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So cutting the story short ... A Craigs List Find where the owner volunteered a price of $800 to get it out of the house (bad family memories). Please believe me that the lady knew what she was doing, understood the deal she was giving me, and that I did not fast talk some poor widow (also very not poor). Seiko STH 8BLD3 .. much like the more common Consew 206RB5, new table with servo motor and foot operated foot lifter .. The machine appears to have been only partially setup. No oil in the tanks, no rubber feet on the table to protect the pretty tile floor. She did not know how to thread it. So I did a basic walk through with her, oiled a little , sewed a little and gave her a chance to change her mind. Nope, she was happy that I would get use of the machine. WOW, sometimes it pays to be friendly. So I load her up and bring her home, fretting about which treadle machine will be moved to the garage. In a moment of inspiration I found that it dropped right in the Singer 31-15 table top on top of the old patcher treadle. After swapping out the handwheel for a spare monster Handwheel from a Singer 42-5 the rig sews great under treadle power. A quick experiment showed 15 layers of Sunbrella sewed fine under foot power. This would not be able to do heavy duty for leather, but will do just fine for my heavy cloth sewing (and there is always the power table if I need it). Thought you guys would like to know .. I understand this is a bit weird .. but it works for me. Lee

So cutting the story short ... A Craigs List Find where the owner volunteered a price of $800 to get it out of the house (bad family memories). Please believe me that the lady knew what she was doing, understood the deal she was giving me, and that I did not fast talk some poor widow (also very not poor). Seiko STH 8BLD3 .. much like the more common Consew 206RB5, new table with servo motor and foot operated foot lifter .. The machine appears to have been only partially setup. No oil in the tanks, no rubber feet on the table to protect the pretty tile floor. She did not know how to thread it. So I did a basic walk through with her, oiled a little , sewed a little and gave her a chance to change her mind. Nope, she was happy that I would get use of the machine. WOW, sometimes it pays to be friendly. So I load her up and bring her home, fretting about which treadle machine will be moved to the garage. In a moment of inspiration I found that it dropped right in the Singer 31-15 table top on top of the old patcher treadle. After swapping out the handwheel for a spare monster Handwheel from a Singer 42-5 the rig sews great under treadle power. A quick experiment showed 15 layers of Sunbrella sewed fine under foot power. This would not be able to do heavy duty for leather, but will do just fine for my heavy cloth sewing (and there is always the power table if I need it). Thought you guys would like to know .. I understand this is a bit weird .. but it works for me. Lee

Hi Folks, My first post here. I am a kitchen knife maker who would like to make his own sheaths, knife rolls and other stuff related to knives. Ideally I would like to come up with an efficient setup, as knife making takes a good amount of my time. I plan on using a 3-ply sheath construction, and use vegetable tanned tooling leather in 8-9 oz, so I am looking for a walking foot machine capable of sewing through 3/8 of leather. I am not sure if I should be looking for the likes of Consew 206RB5 or heavier-duty machine. Could you please chime on this? For the machine, would you recommend getting one with the Servo motor? I would like to sew leather with thick nylon threads, would this affect the machine choice? Ideally, it would be the same machine that can produce quality stitches on 3/8 thick leather and thinner (knife rolls) and would not need many adjustments What other essential equipment would you recommend to get? I recognize the value of heaving right tools for the job, so I am willing to get everything that would make my work efficient and produce quality results. Equipment I have: -Grinder -Drill Press -Buffer Planning to get (please advice): -Rivet Press -Leather Knives -Mallets -T-squares -Dyes -Barge contact cement -Neatsfoot Oil & Wax Thanks in advance, Marko

I ran into this machine recently, a Consew 206RB5. Here's the deal. I currently own a Cobra 4 machine, I make mostly belts and holsters, but I would like to add handbags and wallets to my portfolio. Would this machine help me toward that goal or not? I guess the question is, are there reasons a Consew 206RB5 machine would be able to do things my Cobra 4 would be less suited for. Additionally, I plan to give about $650 for the Consew, they want $750. Is this a good price for a used machine? What should I look for on this machine as far as function, appearance, operation? I have no experience with Consew machines. Thanks, Steve