Seeking machine recommendations

[eLeM]

I found a couple machines on marketplace that weren't mentioned in this thread, but seem like they'll work. Thoughts on these? 

Singer 211g-155 for $200, looks to be on good shape in the pictures

Singer 211g165 for $700

Cutline C225 for $350

Singer 153K103 cylinder bed for $1000

And then these various Consew 206RB's:

Consew 206RB-1 for $1250

Consew 206RB-2 for $750

Consew 206RB-5 for $1195

Sorry for the continuous questions!

 

[kgg]

7 hours ago, eLeM said:

And then these various Consew 206RB's:

As a note the higher the number at the end means the more recent the machine was made with the Consew 206rb-5 being the most recent.

Base on my own experience of owning a couple of Consews with the last one being a Consew 206RB-5 I can not recommend them.

From your list it appears you have decided on a flatbed so the next thing is decide on a budget otherwise you are going to drive yourself nuts.

Is this machine going to be your main machine and your first machine?

kgg 

 

[eLeM]

1 hour ago, kgg said:

As a note the higher the number at the end means the more recent the machine was made with the Consew 206rb-5 being the most recent.

Base on my own experience of owning a couple of Consews with the last one being a Consew 206RB-5 I can not recommend them.

From your list it appears you have decided on a flatbed so the next thing is decide on a budget otherwise you are going to drive yourself nuts.

Is this machine going to be your main machine and your first machine?

kgg 

 

Thanks for gently keeping me from the edge. This certainly is making me crazy. I'm really only steering towards flatbed because of budget reasons. That one Singer came up because it's in the range I'm able to spend right now. And for my most pressing concern being the boat seats, the cylinder arm isn't really necessary. I think I'm trying to just maximize my spend since both space and money are restrictive for getting endless machines.

It also seems that to get any machine at all, I'm going to need to drive an hour and a hall or more in almost any direction. I'm getting worn down by the idea of so much travel to see machines that maybe need work or won't actually do my boat seats. Additionally, there is no one nearby that works on industrial machines. I did find a guy that's willing to travel to me, but I don't know anything of his reputation. All that is to say that if something on the list looks more reliable than the next, I'd like to just go that direction. I looked for the other models recommended, but came up short (presumably I live in a machine void, which is odd since there are so many creative people here) and time is running out to finish my project.

I think I'm just afraid to make the wrong choice. If anything happens with whichever machine I choose, I'm likely going to have to learn to repair it myself, so good documentation and parts availability would be helpful. And you can bet I'll come back here for advice on that. Thanks to everyone for your help! 

 

[friquant]

13 hours ago, eLeM said:

Singer 211g-155 for $200, looks to be on good shape in the pictures

Cheap! Has it sewn recently, or has it been stored in a barn? (affects how much cleaning it needs).

You could ask sellers of any of these to demo sewing five layers of vinyl.

Another option is to post your own ad.

By the way, do you enjoy fixing things?

[friquant]

The cutline looks interesting. Anybody know if a manual is available for those?

 

I put in Asheville, NC and started searching. How about some of these:

Tacsew gc6-6:
https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/1217068313162876

Adler:
https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/1256624485648626/

Unknown walking foot:
https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/1411826190265789/

Nakajima:
https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/1685486795446778

[eLeM]

1 hour ago, friquant said:

Cheap! Has it sewn recently, or has it been stored in a barn? (affects how much cleaning it needs).

You could ask sellers of any of these to demo sewing five layers of vinyl.

Another option is to post your own ad.

By the way, do you enjoy fixing things?

They have a video on the listing of it starting up (some noise that goes away happens) and running without fabric or thread. So it does at least function in those ways. 

And I do love fixing things, which is why I'm kinda drawn to these older all metal machines. If I could find one with good documentation and parts availability, I'd be happy as a clam.

[eLeM]

I did manage to find a Consew CP206RL locally, and it's owned by a person in acquaintances with. She let me try it out, but I had problems getting the stitch length longer and had issues with the needle thread breaking no matter how I set the tension. I assume that if I could fix these issues that it would be a good enough machine, especially since it's local and only $500. She might even give me a discount for the issues we had with it.

[friquant]

27 minutes ago, eLeM said:

And I do love fixing things, which is why I'm kinda drawn to these older all metal machines. If I could find one with good documentation and parts availability, I'd be happy as a clam.

I like that singers have documentation. If you buy a clone, you end up finding the documentation for whatever it was cloned from.

The 211G is shown on this page: https://ismacs.net/singer_sewing_machine_company/model-list/classes-200-299.html

Do any of the machines you're looking at come with a variable speed motor? That would bring the overall cost down.

[eLeM]

4 minutes ago, friquant said:

I like that singers have documentation. If you buy a clone, you end up finding the documentation for whatever it was cloned from.

The 211G is shown on this page: https://ismacs.net/singer_sewing_machine_company/model-list/classes-200-299.html

Do any of the machines you're looking at come with a variable speed motor? That would bring the overall cost down.

Most of them are clutch motors, but I already have a servo I can swap in. 

[friquant]

46 minutes ago, eLeM said:

I did manage to find a Consew CP206RL locally, and it's owned by a person in acquaintances with. She let me try it out, but I had problems getting the stitch length longer and had issues with the needle thread breaking no matter how I set the tension. I assume that if I could fix these issues that it would be a good enough machine, especially since it's local and only $500. She might even give me a discount for the issues we had with it.

I haven't seen much good about the portable consews.

https://leatherworker.net/forum/topic/111864-consew-cp206rl/#findComment-731591