Juki Ddls?

[truenorth]

I know that the ddls are not for leather sewing but i need a straight stich machine for general sewing I found a couple localy ones a DDL 5550 and the other is a DDL 5530 they seem the same any body know whats the difference?There are some other DDL's that have a N at the end is this the safety clutch?Juki has so many subclasses it seems very confusing, can any body shine some light?thanks

[truenorth]

Theres gotta be a Juki specialist here!

[truenorth]

Ok narrowed it down to ddl 5550 and the 555 whats the difference? one is rounded and one is square?thanks for any help!

[truenorth]

Anybody?

[Wizcrafts]

I guess what you are finding is that being a leather sewing forum, nobody here uses those garment machines. You would be better off contacting an industrial sewing machine dealer who carries Juki machines. I know that Raphael/Techsew is a Juki dealer, located in Montreal. They are also an advertiser here.

[biglew]

you know its kinda funny but I have a couple machines that are walking foot machines for leatherwork at home.. but then I get a job working in a professional leather environment and they use smaller machines with a needle feed... or unison feed

[Wizcrafts]

I have a Singer 31-15 at home that I use for garments and flat work sewing. It has a wide range of presser feet available, including a full roller foot conversion. Although it's manually oiled, the machine is still capable of spinning at over 30 stitches per second, into denim. A Juki DDL-8500 would be nicer, but I have no commercial need for such a machine in my situation. Still, the thought of controlling a sewing machine capable of sewing 90 stitches per second stirs my imagination.

[Tejas]

Here is a link to an instruction manual for the 5550 and 5530. On page 7 there is a specification page that shows differences.

http://www.allbrands.com/images2/common/DDL-5550DDL-553InstructionManual.pdf

[gottaknow]

The main thing to note on both of these models is they are drop-feed machines. With a drop feed machine, only the feed dogs move the fabric. The needle simply moves up and down.

A needle-feed machines needle bar moves in unison with the feed dogs, giving a more positive feed.

There are plenty of uses in a factory and other sewing tasks for a drop feed machine. We don't use them much because a needle feed offers a lot more versatility in a factory setting where the machine is used on multiple styles and operations. Drop feed machines will normally cost less than a needle feed.

I personally like a drop feed machine on very flimsy materials. Nylon, rayon, polyester, mesh, most knits. With a very fine tooth feed dog and a Teflon foot, I can get silk to sew flat as a pancake. The tension units can also be run very light.

Regards, Eric

[truenorth]

Ok guys this is what I was after, Eric you just made up my mind not to get this type of machine I was looking to get something to use for thinner leather a machine that i can put a roller foot on, just for decorative stitching do you recomend any pariticular machine?Thanks for everyones input just a great bunch of folks here!