Consew 220

[Wizcrafts]

Hey Wiz,

I'm just starting out sewing leather - mostly bags and backpacks. I was wondering what you thought of this item, the SEWSTRONG 607 Leather Portable Upholster walking foot industrial sewing machine. I found one on ebay and I liked the price, but thought that I would see what you had to say on the matter.

Do you think this machine would work for what I'm looking to do with it?

Thanks for all you help!

That (RE-607) is a portable dual feed walking foot machine, with a driven outer presser foot and bottom feed dog, both with teeth. It's identical to the Rex RX-607 and Alphasew, Thompson, etc. It is fine for use on small upholstery and sail repair jobs, using outdoor canvas, Sunbrella and Naugahyde or similar vinyls.Not so good on leather, unless it is very thin and soft. Capacity is around 1/4 inch of compressed soft material. It will handle thread sizes up to #92, using a #20 needle, but it will last longer using #69 thread and a #18 needle. The motor is rated at 1/10th horsepower, which is about 1/5 to 1/8 the average power used in real walking foot machines (1/2 to 3/4 HP).

That said, if you have any plans to sew medium or hard leather, or any stack exceeding 1/4 inch, or with thread sizes 138 or larger, this is not the machine you want. It will bend the presser foot drive lever and seize shafts in their cheap bearings. These are Chinese clones of other clones of earlier clones of the Thompson portable. The best of the bunch is the current models from Sailrite, as they have beefed up moving parts and connecting rods and better bearings.

I made the mistake of buying a machine like this off eBay. It arrived with the main shaft seized from handling by the carriers, although the box had no external damage. The drive levers could be bent with your hands. I was lucky enough to get a partial refund after paying to ship it back.