Which Machine For Leather Bags

[Waldermac]

Looking to buy a new machine for making Leather Bags, Totes, Wallets and knife sheaths. Want to spent under a grand and have some portability if possible. And use 138 nylon thread, on 4 to 8 oz veg tan leather. Looked at this:

BARRACUDA 2000U-33 online

http://www.reliablecorporation.com/Products/ZIG-ZAG/2000U-33

Its 499 here in Toronto, Canada. Wondering if that's a good machine for my purposes. Want to have good slow control and walking foot with lock-stitch. Kinda new to this whole machine sewing thing as I've been doing all hand sewing and it takes forever to finish a project. Any suggestions greatly appreciated. Don't want to be sorry I bought the wrong machine. I read the sticky on leather sewing machines but seems to me the entry level there is 1500 plus.

Edited September 18, 2011 by Waldermac

[dirtclod]

My suggestion is save the 1500.00 / 2000.00 and get a machine that you know will work and have dealer support if you need it. Down the road if you want to sell it you can get most of money back.

If you buy that one you may have a machine you need to sell plus save up the 1500.00 / 200.00 again to get something that will do what you want.

[Wizcrafts]

I fear that you will be sorely disappointed in the performance of that portable walking foot machine. You should go straight into a triple feed walking foot machine, with a motor and table and speed reducer servo motor.

When you say you want to sew knife sheathes, how thick are you talking about?

[Waldermac]

I fear that you will be sorely disappointed in the performance of that portable walking foot machine. You should go straight into a triple feed walking foot machine, with a motor and table and speed reducer servo motor.

When you say you want to sew knife sheathes, how thick are you talking about?

Not that thick, under 3/8 inch. What machine are you suggesting exactly?

[Wizcrafts]

Not that thick, under 3/8 inch. What machine are you suggesting exactly?

The reason I steered you away from the portable machine is the fact that they are not usually made with strong enough metal to withstand the pressure of sewing veg-tan leather. Also, there are teeth on the presser feet, which assist the feed dogs in feeding the material and they will mark the top of the leather (as the feed dog does to the bottom). These machines were made to sew small marine vinyl and for sail repair jobs. With a presser foot clearance of just 1/4 inch, unaltered, they will not sew anything more than a pancake of two layers of 8 ounce leather. If your work is all under or at 1/4 inch, of not too dense leather, a portable might work for you.

When it comes to portable walking foot machines, many are made with junk metal moving parts that can be bent by hand pressure on the cranks and the walking foot guide parts. You would really have to check out the way a machine is built before buying one of the portables. Or, send a sample of your leather and have the dealer sew it on that machine, using #138 bonded nylon thread.

In contrast, a recent model Consew, Chandler, Juki or equivalent walking foot machine will all sew 3/8 inch of leather, with #138 thread. The moving parts are strong and smooth at the mating surfaces. The bearings are good size and many take a large M style bobbin. All modern walking foot machines have a reverse lever, for backtacking. Even an ancient Singer 111w155 (no reverse) can sew almost 3/8 inch. Some Pfaff walking foot machines can sew 7/16 inch, due to their longer needle type (190). There are several cylinder arm machines on the market that can sew 3/8 inch.

What machines have you already looked at? Have you visited any industrial sewing machine stores? If you were to go to such a store with samples of your leather projects, they might match a suitable used machine to fit your budget.

There are few if any new leather sewing machines under $1000, capable of sewing hard leather, 3/8+ inch thick, with heavy thread, all day long. The closest would be the Cowboy CB2500, or Techsew GA1-5. These machines sell for about $1300 to $1500, depending on the setup (reverse, roller foot, edge guide, speed reducer). Both are able to sew 7/16" out of the box, with #346 bonded nylon thread. There do not appear to be any small needles for these machine, so the bottom end of their sewing would be #22 needles with #138 thread.

[CowboyBob]

Those portables don't like the 138 thread.

Bob

[busted]

Looking to buy a new machine for making Leather Bags, Totes, Wallets and knife sheaths. Want to spent under a grand and have some portability if possible. And use 138 nylon thread, on 4 to 8 oz veg tan leather. Looked at this:

BARRACUDA 2000U-33 online

http://www.reliablec...IG-ZAG/2000U-33

Its 499 here in Toronto, Canada. Wondering if that's a good machine for my purposes. Want to have good slow control and walking foot with lock-stitch. Kinda new to this whole machine sewing thing as I've been doing all hand sewing and it takes forever to finish a project. Any suggestions greatly appreciated. Don't want to be sorry I bought the wrong machine. I read the sticky on leather sewing machines but seems to me the entry level there is 1500 plus.

http://belleville.kijiji.ca/c-buy-and-sell-business-industrial-Pfaff-Industrial-Sewing-Machines-W0QQAdIdZ306327845.

I don't know exactly where you are located but you mentioned "here in Toronto, Canada" This machine should do what you want to do.

Good luck.

[busted]

http://belleville.ki...AdIdZ306327845.

I don't know exactly where you are located but you mentioned "here in Toronto, Canada" This machine should do what you want to do.

Good luck.

The link I posted for the Pfaff sewing machine does not work. You will find the sewing machine at Kijiji.ca loaction is Belleville, Ont. type in Phaff sewing machine at search bar. Wizcraft & semun are right about that portable walking foot machine. You will be disappointed at its claimed performance.

Edited September 19, 2011 by busted

[particle]

Waldermac - isn't it annoying when you have your eyes set on a particular machine and/or budget, and these guys come along and tell you to save a little bit more and buy X machine? Well, let me tell you - they're right!! If you are looking for a machine for hobby work, that's one thing. If you plan to sell your stuff, then I'd certainly recommend stepping up to one of the better powered machines with triple feed mechanisms. My first year of making holsters for others - I could have completely covered the difference in cost in just a couple months and it (a powered machine) would have made life much easier. That being said - you can't get much more portable than a Tippmann Boss while still being able to handle the stress of working with heavy leathers. I have mine clamped to the corner of a workbench...

[Waldermac]

Ok so here's the story, I went to an industrial sewing machine shop here in Toronto today and saw a used Juki LU 563 with a clutch motor that they will change to servo and it will cost 1200 all in. They also had a Reliable MSK 8400B with servo for 800. I brought four pieces of 5-6 oz veg tan and 138 thread to try on the Reliable. Two pieces went thru the machine with ease but three kinda bogged the thing down. So they are gonna try it on the Juki tomorrow. Is this a good machine to get? The tippman boss from what i could see is a manual hand operated machine ( no motor). I'm sure it works great but to ship it here will cost a couple hundred bucks. Any thoughts on the two machines I mentioned?

[Wizcrafts]

You are stretching the capabilities of the Juki LU-563. This series is a couple decades old now and was never designed to sew 24 ounces, except for denim or vinyl, which compresses under the feet. 24 ounces of veg-tan leather is hardly compressible. You would be better served with a traded in LU-1508N, possibly with high lift and system 190 LR needles. It is built tougher than its predecessors from the 1980's.