Help! What Sewing Machine Is The Best All Around

[alberta]

what sewing machines are the best for general leather work I have a 29k and its good but small bobin . always runs out of thread at the wrong time . i seek the eperience and knowledge of all you folks who can point me in the right direction. i like treadle machines but modern electric would be great to.

[TwinOaks]

You need to be a little more specific. What kind of leather work will you be doing? That's important because there is no "best" machine that does EVERYTHING.....all have limits of some sort.

[BillB]

TwinOaks is correct you need to be more specific and even then there will be a range of machines to decide from. Here are some things to consider:

1. Maximum thickness that you plan to sew. This would be all the layers of leather in a project that form the sewing edge. For example, the Writing Bi-Folds I do go from two layers to four layers with the thickest point being about 1/2 inch and the thinnest being about 1/8 inch. So the machine I use has to be able to handle at lest 1/2 inch. You then need to add some margin on top of that since the thickness of each bi-fold is dependent on the leather I got, so I went to one that can handle 3/4 inch thickness.

2. What types and thickness of thread will you be using, this will determine needle size along with the thickness.

3. How much room do you need in the arm of the machine?

4. How much room do you have for this machine? Does it also need a flat work space. For example, my machine is on a small rolling platform that allows me to slip project over the arm when doing seams inside something like a purse. I can also attach a work platform around the arm so I have a flat work space for doing the Bi-Folds.

5. How hard are you going to work the machine, e.g. hours of use per day? This then goes with: How do you plan to have it serviced if it need to be done? Is it important to have a dealer in the area?

6. Although most are pretty standard, what types of control do you want on the machine and platform. This is especially important when consider speed control.

7. And of course there is always the question of cost.

BillB