Buying first leather sewing machine

[mikesc]

ps: for everyone, that ever used the leather sewing machine, driven by foot: how difficult is to operate with that kind of machine?

It is actually quite easy, if you do not put your two feet on the pedal "side by side" ( which is what most people think that you should do ), what works far better is to put one foot with it's toe area resting on the part of the treadle nearest to you, and the other foot with it's toe are resting towards the back of the treadle ( not directly in front of each other as if you were walking on a tightrope, but around 15cm / 6 inches apart laterally , but with one foot further forward on the treadle than the other ) ..Then you press on the treadle with your feet alternately, as if you were rocking it around it's pivotal axis..This is much easier, and gives better control than if you put your feet next to each other..It is also less tiring.
When you start treadling you need to just pull the machine's pulley that is driven by the belt slightly to wards you so that the machine sets off turning in the correct direction ..the pulley turns towards you*..even if you have machine that can do reverse..the "reverse" direction is taken care of by the movement of the feed dogs changing..**A machine won't make stitches if the pulley is turning away from you.

*If you were looking at the driven pulley "end on" ( from the right hand side of the machine ) it must turn anti-clockwise..or "widdershins" ( Scots word derived from old "High German" ) ..if it turns "clockwise", your stitches, and possibly your machine will be banjaxed ( Irish word, meaning broken, destroyed, knackered etc ) ..in French déglingue ( day-glan-gay )..

**There are some rare exceptions to this, not machines that you are likely to come across

Edited August 31, 2017 by mikesc

[Mocivnik]

I just got an offer for Brother DB2-B705-503. I can get it for 300$ (250€), is it worth?

It's an old machine, fully working. Will it sew 2-3 layers of veg tan 6/7 (or 2.5mm) thickness?

[Constabulary]

Price is probably not too bad but depends on condition.Seems the DB-2 is a plain drop feed (feeding with feed dog only) machine made for sewing fabric and maybe lightweight garment leather. But I´d rather look for a triple feed sewing machine like Adler 67 / 167, Pfaff 145 / 545, Singer 111 Dürkopp 239 or similar.

[DrmCa]

If you'd add a roller foot to that Brother (which looks exactly like my Juki DDL-553) it may stitch light leather, but I'd recommend saving money for a walking foot like Constabulary said.

But stitching is not the problem - it is how the machine handles change in thickness and turns. Textile machines stitch differently when used with leather, it's unpredictable if the machine will or will not stitch.