Choosing The Right Machine

[JREESER1]

Sorry, it will not. The presser foot will not raise that high and maintain any top tension. I have a LSZ-1, with a monster wheel and anything over 5-6 oz. causes skipped stiches.

jr

[glmr]

strange. I found this video

looks like it is more than 6oz

Edited February 26, 2016 by glmr

[Constabulary]

ARE YOU KIDDING ME? Do you think this machine did a good job? Most of the time he is hand cranking - Yeah - what a powerful motor.

The motor sounds like it will be dying within the next few minutes. This is the biggest BS of leather working I have seen. He is not even using a left or right toe foot - how stupid is that? A hammer and some nails would have done a better job. Better buy a $5 Nylon pouch - looks better - fits better.

Yes, buy this machine - you will love it!

[machinehead]

It states on the Sailrite website that the Ultrafeed will stitch up to 6MM (1/4") of leather but they are talking about soft leather, not hard temper such as veg tanned and that is the upper limit of the machine's capability, under ideal circumstances. It uses up to and including V92 thread with up to a size 22 needle.

One shouldn't use a tack hammer when the job calls for a sledge.

[glmr]

So, if the space is enough does it mean that I can have problems with motor, but not with mechanical parts? Does hand cranking help me in such situation?

Edited February 26, 2016 by glmr

[Wizcrafts]

That machine is absolutely not a leather sewing machine for the purposes normally discussed in this forum. It is a vinyl and webbing sewing machine that somebody has used to butcher a leather knife sheath.

The motor on these mini-walking foot machines is rated at 150 watts under full load and develops most of its power at higher running speeds. They have a tiny 2 speed reducer pulley between the motor and machine. If the machine has that much trouble starting in a fairly thin leather knife pouch, like in the above video, it won't stand a chance trying to penetrate a quarter inch of veg-tan. It usually takes a 1/2 horse power, 550 watt motor, or stronger, to penetrate 16 ounces of veg-tan leather from a dead stop. You basically need a motor that is 5 times more powerful than the one in that Sailrite machine.

[Constabulary]

I hope you didn´t get me wrong - I absolutely agree with Wiz. I mean when you look at the Video it is pretty much self explaining. I never would buy this machine for leather work. Some may have some positive experience but I´m sure they don´t do serious heavy leather work with it.

[glmr]

Thank you for answers, but what about to use hand cranking for 16oz leather. Will it help?

[machinehead]

In the interest in full disclosure, I have two of the LS-1 machines. I have bought and sold many machines over the last several years and the first LS-1 I acquired has the Monster wheel and the leather foot installed. I have two pieces of veg tan that is 1/4" thick that I used to adjust the tensions on one of my true leather sewing machines. I took that test piece and hand cranked a couple of inches on the Sailrite. Using about size 92 thread, it acomplished that very short run with no skipped stitches in forward or reverse.

Having said that, would I say use this machine for sewing 1/4" veg-tan? No, absolutely not. It was mentioned above by someone else that owns one that even 5-6 ounce can cause skipped stitches and I have no doubt that in a real world project scenario that can be the case. I don't know from personal experience because I never use it for heavy stuff. Let me be clear - in regard to the LS-1, 1/4" is very heavy. It is a fine machine for the purpose it was designed for so why would I abuse it by asking more of it than it is designed to acomplish?

Speaking of thread size, the size the 92 looks and is puny for 1/4" of veg-tanned.

Speaking of available feet... in addition to the regular heavy toothed foot the selection is limited to left and right zipper and the aforementioned leather foot which is a must for not marking the leather as it has less aggressive teeth.

The LS-1 does not have needle feed.

Edited February 27, 2016 by machinehead

[CowboyBob]

I've sold them to inmates in Texas & they have a lot of problems with them.I'm almost certain they try sewing too thick & have broken the feed bar(the part the feed dog fastens to) along with a lot of other parts.Yes,#92 is as big a thread as they will take & sewing 1/4" max.If you are just sewing upholstery or canvas these are great machines or even 1/4" leather.But for knife sheaths & etc it will leave nasty teeth marks in the leather.