kgg

Nicely done. Simple and reusable that gives nice consistent results. It is pretty amazing how 3d printing is changing things. I would expect in the next 5 years as the metal 3d printers become more reasonable in price 3d printing will really move forward. Problem, design solution, and print it. kgg

I would give Chris at Japan Sewing Machine & Supply Co (905) 764-0100. Their website, ( http://www.japansewing.com/ ) is not that good but their service as well as prices for Juki and their own clones are very good. Drop him an email or phone call. I dealt with him for my Juki and found him to be a straight shooter, no BS. kgg

I would go with a brand name like Juki if you are looking to purchase new. For that price you should probably be able to get a Juki 1541S out of Ontario. kgg

Like nylonrigging suggested get a small spool and see how it works for your stuff. For my stuff so far I find bonded polyester better then bonded nylon. kgg

You have a great budget for a machine. I think you need to decide on what thread size you are going to use and how thick the item you are going to sew 90 percent of the time. For the other 10 percent buy a good used machine. No one machine is going to be able to do everything well. You need to find the sweet spot, to light a duty machine and it will struggle or worse not be able to do the job while too much machine will have to be dumbed down and still may not do a nice job. Both situations can be frustrating to say the least. I would advise you take a sample of your stuff that you are planning on doing to a dealer and see what does a nice job. It sounds like your local dealer has both a brand name machine (Juki) and clone machines so you could do a honest side by side comparison. Buy the best you can afford. Buy Once, Cry Once. kgg

Nice simple functional design. kgg

In my case I ask for a quote for the same model Juki, some needles, spare bobbin holder, extra bobbins, couple of spools of thread, binder with swing arm from a fairly local dealer in Ottawa (about an hours drive) and a dealer in Toronto about 4 hours away. The difference was approximately $1000 dollars in the difference. Both dealers are in major centres in the same province so their overhead / paperwork / taxes etc. should be about the same. Why the difference, the dealer in Toronto didn't sell at a loss so it pays to shop around. kgg

I like to buy local when possible as it is great to support local businesses but the prices have to be fairly competitive. The magic number for me is $200 CAD on expensive items else I look elsewhere. The method of costing some items locally of $1 for the item plus a $1 for profit plus a $1 for "dealing with the customer" just doesn't cut it anymore. kgg

I don't have experience with any post bed machine but looking at the specs for both machines the Cobra can handle V92 thread while the Techsew can only handle V69. I guess it is going to come down to what maximum size of thread you are planning are using now or in the future. This may mean that neither of those two machines are going to be suitable for your needs. I feel that the heavier a thread a machine is rated to use, the more robust the construction. kgg

Condensation may become a problem depending on how well the structure is insulated and the temperature / humidity swings inside the shop. The ideal situation would be to keep the shop well above zero probably around the 55 + F mark but this may not be an expense that is feasible if you are only occasionally using the shop area. Large temperature as well as humidity swings can play havoc on fluids, all sorts of materials and equipment. I think a converted attached garage or basement area maybe a better option with proper ventilation to get rid of any chemical odours. kgg

For me when I am looking to purchase something handmade I want quality workmanship using quality materials. For me handmade is something made by hand. But you got to be willing to pay for it. I equate back to my grandfather (master tailor) days the difference. He would call some of the other tailors in the family, factory tailors. Yes they could do some nice work but were lacking on some skills. They relied predominately on patterns and machines to provide items that would fit a range of individuals. A master could do that but also had the knowledge and ability to create an article to fit a individual perfectly from scratch with nothing more then scissors, tape, caulk and thread. The difference in workmanship is amazing just compare your off the rack $100 suit with a $5000 suit. kgg

Have you tried contacting someone who repairs industrial machines maybe a good used brand name such as Juki, Singer, Pfaff, Alder like Mark Rofini of Industrial sewing machine at industrialsewmachine.com kgg

For the serious pullers, like Akita's / Alaskan Malamute's / Mastiff's / Black Russian Terrier etc. is a good quality prong collar like mdv99 suggested. When a quality prong collar is properly sized, put on properly and most importantly used correctly it is like having power steering on your car. You could almost walk them with the prong collar and a shoe string for a lead. You can get cheap prong collars do not use them. A quality prong collar has the prong ends rounded nicely so there are no sharp bits that could stick or stab the neck of the dog. A way to test is rub the end of the prongs over your arm if it scratches your flesh then it is of poor quality. A lot of pet shops do carry them but you have to ask for them as most stores don't openly display them. What I have done for difficult dogs is put their regular collar on and the prong collar. Hook the lead to the prong collar for a time then transfer the lead to the regular collar and see what happens. Loss of control then hook backup to the prong collar eventually just putting the prong collar on the dog will cause the dog to behave properly. When I have had to use a prong collar to correct the pullers it is only for short ten minute bursts in an enclosed safe area, lots of special treats and then followed by twenty minutes of enjoyable time. kgg

