TomTrainor Report post Posted March 19, 2017 I'm looking into a sewing machine for sewing 2 layers of 8oz tooling leather. Budget would be around $400-$600. Thanks in advance Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Wizcrafts Report post Posted March 19, 2017 Check with local upholstery and shoe repair shops, as well as your local Craigslist for an industrial (aka: "commercial") walking foot machine with compound (triple) feed, setup on a 20" x 48" industrial table, with either a servo or clutch motor (which you can replace with a more controllable servo motor for about $150). Often times, these repair shops sell off old machines when they buy newer ones. Your $400 to $600 should get you a 30 to 60 year old sewing machine capable of sewing a quarter inch of veg-tan leather with no more than #138 bonded nylon thread. If you want something more modern and capable, plan on paying at least $1000, before shipping. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
brmax Report post Posted March 19, 2017 (edited) Earlier this morning looking around i seen this so, Here is an article on thread for sewing different leather projects. It has been discussed many times on the site to help us stay in the zone with curveballs! Anyway just a tip but clear in machine and its best thread capabilities. Particular is size needs https://www.superiorthreads.com/industrial/thread-for-sewing-leather/ good day Floyd Edited March 19, 2017 by brmax Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Uwe Report post Posted March 19, 2017 Look for trusted standards like Singer 111W155, Consew 225 or 226, or Juki LU-562 or 563. These machines come up for sale in on CraigsList every so often and some vendors (check the banner ads) may have them in stock, too. $400-600 is not much to work with in terms of a functional, well adjusted industrial sewing machine with a proper motor. If you're patient, you may get lucky, but if you need something soon, you may end paying more. For sewing fire helmet shields, there's no need for reverse or big bobbins, which run up the price quickly. Being able to sew slowly with good low speed control, however, is very important for your application, I think. So plan on getting a servo motor ($130) and potentially an optional speed reducer pulley ($150). A few folks here on LW are doing fire helmet shields. Check out what they have done by doing a google search like "site:leatherworker.net fire helmet" One lady who makes fire helmet shields ended up buying a Consew 225 from me and it suited her work well. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
