Sewing Machine For Golf Bag

[Pinsplitter]

hiii there, found you all.

complete and utter newbie here but i have seen cows in a paddock.

so if i wanted to attempt to make a leather golf bag,

what type of machine would be best.

my first day's research seems to say a walking foot barrel/cylinder arm thing would be best.

a flat on bench machine would make some of the stitching difficult to do i think.

i am Australian BTW but in Thailand for 2 months, i don't know much about what's available in these countries.

mainly , if i did buy a machine i don't want to make a mistake buying something that won't really do the job.

Thanks in advance.

[Trox]

Hi, To help you I need to know the answers to this questions; do you want to produce golf bags for sale or make one for your self? Material size/weight and seams in construction?

Trox

[Wizcrafts]

Golf bags are usually sewn on Puritan chain stitch machines, with 36 inch high posts. The mechanism is needle and awl. The thread is usually linen and run through liquid wax, but bonded polyester will do fine. Puritan machines are made and sold in the USA..

If a Puritan is not in your budget, a long arm, big bobbin, Adler 30-70 patcher will do.

It is also possible to sew golf bags on a 441 clone, like a Cowboy or Cobra. You would want at least a 16.5 inch arm, but the 25 inch arm would make it easier to sew along the center of the bag. The length would have to be sewn together, wrong sides out, then inverted to have the bottom plug sewn on with a French seam.

[Wizcrafts]

I just read on the Puritan website that they make chainstitch cylinder arm machines that sew up the arm! The longest so far is a 36" arm!

[Pinsplitter]

hii

thanks for replies.

i would like to make them for resale - a small (very small) business.

but also make them well and looking classy.

I have been looking for a craftsman or small factory here in Thailand to do them for me,

this is seeming much more difficult than you might think, plenty of large factories who have no interest in small orders of special fabric and design.

so Plan B is to set up my own "factory" (one man in a room!) and i would have to supply the sewing machine

and learn a lot about the construction of the bags myself to make sure its done right.

$2000 or more is a lot to invest for such small quantities but i do understand the need for a proper machine to do it well and efficiently.

i will have to think hard about it (hmmm.. where's that business plan again??).

sourcing the leather should be easy, there are literally hundreds of tanning factories just 45 minutes away from where i am now.

and hardware should be ok as soon as i can find a supplier.

the largest bag would be about 36 inches x 8 inches diameter with fairly simple pockets,

and possibly a smaller even more simple one as well.

at the moment i don't know the actual leather thickness needed,

it would be fairly light designed for on shoulder carrying as well as on a trolley/buggy.

that's about all i know!

it would be similar in style to this pic (its vinyl and fabric of course).

[Pinsplitter]

errr gosh..here we go... all the things i don't know.

Lockstitch - is that the type of stitch i need?

Stitch length - do the machines have variable stitch length?

Lining - could they sew a lightweight fabric to leather?

thanks again

[Wizcrafts]

It looks like the golf bag in your photo was sewn on a Puritan Alligator, with a 36 inch arm. This machine sews up the arm, as opposed to around the end. A second machine is used to sew the ends around a vertical post or the end of an arm.

Puritan machines are chainstitch machines, used in professional factories to make bags, luggage and work boots, where the chain is invisible. They are capable of sewing through aluminum and plywood. All normal leathercraft work is sewn on lockstitch machines.

If you want to duplicate the results of professional golf bag manufacturers, you'll need at least two machines (up the snout and across the snout). The $2000 you mentioned might be a down payment on just one of them! You might be advised to contact Puritan for their recommendations.

Keep in mind that these bags are sewn up the arm and across the arm. This requires two different machines. If they are lined with wood, heavy plastic, or wood, you should use a needle and awl machine. Puritans meet these requirements and are the standard machines used in the golf bag industry.

If it was me, I'd figure out a way to sew them on a standard cylinder arm machine.

[Pinsplitter]

great thanks,

that helps to clarify a few things.

you are right about finding a way to do it all on one machine.

i assume a cylinder arm machine can sew a straight line down a flat piece of material.

and do the around the sleeve as you said.

that would leave only one long joining stitch along the sleeve length, just need to figure out how to do that. By hand!!?? haa haa..

there are a lot of cheap chinese made cylinder arm machines i have looked at,

i guess its a risk, whether they work well enough and don't break down.

thanks again

[Wizcrafts]

i assume a cylinder arm machine can sew a straight line down a flat piece of material.

and do the around the sleeve as you said.

that would leave only one long joining stitch along the sleeve length, just need to figure out how to do that. By hand!!?? haa haa..

I think you have misunderstood me. The Puritan Alligator machine and its shorter arm brothers are designed to sew up the arm (left/right). The machines known as shoe patchers have 360 degree feed (18" arm max) and the old Singer Class 11 includes a model that sews up the arm. Unless somebody makes another machine with this capability, all the rest sew across the arm (forward/backward). All of the 441 machines sew across the arm.

While there are other chainstitch machines made for sewing garments, only the Puritan is strong enough to sew leather bags and luggage. It uses an awl to pierce the material, then a barbed needle comes up to feed the material. As the needle descends below the material, a bottom lever loops the thread around itself, forming a chain. These machines have no bobbin.

All standard leather sewing machines have bobbins and the top thread gets pulled around the bobbin, grabbing the bobbin thread and pulling it into the material, to form the lockstitch. Both sides are finished in lockstitch machines. They are the standard in most industries.

You should visit some industrial sewing machine dealers and describe your project to them. Keep going until you find one who knows how these bags are sewn. Or, contact our member-dealers who advertise on this website. I suspect that Toledo Industrial Sewing Machines might have something you can use to sew up the arm.

[Trox]

Hi, Wiz has described the different kinds of seams and how they are made in factories. The best set up for a small one mans shop, would be two long cylinder arm sewing machines, one with feeding across and one with feeding off the arm. Long arm lock stitch machines, types; Juki 441/ Adler 205-370 with 37-inch arms. You can also use Chinese clones of this two models, Cowboysew.com makes them (so does many other Chinese manufacturers too) But this are expensive machines even in China. 2000 $ is just the first down payment also here. You could find a way to do all seams on one long arm, across the arm feed machine, but this will give you few options on designs.

You most first make drawings and a prototype, for this job you need a professional artisan. This is the first step in the production of the bag, when this is done, you can find out what tools you need for the job.

I advise you to read up on the topics here on LW net. This way you can get an idea of how much money and work only the first step is. This will help you make a budget. To find a small shop that will make this bag for you in Asia, Thailand is not the place. You are 20 to 30 years to late for this kind of shops in Thailand, I lived in Thailand in the beginning of the 1980`s and at that time there was small productions sites there. Now you must look at other countries, maybe in Vietnam or Cambodia, you will find what you looking for, I do not know. However, if you think you will save money renting a Crafts man in one of those countries making the drawings and prototype, think again. Do not waist time and money thinking you can make those first steps yourself, making drawings and prototypes is a very complicated and time-consuming process, even for a trained saddler. If you find this craft man in Asia who knows the ways of making models, drawings the Western way, the drawings a craftsman or factory need to make the production, he or she sure cost money, also there.

Save your self time and money, read up on other people who wanted to start up making bags, search the forum. I hope this was at some help. Good luck.