rebanein Report post Posted July 4, 2015 This is my first post, so here it goes. I am hoping to get some advice on buying the correct machine for my needs. I only have experience with flatbed machines and I've never used a cylinder arm machine before. So some advice would be great. The type of products I have been making include laptop bags, tablet sleeves, wallets, duffel bags and some handbags. I am looking to start manufacturing a variety of products and a lot more handbags. From what I gather most people who stitch handbags use cylinder arm machines. Now my question is; would a cylinder arm be able to do what a flatbed machine can do? Are cylinder arm machines as powerful as flatbed machines? Any advice would be great! FYI, I have been running a leather manufacturing business for someone else, and I am starting my own business now, that is why I need to purchase the correct machine. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
barra Report post Posted July 4, 2015 A cylinder arm allows you to access areas of many jobs that will be difficult with a free arm. Some cylinder arm machines come with a flat bed attachment or you could make your own. If you are going to purchase just one machine, I'd go with a cylinder arm for versatility. Regards. Barra. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
rebanein Report post Posted July 4, 2015 Thank you Barra for your input. I will just have to make sure whatever machine I purchase I can get a table to attach to the machine. I am from South Africa, and we do not have all the machine brands readily available, so I am looking at a Typical cylinder arm compound feed machine. Can you tell me if the cylinder arm machines are as heavy duty as flatbed machine's? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
CowboyBob Report post Posted July 4, 2015 What is the model # of the machine your looking at? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
rebanein Report post Posted July 4, 2015 I am looking at both the Typical TW3-P335 and the GC2263. Links: http://www.typical-europe.com/en/products/heavy-duty-machines/cylinder-bed-machines/gc2263 http://www.typical-europe.com/en/products/heavy-duty-machines/cylinder-bed-machines/tw3-p335 Thank you for the help! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
barra Report post Posted July 4, 2015 Different models of machines are designed for light weight work and some are designed for heavy work. You will find heavy duty cylinder arms and equally heavy duty flat beds. When you say Typical cylinder arm, do you mean typical as in common ot Typical as in the brand. Regards. Barra Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
rebanein Report post Posted July 4, 2015 The brand typical Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
JLSleather Report post Posted July 4, 2015 With the needle that close to the end of the cylinder, those machines might work great for bag gussets and seams. I would just check to make sure they will accommodate the needle and thread sizes you want to work with. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
rebanein Report post Posted July 4, 2015 Thank you both for your input. I do feel that I have a better idea of what to look out for. I am going to have a look at all the specs of the machines and try and make a decision. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Uwe Report post Posted July 6, 2015 (edited) Some of the sewing machines Typical sells are copies/clones of other famous brands like Pfaff and Juki. The TW3-P335 is a Pfaff 335 copy/variation, the TW3-441 is a copy/variation on the Juki TSC-441. I can't place the GC2263. Out of the cylinder arm machines Typical sells, they neatly fit in the spectrum from light to very heavy duty with almost no overlap, at least as far as supported needle sizes go. The 335 class of machines is the lightest duty version of the trio, the 441 the heaviest duty version. Both 335 and 441 type machines are "popular" in the sense that many aftermarket manufacturers produce parts for them. Typical is basically a chinese manufacturer who produces a bunch of machines and does their own distribution/marketing/support. It seems to enjoy a good reputation, mostly in Europe. Typical has a fairly strong presence in Europe, and apparently has a sales office in North Africa, too. One specialty leather bag manufacturer/repair shop in my home town in Germany uses machines made by Typical, although I don't recall the exact models. None of the cylinder arm machines have really good commercially available flatbed table attachments available from what I can tell, at least not in the U.S.A. Some vendors sell attachment for the 441 type machines but they are are just poorly designed in my opinion and pain to attach/detach. Same for the Adler 205 class of machines. Some European suppliers/distributors are putting a little more effort into choosing/designing the tables and table attachments. Three nice examples I had bookmarked are an attachment for a 335 machine made by NTK, a table attachment for the Adler 205 class machine and a nice setup using an Adler 69-373 machine, both sold by Sieck. I made my own table attachment for my Adler 205 and It turned out quite nice. A good cylinder arm machine with a GOOD flatbed attachment will be your most versatile setup and I can't think of anything it won't be able to do that a plain flatbed machine with similar specifications can. Sometimes manufacturers make the same machine in flatbed and cylinder arm versions (e.g Pfaff 1245/335 and Durkopp Adler 204/205). Usually the flatbed version is slightly more heavy duty, since it's easier to package heavier duty hook components under the flatbed. The arm portion is usually identical. Your main problem may be to find a single machine that does both heavy leather exteriors and fine silky purse linings equally well, because many machines have a fairly narrow range of materials they can handle well. The three Typical cylinder arm machines have no overlap at all in their needle size specs (and thus thread size). You'd need all three to handle the full spectrum from very fine to heavy duty materials. Edited July 6, 2015 by Uwe Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
rebanein Report post Posted July 6, 2015 Hi Uwe, Thank you for your comments! You have definitely given me a lot of information that is extremely helpful. I did find two suppliers of typical close to the city I stay in, so I will be contacting them today for information. Thankfully I already own a Juki 8300N for the finer work like stitching linings etc. so I only need a machine for the leather itself. The thread size I will be using is M20 (http://acathreads.co.za/content/view/19/49/) together with needle size 140 -160. The Typical TW3-441 I see has a higher needle/thread size than what I am looking to use, so the GC2263 would be in the range that I am looking to use. I've had a look on the net and it seems that the Typical GC2263 is a copy of the Juki LS-1342. I just need to talk to the supplier today and confirm that. I really need to do my homework it seems, but this post has definitely given me a lot to think about. Once I have some more info I will update this post for whoever might have a similar question. Again thank you! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Bonadrag12 Report post Posted December 3, 2016 On 7/4/2015 at 2:56 AM, rebanein said: This is my first post, so here it goes. I am hoping to get some advice on buying the correct machine for my needs. I only have experience with flatbed machines and I've never used a cylinder arm machine before. So some advice would be great. The type of products I have been making include laptop bags, tablet sleeves, wallets, duffel bags and some handbags. I am looking to start manufacturing a variety of products and a lot more handbags. From what I gather most people who stitch handbags use cylinder arm machines. Now my question is; would a cylinder arm be able to do what a flatbed machine can do? Are cylinder arm machines as powerful as flatbed machines? Any advice would be great! FYI, I have been running a leather manufacturing business for someone else, and I am starting my own business now, that is why I need to purchase the correct machine. Hi there... did you ever get the cylinder bed machine? I'm also only used to using flatbeds and the cylinder seems awkward to me (I've never used one). I make mostly garments but I'd like to get into making handbags and wallets. So, it would seem like the cylinder machine with flatbed attachment would be more versatile. What's your experience so far? Is it an easy transition from your flatbed experience. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
TinkerTailor Report post Posted December 3, 2016 On 7/5/2015 at 8:19 PM, Uwe said: I can't place the GC2263. Juki ls-1341s clone Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
