Cylinder Bed vs Flat Bed?

[AlainaZ]

The makerspace I volunteer at is in the market for a Juki walking foot. We only have room for one machine. 

The question is which should we buy: a cylinder bed or a flat bed? I have experience fixing both but have spent little time actually sewing projects on them so I don't have a good sense of how versatile each type is. 

Our members could come in with any kind of leather sewing project: handbags, pants, upholstery, so my aim is to get the machine that will be best overall for the biggest variety of projects.

 Any opinions?

[fredk]

imho, get the cylinder arm. You can always attach a flat bed for when its needed, but you can't take the flat bed off that type and make it cylinder arm

[TomE]

I guess a flat bed is good for feeding heavy/bulky projects but I don't own one.  I have several cylinder arm machines.  The Cobra Class 26 (LS341 clone) is a favorite for lighter leathers and sewing webbing/fabric on horse blankets and gear.  It is easy to use and can handle a variety of thicknesses and shapes.  

[dikman]

A cylinder arm will be the most versatile, as fred said you can always buy, or make, a flatbed attachment for it - if you find you need it.