Sheepskin jacket leather sewing machine

[thesoi6]

Hello i'm new here  and new to the sewing world

I wanted to start sewing soft leather jackets like those with thin sheepskin. Mostly stuff i read here are comments about though-thick leather machines. But from what i see and read sheepskin is not so though and it's hard for me to really catch topics here about such lighter leather working machines.

Will a normal semi industrial machine handle sheepskin leather (without fur)?

I think my budged is about 500-1000$ range

Any consideration which machine in that price range would work good for such materials?

Was thinking about a machine that make work like this
 

Thanks in advance
Martin

[Wizcrafts]

4 hours ago, thesoi6 said:

Will a normal semi industrial machine handle sheepskin leather (without fur)?

There is no such thing as a semi-industrial sewing machine. That's a marketing term created by eBay sellers. ;-)

The Juki in the video is a portable bottom feed machine, which was marketed to quilters. it could possibly okay for your work because the bottom of the skins can be gripped by the feed dog teeth. If you look closely at the video, you'll' see that the machine has a Teflon presser foot to help it glide without grabbing the top layer. It has a built in motor, similar to other domestic sewing machines and even uses standard household sewing machine needles. This would limit the maximum thickness to about 1/4 inch of soft to medium temper material. It might have trouble feeding reliably if your skins get heavy when butted together for sewing.

[thesoi6]

thank you @Wizcrafts for the quick reply...the video was just an example of a jacket or type or leather work...dosnt need to be this juki.

I read here most use a walking food machine and see other videos about leather jacket making with a walking food.

Maybe i have to add 200$ and get something like the Sailrite Ultrafeed LSZ?

Would that machine be able to handle such type of work for leather jacket making?

 

thanks in advance

 

[Wizcrafts]

6 minutes ago, thesoi6 said:

Maybe i have to add 200$ and get something like the Sailrite Ultrafeed LSZ?

Would that machine be able to handle such type of work for leather jacket making?

That machine does have a walking foot system called dual feed. The feed dog and ppresser foot move togehter. The stitch length can vary with the thickness. and layers could separate. Sailrite offers a version of their machine they call "The Leatherworker." It has knurled teeth on the feet to minimize marking the top of the leather. They also have upgrades that include a heavy flywheel and "WorkerB" motor for better punching power. By the time you upgrade that machine, you could buy a Consew 206RB-5, which is a full industrial compound feed walking foot machine.

[kgg]

@thesoi6

Just to tack onto what @Wizcrafts has stated.

I have owned a Reliable Barracuda, Kobe LSZ-1 and the Sailrite® Ultrafeed® LSZ Sailright with the their "new servo motor". The main difference would be maybe in build quality as the price varies for a new Sailrite clone from $400 to about $1400 USD plus shipping. Sailrite does have quite a good and in after sales support.

These portable walking foot machines are in my opinion:

i) not meant for leather work as they were designed to do sail repair work on the ocean.

ii) in reality the take up thread arm isn't really meant to work consistently with V138 and you may run into needle to hook clearance problems using V138.

iii) has a very small Singer class 15 bobbin can be purchased off places like Amazon, Temu, Aliexpress

iv) stitch length is NOT consistent and will shorten as the thickness of the material under the presser foot increases.

v) increasing the lift so to accommodate thicker material under the presser foot can be done but there can be major drawbacks and takes about an hour of fiddling around in the head.

vi) the stock presser foot and feed dog are pretty rough and the original ones will leave impressions in veg tan. You can get after market smooth ones.

vii) If you go with a Sailrite clone the holes for mounting edge guides and binding attachments may require the holes in the bed to be threaded as I have see that problem on a number of the Sailrite portable walking foot clones.

The Consew 206rb-5, which I have owned, sells new for about $1400 plus shipping so why bother buying a  " portable heavy-duty sewing machine" or " semi industrial sewing machine"? The difference between those is like trying to compare apples and oranges as both are fruit and sort of round. Don't waste your money, just get a proper industrial sewing something like the Consew 206RB-5 or a Juki DNU-1541S you will get better results.

kgg

Edited 22 hours ago by kgg

[thesoi6]

Thank you @Wizcrafts  & @kgg for that info

I see those are heavy big machines with it's own table, was more in to a lighter version that i can move from room to room or house to house with easy so for that the Sailrite Ultrafeed came to my mind because it's more compact and just a table top machine. I don't have much space at home...

What i see the new Sailrite Ultrafeed comes with a WorkerB motor

I would have no problems for buying aftermarket foot's for this machine to limit the imprints and better feeding

 

but if there are alternative sewing machines that are not as industrial huge sized please let me know

 

Edited 21 hours ago by thesoi6

[kgg]

10 hours ago, thesoi6 said:

I see those are heavy big machines with it's own table, was more in to a lighter version that i can move from room to room or house to house with easy so for that the Sailrite Ultrafeed came to my mind because it's more compact and just a table top machine. I don't have much space at home...

Yes the Sailrite Ultrafeed is a "portable" walking foot sewing machine but with the rigid carrying case the term "portable" becomes a relative term. Sort of like the old "portable" microwaves that took two people to move across the kitchen. With the machine sat in it's carrying case it turns into a very clumsy package weighting probably close to about 50lbs. Coupled that with the size of a very well constructed rigid carrying case that is about 21" long x 14" high x 10" wide and having only one top mounted carrying handle.

My experience of owning the Sailrite® Ultrafeed® LSZ, with the rigid carrying case, the shine of being able to move it more then a few feet very quickly dulled. I would suggest that you makeup a cardboard box about the same size and put say 40lbs in it. Then see if you can lift it with one arm or hold it on the bottom and then walk up a flight of stairs or across a parking lot.

Maybe it may fit your needs but I would suggest trying one first because once you buy it's yours for better or worst.

Buy Once, Cry Once

kgg