papaw Report post Posted January 24, 2015 I have the opportunity to purchase one of many differ sewing machines 1 is Singer 111W and it seems mainly for lighter leather, 1 Is Juki DDL-8700 which is straight stitch (lockstitch ??) medium weight leather,1 is Juki DDL- 5550 5.5mm lift of presser foot and is for medium leather lock stitch,1 is a Pfaff 5483-h-814/01 what is seen on this is (chain stitch ??) and has 7mm between needle and plate so I thought heavy leather, Durkopp 211-15103 which seems to sew light weight leather, Mitsubishi LS2-180 which seems to do some leather (Weight??) I will be flat sewing ad not over 10oz. -belts - holsters - collars - wallets - money belts Hope I have gave enough info . I would like a machine that will work on most of those items but price like for the Durkopp which is high, has to be a concern but performance is also so there has to be a balance. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Gump Report post Posted January 24, 2015 Which model 111 w is it. A 111 w 155 is a full compound feed machine and it will sew 3/8" with 138 thread and like it. It does not have reverse, but does have a safety clutch, and is nearly indestructable. These usually go for $3-500 in working order. I have not used any of the others, but you can eliminate any that don't have a walking foot set up, as they will make you proficient at swearing. Gump Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Wizcrafts Report post Posted January 24, 2015 (edited) With the exception of the Singer 111, all the others are strictly cloth garment sewing machines. You need to find out the suffix after the "W"; e.g. w103, w155. No doubt, some of those garment machines will spin so fast you caould control them. Factories use high speed Juki machines to sew at 80 or 90 stitches per second. They need to spin fast to distribute the oil from the oil pan to the wicks feeding the extremities. You need to be sewing at well under 10 stitches per second and either learn to feather the clutch to slow down, or replace the entire motor with a servo motor. Servo motors let you sew at a slow steady speed, often at 1 stitch per second. Edited January 24, 2015 by Wizcrafts Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
papaw Report post Posted January 24, 2015 Thank you for the info. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
