Machine For Sewing Sneaker Midsole?

[Daniel G]

I want to attach a sneaker upper to a midsole, so I'm Looking to find an alternative between the super cheap speedy stitcher and ridiculously expensive Global sm-7555. Any ideas?

[Darren Brosowski]

There are a couple of hand crank machines designed for this but I do not think that anyone in the USA has them

[Uwe]

Shoemaking is bit of a specialty application and shoe manufacturing uses lots of expensive specialty machinery.

Exactly how much are those cool SM-7555 machines? I've looked at them before and I'm fascinated by how they work. Not sure what your threshold for ridiculously expensive really is.

The thing is, if you're going make a bunch of shoes, that kind of machine (SM-7555) is probably exactly what you need, you just need more time to accept that and save up the money for it.

If you're only make a dozen shoes or so, hand stitch them and charge twice as much.

Many cylinder arm machines could do the back half of the shoe, it's the front half that'll cost you an extra few grand and very few machines can do that.

For potentially cheaper vintage options, look at shoe repair machines like the McKay stitchers or potentially some Puritan single needle post stitchers. Those machines are designed to sew shoes along the inside edges. The weigh a ton, almost literally, but can be bought used for a few grand. They look like a real pain to use. Needles and awls are also expensive at around $8 per needle or awl:

[Wizcrafts]

I was going to mention the McKay machines, but, after watching a few videos, realized that they are not really meant for sewing sidewalls. McKays are chainstitch machines and rely upon overlaid insoles to hide the thread chains. If a member owns a McKay, perhaps they will chime in and tell us if the machine can sew sidewalls on sneakers.

[Daniel G]

Thank you to everyone for taking the time to reply. I appreciate your help.

There are a couple of hand crank machines designed for this but I do not think that anyone in the USA has them

Are you referring to one of these? I just found this and the head looks somewhat similar to the global machine. I'm going to send an email to the distributor and ask.

Shoemaking is bit of a specialty application and shoe manufacturing uses lots of expensive specialty machinery.

Exactly how much are those cool SM-7555 machines? I've looked at them before and I'm fascinated by how they work. Not sure what your threshold for ridiculously expensive really is.

The thing is, if you're going make a bunch of shoes, that kind of machine (SM-7555) is probably exactly what you need, you just need more time to accept that and save up the money for it.

If you're only make a dozen shoes or so, hand stitch them and charge twice as much.

Many cylinder arm machines could do the back half of the shoe, it's the front half that'll cost you an extra few grand and very few machines can do that.

For potentially cheaper vintage options, look at shoe repair machines like the McKay stitchers or potentially some Puritan single needle post stitchers. Those machines are designed to sew shoes along the inside edges. The weigh a ton, almost literally, but can be bought used for a few grand. They look like a real pain to use. Needles and awls are also expensive at around $8 per needle or awl:

I was told over $20,000 for the global machine. Too much coin for this hobbyist.

I thought about a cylinder arm for doing the back half as well. Might be worth it if it chops the time in half.

I was going to mention the McKay machines, but, after watching a few videos, realized that they are not really meant for sewing sidewalls. McKays are chainstitch machines and rely upon overlaid insoles to hide the thread chains. If a member owns a McKay, perhaps they will chime in and tell us if the machine can sew sidewalls on sneakers.

Don't think the Mckay machine would work either. I could be wrong. Hopefully more users could chime in.

Edited March 21, 2016 by Daniel G

[electrathon]

Short of spending lots on a real machine I would use a jerk needle (a needle off a hook and awl machine). About my last choice for sewing anything would be a speedy stitcher.

[sandyt]

Very interesting machine! Would love to hear more about it.

Would be perfect for shoes if it could handle thick thread.

[dikman]

Search on the forum for Chinese shoe patcher, there have been a few posts about them. That one is slightly different to the one's that I've seen (and the one I have) as it appears to have a raised post, rather than the usual flat arm. Mine will only handle #69 thread.

Darren probably knows more about those machines than anyone else I know.

[Daniel G]

Thanks again for all the replies.

The seller went ahead and posted a video on youtube. It looks like it'll work well. I'm still communicating through email. I want to find out if the stitch length is adjustable and what size thread it can handle. 

I'm not sure how to embed videos here? 

http://<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/wVr4X93Khr8" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Edited March 30, 2016 by Daniel G

[Uwe]

That video looks like a pretty good demo of the machine's capabilities. Might be just right for small scale shoe production. Those machines are very interesting I think - worth taking a little gamble.  

I'm going to try embedding the video again just by copying and pasting the YouTube URL directly from the browser's web address field (the blue highlighted part in the attached screen shot):

Here we go:

 

Edited March 30, 2016 by Uwe