Cylinder Arm Or Flat Bed

[wxp]

I was wondering which version works best for say sandals, flip flops, shoes moving on to garments...chaps, belts a cylinder arm w/a bed attachment or straight up flat bed?? which would be more versatile??

there are SOOO MANY different models to choose from for sewing leather, reading everything just confuses me more. I would like something that would cover all the bases at least to start w/as my budget won't allow for multiple machines. Example the Tech Sew 4100 starts at a minimum 6oz leather, what if I wanted to sew something other than that that only amounted to say 4 oz but also wanted to sew 1/2 combined products, i.e. leather, cork, rubber or some variation.

Thoughts??

Thanks

[dirtclod]

Get one of the heavier machines one that will sew 3/4 and get a 16 inch arm you will be glad you did. I don't think that you will use the flat bed part as often as you think you will but i could be wrong to.

[KAYAK45]

I'll add to dirtclod's post. You can always add/get a flat bed for the round arm. Haven't seen anybody trim a flat bed to a cylinder.

Also, for the possibility that you ever want to sell you machine, the +16" are the new standard and will be for ...say.. the next fifty years.

Call Bob @ Toledo Industrial about sewing thin material on the CB 4500.

You also mentioned your budget. A GREAT machine for lite weight material is a Singer 31-15 and can be aquired for ~~$250 complete. So maybe you can afford two!

[Sylvia]

One thing you must consider is versatility, and size of the "harp" of your machine. Take a look at any "cheap" home machine these days and you can barely get your hand under there to sew... let alone a big gob of fabric.

The same thing goes for leather machines. the longer the arm the more reach you'll have and the more material can be placed to the right of the sewing area. Also the arm allows you easier access to tight areas.

I can tell you that I've sewn on a flat bed industrial and it can be very frustrating to try to get into tight spots and sew a clean line. (Like top stitching around the outside shoulder of a jacket, or sewing on a cuff)

I vote for the cylinder arm machine you can always buy the bed attachment later or just have one made for you.

[Techsew Ron]

A good point mentioned earlier in this thread is that most dealers carry a few used lock stitch machines for sewing garment weight leather and other light materials (chaps, boot tops, vests etc). This plus the Techsew 4100 = success !

Ron

[joppstack]

Sylvia had alot of great points.... I agree Cylinder arm, just a much more versitile machine.

[CowboyBob]

What's nice about a cylinder arm is you can always buy or make a flatbed table for it.Our Cowboy cylinder arm machines outsell the flatbeds by 20-1.

Bob

[wlg190861]

What's nice about a cylinder arm is you can always buy or make a flatbed table for it.Our Cowboy cylinder arm machines outsell the flatbeds by 20-1.

Bob

how thin of material can you sew with the CB4500?

[billymac814]

I can sew pretty thin material on my cb4500. I made a wallet a bit ago and most of it was a couple layers of 3-4 oz but a section was just one layer and it did fine. I could have used my flatbed machine but I really like sewing on the CB better so I used it. I'd like to get a 227r since its like a mini version of the 4500 and would be better suited for the thin stuff. You're also limited by needle choices with the 4500 for thin stuff, you have to use round point for anything thinner than 138 thread.

[Anne Bonnys Locker]

If you can only afford one machine then buy the biggest cylinder arm you can afford. Making a flat bed for it is easy.

You will need other machines but over time you will come across them for around $200 each.

What tends to happen is that once people know you collect machines then they appear from all sorts of places.