Need Advise on buying a new machine

[brmax]

Sorry Alan, your selected machine choices and in the craigslist add for "your area" the ferdco listed at 800. I mentioned negotiate or try to and put a servo on it also. The other selection you list was at 600. this is probably the same type machine, with some needed study by you as I don't know much more than searching here which " i did" your welcome. So a bit more homework on your part to sell yourself on these choices you brought, as either one with some short cinches can be used in manufacture (with steady controlled hand) sometimes helping to feed and guide the product. "not the recommended" but hey we all sometimes make things work when we have to. Maybe in these products your considering to produce, a totally different approach with machine choice and so even a heavy flatbed could be used, although some mention of several types were talked of in the "recommended machine post", These selections you listed are not at the top in the post at all. ( you answered your post with; is there something better, a walking foot ) like you knew these were not, so I'm not picking up what your putting down. but anyway run what ya brung!

Its really your decision, as its your money and your selections may not have been at the top in the machine recommendation post.?

Sundays are pretty laid back, makes for a good read time between game plays

Floyd

[Wizcrafts]

Alan;

A walking foot machine is more capable of climbing up and down different layers of material. This is because the inside and outside feet alternate up and down. A compound feed walking foot machine also has a needle that moves forward and backward with the inside foot and the feed dog, providing superb feeding of slippery and difficult materials. This combination of coordinated motion keeps the layers from slipping out of alignment from drag of the presser foot. Both of the machines you listed have a fixed presser foot (with a very heavy duty spring) and needle. The only feed is from the feed dog teeth.

The machines in the topic are clones of the ancient Singer 45k series. It was meant to sew horse blankets and tack, where the tooth marks on the bottom were unimportant. Most of these machines can sew up to 7/16 inch of harness leather, with #346 thread. They use system 216 or 328 needles, which are typically not available in leather point under size 23 (160).

IHTH

[Darren Brosowski]

I have to disagree with Wiz on this one.

Most old school saddlers in Australia did the first years  of their apprenticeship using a Singer 45k and had to all types of work.

I know some older saddlers - and even some younger ones - that can do most of their work on a 45k or GA5/CB2500.

In 90% of leather work the reverse side is irrelevant! Even so it is not that difficult to overcome with some light polishing of the feed dog and careful setting of the presser foot tension.

The 45k class machines have made more leather goods than every other heavy sewing machine in the last 120 years