machines in your price range. kgg