Singer 281-22 Needle Feed - Reverse? 5/6 Oz Chaps Leather?

[kc1200r]

Hello. A newbie here, looking for a versatile sewing machine that can handle a wide variety of outdoor materials, from lightweight silnylon to heavy cordura nylon, and canvas, and up to some degree of soft leather.

Through some other posts, it looks like a Singer 281-22 needlefeed would pretty much fit at least most of that bill.

I found a manual that covered several machines in the 281 series. It doesn't mention reverse.

Do those machines have reverse? If not, anyone know how that operation was intended to be done in a production setting? Was the fabric just rotated, or was it maybe assumed the machines would be run on 3-phase AC motors with their ability to run in reverse?

Also, would the 281-22 have the capability to sew two layers of 5/6 oz chrome tanned or deer tanned cowhide in a lap seam? ( I don't know if there is a more standard term for deer tanned cowhide...)

Hoping wizcrafts or gottaknow will have an interest in the question.

Thanks,

Lee

[SARK9]

I think I would suggest getting a quality older "home" machine to do the delicate stuff like silnylon, oxford cloth and all the thinner materials, unless you already have the 281 and you need to sew 300mph forward only. Then if you still can use a machine with no reverse, look for a bargain on something like a singer 111w155 for everything else.

I have a very similar Singer 251-21 (no needle feed) that I use for a dedicated binder on lots of relatively heavy cordura projects myself. I did put a servo on it as well. The amazing number of accessories and attachments, plus the spare parts *everywhere* does make this series pretty versatile, so if you don't need reverse the price is usually pretty attractive on these machines. There are feed dog/needle plate combos for virtually any sort of fabric out there. Myself, I'm looking for a #140257 feed eccentric stop screw for my 251 to give it the 5-1/2 stitch per inch option.

-DC

Edited January 27, 2014 by SARK9

[kc1200r]

Thanks sark9. I had the impression that needle feed would be relatively necessary for the slicker fabrics. Do the vintage-ish home machines do ok with that?

Lee

[SARK9]

Check my earlier post for some further thoughts- I had to go handle something right in the middle of it. Most of the non-high production people I know that do projects with silnylon or 1.3/1.1 oz ripstop etc. tend to make biggish items and find the turn-material-around-to-back-tack option a bit of a pain, and so they prefer having a reverse built in. Most of the better old-school home machines have that and some are very good for this fabric type. There are other ways to backtack with no reverse that may work for you- bumping the knee lift just enough and pulling the fabric backwards is one, or the "pull the top thread thru the fabric and hand knot it to the bobbin thread" technique is another. I'm sure the folks that grew up with these machines know other ways too. I was actually looking for a 281-22 when someone gave me the 251!

-DC

[gottaknow]

281-22's are a very versitle machine. They easily handle flimsy nylon up to garment leather. Aside from being needle feed, you can set the stitch length different for the top and bottom. This allows very lightweight fabrics to lay flat. Backtacking is done by sewing to the end, lifting the foot slightly, pulling back the material a few stitches and simply overlapping. A skilled operator does this nearly as fast as a reverse. These truly are an amazing versitle machine that we still use for production. I have about 40 of them.

Regards, Eric

[gottaknow]

Oh, I forgot to add that the 281-22 will struggle with 2 ply of 5/6 oz. It will handle 2 ply of soft garment leather 2/3 oz, including deer hide. The good news is these machines are plentiful and can usually be bought for a few hundred $. Worth having for many uses.

Regards, Eric

[kc1200r]

DC and Eric, thanks for your information.