Troy1

Hey Guys, you are correct most of the castings originate from the same place as they are all 441 clones. Most of these companies offering these machines are small privateers and don't have R&D budgets to develop their own castings. That doesn't necessarily mean they're all the same though. When researching my buy, I found there are many ways to build up off that casting that leads to one machine being a bit better than another. Parts choices ultimately make a difference in how the machine sews out. Additionally, Steve, the owner of Cobra ran technical service for Artisan for years and really knows his stuff. He's a technician and a customer service guy first, and a salesman second. On top of that he's one of the few that Ive found that sincerely wants to help and not always needs to pocket a nickel every time for doing so. Not to say you wouldn't be happy with other machines too, but Steve goes beyond his competition in building up a 441 clone and most certainly stands behind his customers in supporting them any way he can. A search on this forum will confirm what I'm saying, buy a cobra and you a get a piece of Steve in the deal...priceless!

Selling my still new Cobra 4 machine. I bought it at the same time I bought several new Jukis to start my bag company. It was my plan to use this machine for sewing heavier leather bags but went into sewing more canvas and it was more machine than I needed. Machine is perfect with less than a bobbin load sewn through the machine. Accessories include heavy duty stand, table top, presser feet, needle plates, roller edge guide and 4 big pools of thread. Rare color, Steve offered me a choice of cream or brown when I bought the machine and I preferred having it match my other equipment Asking $2,000 firm. I'm in Portland Oregon. Please email philobag@gmail.com or PM Thanks for looking!

Selling my still new Cobra 4 machine. I bought it at the same time I bought several new Jukis to start my bag company. It was my plan to use this machine for sewing heavier leather bags but went into sewing more canvas and it was more machine than I needed. machine is perfect with less than a bobbin load sewn through the machine. Accessories include heavy duty stand, table top, presser feet, needle plates, roller edge guide and 4 big pools of thread. Asking $2,000 firm Please email philobag@gmail.com

Hi All, I have a literally new Cobra 4 that I bought from Steve thinking I would be doing some canvas bag manufacturing. I bought a Juki 1508 at the same time and after sewing literally one bag off the Cobra I switched to the Juki and it hasn't been used since. The table etc is still in its bubble wrap and Ive not used more than one quarter of a single bobbin through the machine. Comes with the roller guide, and most of the other accessory presser feet including the saddle blanket one. Save a bunch of money and a lot in shipping if you're in the North West, $2,000 firm email or pm philobag@gmail.com

The cyclone is similar yet different, the cyclone was the top of the line model. The Campbell machine is my second choice, do you know of one? Thanks for the reply. Troy

Hi All, Looking for a Campbell Cyclone, I know they're very rare and hard to find, and I'd probably be better off playing the lottery, but I thought if there was a shot it would be here on leatherworker.net. Anyway I know there are a few shops with them out there, I'm looking for one in any condition. If you have one or know of anyone and can lend a hand in leading me in the right direction that would be great. Thanks Much!

"Barrier of entry" can be beautiful thing if you're on the right side of the fence. Like most companies that end up building specialty items in house, too often there isn't an off the shelf tool that's right for the job. LV has huge resources and budget to make whatever sort of tooling they need. If you were to see their shop floor, you'd find nearly everything in there, with the exception of their basic lockstitch machines, are one-off tools designed and built by them....and they like to keep things private...just try getting a factory tour, not going to happen. The best thing to do is try to learn from the few clips and pics that are out there and from there reverse engineer and build your own tools.

I was about to get a quote on my first maker's stamp from them...just got the art ready this past week. Sounds like I might be better off searching out someone else. Any recommendations?

The other difficult issue that has to be considered here is fixed stitch length. I've been perimeter sewing on leather for a while now and the typical problem I run into is that last stitch before you hit a corner to turn. Most of the time it just falls in the wrong place. Go one more stitch and you are off the edge of the leather, or turn where you've landed and you're in too far. The only real way to do this consistently in a production environment is with a programmable tacker. The stitches can be pre-programed to accommodate the pattern (ie variable stitch spacing). Problem here is that you need to add a couple more zeroes to your budget....that's a big sting!

I just got my cobra series 4 this past week. The machine is great and Steve has never missed a call from me asking silly newbie questions.

I'll have to try the edge guide on my machine. I'm a real newbie so my biggest issue is not enough seat time behind a machine. I've been trying to bind edges with 1.5-2 oz tooling leather and even that thin it seems that it is still stiff and not wanting to bend over on itself. If you get a chance could you post a pic of the right angle folder that goes on the machine. Again thanks for the input and sharing your work with us, this site has a lot of great folks on it.

Great Looking bags! Can someone tell me more about the seiko edge binding machines. I've been hand molding my edge binding pieces and havn't been able to get a folder attachment to work very well. Thanks !

Thanks DeeAnna, I appreciate the advice and tips on our approach. I think the conway will work out well. Once a person fits the length to them I can't imagine changing it much from there on out.

I'm new here to the forum and after reading many posts, I decided to pony up and buy a machine. I decided on A Juki 441 based machine and distilled that down to the Artisan or Cobra. After seeing the specials and all the banter, I called both Artisan and Steve. Completely different experiences I must say! A bunch of bragging from Artisan followed by the comment that the pricing was for the show only (although their post reads completely different)! I decided to go with Steve and I'm happy I did. I just met him at his new showroom this past week and he is a great guy and setting up a nice business. Although a newcomer, I coudn't reccomend Steve more! He's a straight shooter for sure!