I look forward to seeing the pattern cutting stuff. Working on a 3d print for a adjustable (0-50mm) swing-away edge guide and a adjustable (20 - 50mm) bias folder. kgg

We are using the new MK3S which comes with the new and 'improved' rough texture PEI flex steel removable bed. The only way to get consistency with first layer sticking is to use Elmers blue glue stick. Only alternative is to take rought steel wool and roughen it up. Which we do not want to do. Glue works perfect for PLA, but PETG is too sticky for just glue - thus tape layer. Its old school but it works. At some point will replace with the older 'smooth' version (as soon as the new firmware is bug fixed for having multiple bed plates - right now 3.8.0 is buggy - as that way we can dial in z-height for both beds... or use one for PETG which needs a slightly higher nozzle vs PLA). It is on the list of upgrades. For temperatures we used a modified version of 'Pretty PLA' and 'Pretty PETG' that has been dialed in for our specific machine. Usually 160 noz + 60c bed for 49 point bed levelling (the PID can get wonky with fully heated nozzle) and then increases to 215/70C for PLA, or 240/80 for PETG. Of course fan is off for first few layers 3 to 7 depending on material to keep curling to a min, and extrusion width is set to either .95 or .92 depending on material (once again dialed in for our machine so may be different for others). For the hassle factor of PETG we will at some point go to carbon fibre or nylon or more exotic 3M materials (such as the 316L they recently released)... and build a tent for a heated enclosure. That of course also means going from a E3D NozzleX .4mm to a .6 NozzleX or .8mm so as to reduce clogs with the larger fibres. Never going back to brass nozzles as the Nozzle X never clogs (even leaving PETG in the head for a day or three and then using PLA it just flows out first time, every time). We have set the orientation so that the gcode tells the printer to print lines mostly via X or Y travel rather then X plus Y travel - it's faster and more precise that way. kgg

I would investigate dealers within a two hour driving distance and then expand the radius to four max. Seattle should be fairly close and have industrial sewing machine dealers. kgg

Have you considered making a road trip to a couple dealers that way you could take some of your stuff along and see what machine would work best for you. Purchasing at a dealer fairly close to home maybe something to consider from a support/repair point. kgg

I should have added that for the Vape/Bobbin Holder we used PETG (black) filament, for the Bobbin Stand and Bobbin Thread Guide we used PLA(+) filament. The colours in the photos of the thread stand and bobbin guide were just magic marker rubbed over the surface to added some effect for the photos. We had to replace the .4 nozzle that came with Pursa i3 with a Nozzle X after about 40 hours of operation. Didn't like the PETG filament had to use masking tape on the bed, print at half speed and fiddle with the temperature setting to get decent results. The PLA(+) gave overall better and faster results with just washable glue stick rubbed over the bed. We will be using mostly the PLA(+) in various colours in the future. kgg

We are using a Prusa i3 printer, Autodesk Fusion 360 for basic design and Cura for slicing. kgg

Dang, you have been outbid on the Juki. Gave up smoking, did that for 52 years and started vaping about three years ago. No ill effects so far other then the sense of smell and taste that were laying dormant for so long came back with a vengeance, still love the smell of a good cig or cigar. Had a small smoking habit of between two and four packs a day every day. No cancers, breathing or heart issues just decided to try something different. Can vape to my hearts content for under $30 a month which is a lot cheaper then feeding the smoking habit. We make our own vape so I take full responsibility for all aspects with regard to the source and quality of ingredients, mixture of ingredients, taste and the level of nicotine. I wouldn't recommend to anyone to try vaping but if you smoke it maybe an alternative to the smoking habit. I think it's the lesser of two evils but keeps me sane which I know is debatable. kgg

Thank you chrisash. Working on two more items, an swing a way edge guide and a adjustable binding folder which I am hoping will work. kgg

This is an overview shot of the setup showing the bobbin/vape holder on the front of the sewing table, the bobbin thread pin guide on top of the sewing machine and the thread stand at the far right rear of the sewing table. kgg