Wdiaz03

Thank you, good info, This machine uses 15x1 which I think is the same as me old singer slant-o-matic 401A that I picked up at a goodwill for $25 years ago. But I have not tried it. I did order 10 needles packs of 14, 16, 18, 20, 22 from aliexpress and those were $0.25 a pack. I will order T60 T90 and T135 from amazon soon. that should get me going. The only issue is the thick leather. I ordered a bag if scrap from ebay for $17 which seems expensive, don't know. As i said before the thinner stuff I find easily as people discard furniture and I take chucks of leather from those. any ideas on sourcing scraps of leather would be helpful. It seems that what I got from ebai neesds to be stained but that seems like another can of worms. Quick question regarding locking the ends of a stitch, do i start 2 stitches away from the corner, stitch 2 stitches to the corner, then reverse over those and continue on? Thanks,

Thank you all for the great replies, I ended up buying it from ebay for #114 and it arrived quickly. First thing was taking the machine apart and scrubbing it with mineral spirit. Then it was on to grind the rough spots, and bending and aligning stuff. sanding sliding surfaces and applying grease. and oil. End result is that it runs pretty smooth. i only have the nylon fishing line looking string it comes with and have tried it on leather and rubber. seems to work. Want to align round ring on top of the head some more since foot is higher on one side than the other, this causes different size stitches when rotating the foot. other than that I'm ready to venture on my first project. a pocket holster that prints like a wallet. Have the pattern cut. Unfortunately I don't have a Facebook account and i'm hesitant to create one, but that seems like a nice source of wisdom, I mostly watched youtube videos and that got me going. Also I'm new to leather or sewing in general over the years a have salvaged leader form discarded furniture knowing i would eventually would try to sew it. I ordered some scrap of thick leather from ebay as i don't know where to get it. Ideally one could dumpster dive at a local leather goods factory. but do those exist anymore I've attached a sample of rubber and leather tests on he rubber I changed stich length while stitching just to see. Thanks again.

Sorry about the mixed up, I posted the first link that showed up on amazon just because it matched the design of machine I was looking at. I can't seem to find the aluminum one anymore on Amazon, The prices are now on the $140 and up. the machine I saw then was identical but in the description it noted in big letters being a newer (improved) design from aluminum saving 5lbs in weight etc. and it was the cheapest of the chinese cobblers at $120. I also asked a seller of the cheapest cobbler on ebay if his was aluminum thinking that the cheapest ones were being made of aluminum now to save on weight. and he replied it was. I purchased it for $114 and it was cast iron when it arrived, which I don't mind. his reply was that the manufacturer was producing both batches and got it wrong.

Thanks all for the replies and suggestions, I pulled the trigger on an aluminum version from ebay. $114 shipped. I obviously have little expectations, sometimes I'm pleasantly surprised with some of the Chinese stuff for the use I give them. Example the Harbor Freight $10 angle grinder. So it's not a Makita but it has been working for a few years now for what I needed it to do. oR their mig welder for that matter, So I'm hoping this will be the same. Nothing fancy just being able to do some ugly but functional work.

https://www.amazon.com/Cobbler-Machine-Leather-Mending-Shipping/dp/B08Q34KZLD/ref=mp_s_a_1_9?dchild=1&keywords=cobbler+sewing+machine&qid=1613366072&sr=8-9 this is the type of machine, its purely as a hobby , more for functional items than aesthetics. For knife sheaths, etc

Hi all. I'm new to leather working. I was looking to get a cheap chinese machine. I noticed Amazon has one for $120 with aluminum body. Is there a benefit to getting the cast iron body vs aluminum? Will there be flex etc to consider? Thanks.