Bagdude

Thanks for your input!

Let me begin by saying that I’ve read quite a bit on the forums here. The good news is that I don’t see a lot of product bashing(very encouraging). It's been very educational. So, thanks in advance to everyone who’s contributed to this topic so far. My dilemma... I’ve been making handbags and shaving kit type bags out of cloth materials incorporating webbing and fusing products for rigidity. I’ve recently started playing with vinyl. Up till vinyl, my Janome machine worked just fine. (Why do I think some of you are grinning right now?!) The The Janome is a great machine, but it’s just not designed for layers of that type of material. I watched a bunch of handbag makers on YouTube and many of them are using the Juki 1181N. I thought, “Well, that must be the one to get!” But not so fast… I called around and found the local guy in our area that services Juki industrial machines. He said that though the Juki 1181N would work, I should probably move on up to a “real” walking foot machine like the Juki 1541 especially if I wanted to move into leathers. It’s amazing how the internet is full of so much information, but seems to be so limited in other areas. Getting information about industrial machines can be a bit exhausting. Of course, I now know that once you enter the industrial sewing machine arena that the machines all serve specific purposes, and we all know I want one that does it all! But again, it doesn’t work that way. And I accept that. So, I talked more with the service guy and asked him if he had a customer that’s doing what I want to get into? He gave me a local leather worker that makes lots of leather products including handbags. Of Course the leather worker said, “I get over 200 calls a year from people telling me they want to get into the handbag business and I’m going to tell you exactly what I told them.. Don’t do it! There’s no money in it, and the customers are very challenging and on and on and on…” He was actually a really nice guy, and I appreciated his honesty, but the truth is I’m getting into this because I enjoy it. I already have my own business, so I am not dependent on handbags as my income. It’s a creative outlet for me. (I am sure most of you appreciate where I’m coming from.) After informing him that I was doing this for myself and using it as a creative outlet, he then started talking to me about exactly what I was wanting to do, and the materials I wanted to use. Though the service guy recommended Juki, the leather worker recommended LeatherMachineco’s Cobra 26. I had never heard of this company, but then again why would I have? I wasn’t doing anything with leather, and it was all very new to me. I mean think about it… up until last week I thought VEG leather was some kind of vegetarian leather... well you get the point. =) So, after reading further in the forums I then starting seeing posts indicating that the Cobra 26 was just a clone of a Juki Model(some number goes here) and that there are 2 other clones(TechSew and something else) and yada yada yada. One of the most important aspects to me besides having the right tool for the job is having a tool that has great support. The local leather worker spoke very highly of the support he got on his Cobra 26. Additionally, the Juki service guy in the area seemed very knowledgeable as well regarding Juki products. I’ve also heard great things about Tech Sew. Many of the bag makers I spoke with and followed aren’t really working with leather. So, they are not very familiar with leather sewing machines. One feature that I like regarding the Cobra 26 was the ability to attach the flatbed when needed. So here I am floating in a sea of indecision trying to make the best choice. If I've left something off the list then please let me know. I’d love to hear any/all advice comments, concerns, thoughts from y’all.