BuckeyeLeatherworks Report post Posted October 18, 2016 Hi everyone! Thank you for taking the time to read this. I am looking into buying a sewing machine, and I have read a bunch of posts on here and now I am more confused and overwhelmed on what I should actually try to buy, lol. I have around $500 maybe $600 to spend and am solely using the machine to make leather fire helmet shields. They are made from a single piece of roughly 1/8"-3/16" thick veg tanned hand tooled leather. (I included a photo.) Up until now I have been hand stitching them with an awl and #207 thread. I could probably get away with using either #138 or #96, as I know my budget will have some restrictions on thread size. I would really appreciate any help/advice/suggestions you guys have to offer. Thanks again! Jill Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
MADMAX22 Report post Posted October 18, 2016 (edited) Pretty much any of the decent walking foot upholstery type machines will handle that thickness and 138 thread. 111W, 211G, 206RB, pfaff 145/1245, any consew copy of these will work, 153W, just to name a few. Most will require a servo motor for those turns. There are a bunch more that will work, those are the most well known usually. I saw a 211g155 in your area craigslist but they want $800 which is about 400-550 to much IMHO. Wanted to add there are others, for what you wanna do even a 31K20 or 15 would work (with 92 thread), saw a 78-3 in rough shape for a couple hundred (would offer less) up in columbus, it could handle the stuff your doing if you can do some work on the machine. Edited October 18, 2016 by MADMAX22 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
BuckeyeLeatherworks Report post Posted October 18, 2016 1 hour ago, MADMAX22 said: Pretty much any of the decent walking foot upholstery type machines will handle that thickness and 138 thread. 111W, 211G, 206RB, pfaff 145/1245, any consew copy of these will work, 153W, just to name a few. Most will require a servo motor for those turns. There are a bunch more that will work, those are the most well known usually. I saw a 211g155 in your area craigslist but they want $800 which is about 400-550 to much IMHO. Wanted to add there are others, for what you wanna do even a 31K20 or 15 would work (with 92 thread), saw a 78-3 in rough shape for a couple hundred (would offer less) up in columbus, it could handle the stuff your doing if you can do some work on the machine. Thank you for your input! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
MADMAX22 Report post Posted October 18, 2016 How far is too far to drive? Up in Cleveland area CL there are several cool machines, saw a 211, a 111w (unknown designator) and what looks like a a industrial of some kind with servo motor ($600), oh and a nice looking 45K which would be really nice but is an old machine. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
BuckeyeLeatherworks Report post Posted October 18, 2016 10 minutes ago, MADMAX22 said: How far is too far to drive? Up in Cleveland area CL there are several cool machines, saw a 211, a 111w (unknown designator) and what looks like a a industrial of some kind with servo motor ($600), oh and a nice looking 45K which would be really nice but is an old machine. I can drive a couple hours away, that's no problem. Cleveland's west side is only about 30-40 mins or so away. I am kind of worried if I buy something from Craigslist it won't work right since I know almost nothing about any of these machines... Is the Consew CP206R Portable type way too light duty for this type of thing? (I have been using some generic $30 Brother Black Friday purchased home sewing machine to pre-punch the holes in the leather when I hand sew it and it goes thru no problem...scary right? It surprisingly has not caught on fire or blown up...yet...) Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
MADMAX22 Report post Posted October 18, 2016 I wouldnt waste the money on that consew, consew have some nice machines but that portable from what I have read isnt great. Forgot about the national 300, juki 562/563s also. Not knowing much about sewing machines (I am still learning myself) it is hard to get anything off craigslist, take some of the leather and thread with you if you do find something so you can have them demonstrate it being able to stitch what you want. I know others will recommend various sellers on this site but the cheapest will run you about $500 more then you want to spend although it will be ready to go and have a servo installed already. Toledo industrial sewing is in Ohio so could save on shipping but you will pay tax. You could always PM Bob and see what he has used. One thing I do is if I am not sure of the model is type in for instance "juki 563 leather" and there will be several results from this forum with invaluable information on the model. This would be nice if you could get it for 600 but I doubt they will come down that far (could always try) https://cleveland.craigslist.org/tls/5829772125.html I would ask for some pics of this and submodel and offer according to how it performs https://cleveland.craigslist.org/hsh/5796769319.html I dont know this brand, could ask Wiz or Bob about it https://cleveland.craigslist.org/for/5784241453.html Just gotta scour CL or save up some money and get into a 1206 or similar. Ebay is usually way over priced IMHO. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
BuckeyeLeatherworks Report post Posted October 18, 2016 Is Bob from Toledo? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Uwe Report post Posted October 18, 2016 (edited) I have a nice Consew 225 that's looking for a good home. In a used table with basic, new servo motor it'd be within your budget of $600. I'm about two hours away in the Detroit area, a bit of hike but doable. The machine is featured in several of my youtube videos (see link in signature below). You can send me a PM if you're interested. Edited October 18, 2016 by Uwe Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
MADMAX22 Report post Posted October 18, 2016 Even better Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Uwe Report post Posted October 18, 2016 15 minutes ago, BuckeyeLeatherworks said: Is Bob from Toledo? Yes: Toledo Industrial Sewing Machines Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
