Young leather worker here, is this machine suitable for heavy duty leather upholstery?

[TwistedSister]

Hi everyone. I am new to leather working (about 2 years) and am wanting to move onto more challenging projects like upholstery. I was able to obtain this REX 381-2 for a good price and was told it was sufficient for this kind of work. 

I would appreciate if anyone could offer their opinions on this machines performance for leatherwork, and what things I can do to make it better for the task. Thank you!

Edited yesterday at 04:32 PM by Northmount
Replaced 3rd party link with downloaded and resized files.

[Wizcrafts]

2 hours ago, TwistedSister said:

Hi everyone. I am new to leather working (about 2 years) and am wanting to move onto more challenging projects like upholstery. I was able to obtain this REX 381-2 for a good price and was told it was sufficient for this kind of work. 

I would appreciate if anyone could offer their opinions on this machines performance for leatherwork, and what things I can do to make it better for the task. Thank you!

https://imgur.com/gallery/5H2Vro0

I looked at the photos you linked to. This looks like a higher speed bottom feed garment sewing machine. It specifies a needle system that's typical for garment sewing machines, but not leather sewing machines. It is not a walking foot machine of any configuration. You should keep looking until you find a walking foot machine that uses system 135x16 (leather point) and 135x17 (round point) needles. They are about a quarter inch longer than the garment machine needles used in that Rex.

Some old and new  makes and models to watch for include:

• Singer 111w155 or a 211G156 (both obsolete now, but parts can be found) 
• Juki LU-563 (1980s), DNU-1541, or LU-1508
• Consew 206RB-5

FYI: the term "walking foot" in this context indicates either a dual feed system, where the top presser foot and bottom feed dog move together, or triple/compound feed, where the presser foot, inside foot, needle and feed dog all over in sync. These two systems are used to sew upholstery materials. Note, that the feet on the dual feed system have sharp teeth on their bottoms. They will seriously mark veg-tan (carving) leather. Chrome-tan upholstery leather doesn't usually hold foot marks.

[Northmount]

14 hours ago, TwistedSister said:

Hi everyone. I am new to leather working (about 2 years) and am wanting to move onto more challenging projects like upholstery. I was able to obtain this REX 381-2 for a good price and was told it was sufficient for this kind of work. 

I would appreciate if anyone could offer their opinions on this machines performance for leatherwork, and what things I can do to make it better for the task. Thank you!

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