Has the " what sewing machine should I get?" topic been covered at nauseum?

[Soulagent]

Hey all, I'm new-ish to leather working but my business is growing and I'm looking for a opinions on what leather sewing machine would y'all recommend. I do mostly wallets, folios, tablet sleaves, belts and bracelets but I have also been hired to wrap door handles at a few businesses, 50 check presenters for a bar and 4 sets of restraints for a "magician". I'm looking to get in to bags as well plus I need to become faster and more efficient. I am looking at the Cobra Class 20 and the Weaver 303. Any and all suggestions are welcome.

Thanks so much for any help!

[kgg]

4 hours ago, Soulagent said:

I'm looking to get in to bags as well plus I need to become faster and more efficient. I am looking at the Cobra Class 20 and the Weaver 303. Any and all suggestions are welcome.

Two very different machines.

i) Both are flatbed clone machines more then likely made in China. 

ii) The Weaver 303 is similar to the Juki 1181N (made in China) a walking foot machine and max's out at V92 thread.

iii) The Cobra Class 20 is similar to the Juki 1541S (made in Japan) a compound walking foot and max's out at V207 thread.

4 hours ago, Soulagent said:

I'm looking to get in to bags

This type of work is better done on a cylinder arm machine. Remember that you can add a flatbed attachment to a cylinder arm machine to do work best done on a flatbed but you can't change a flatbed into a cylinder arm machine. You may want to consider a Juki LS-1341 or clone machine with a flatbed attachment rather then a flatbed machine.

What is the size of thread you are wanting to sew with and in what thickness of leather?

kgg

Edited March 18 by kgg

[Soulagent]

Thanks so much for the info. All of my stuff is currently hand stitched and I use .8mm Ritza and I mostly use between 3oz and 5oz leather.

[kgg]

2 hours ago, Soulagent said:

All of my stuff is currently hand stitched and I use .8mm Ritza and I mostly use between 3oz and 5oz leather.

The .8mm thread size is roughly equal to V554 thread so there is really only the Juki TSC -441 and clones along with the one armed bandits that can come close to that thread size. As a comparison V138 thread is about .4mm. If thread size is a main factor the machines you highlighted will not work.

kgg