Machine Recommendation

[mkc1962]

I'm new to the forum but been lurking for a while.

I am looking for advise good and bad about my desire to upgrade to a better, more suitable sewing machine. Mainly for doing motorcycle saddle work Leather/Vinyl, as well as automotive or boat seat covers. I'm self taught but been at the craft for about 25 years. For the most part upholstery that goes along with whatever I may be restoring or riding. I started doing Bike saddles about 25 years ago, and have gotten to a point I just want to be better or near perfect in my work. I must not be to shabby, as on occasion have riding friends ask me to do customs for them.

Machine wise,  For many years using a cheap Brother home type machine, several years go picked up an industrial grade Pfaff 463. Its a great running heavy machine that will punch through anything I throw at it, but really want to upgrade to a walking foot machine. I have done quite a bit of searching at something like an older Consew rb1 or the new RB5 but it appears to me that good used ones are near as pricey as a brand new one.

To those that might reply....if you were in the same boat, and were willing to spend say $1000, what would you look for and why?

 

Any and all replies appreciated.

 

Mike in Central Alabama

Edited April 20, 2018 by mkc1962
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[DrmCa]

I would recommend staying with a Pfaff and looking at 335 in the old casting (yes, I own one, so I am not impartial). You gain cylinder arm and walking foot and can do lots more than on a flatbed.

From reading this and other forums I gathered that Consew is good when it works, but when it does not, it's a RPITA. And strangely or not, I saw many more posts re trouble with Consew than with other machines. This was the reason I chose Pfaff at some point. Adler 67 is very similar, but has a drive belt where Pfaff has a drive shaft with gears and is somewhat more reliable.

HTH

[Matt S]

44 minutes ago, DrmCa said:

I would recommend staying with a Pfaff and looking at 335 in the old casting (yes, I own one, so I am not impartial). You gain cylinder arm and walking foot and can do lots more than on a flatbed.

From reading this and other forums I gathered that Consew is good when it works, but when it does not, it's a RPITA. And strangely or not, I saw many more posts re trouble with Consew than with other machines. This was the reason I chose Pfaff at some point. Adler 67 is very similar, but has a drive belt where Pfaff has a drive shaft with gears and is somewhat more reliable.

HTH

You know, for ages I could only find flatbeds in my budget. I really wanted a cylinder bed, thinking it would allow me to do a lot more projects and save space in the workshop. Now, three cylinder-beds later, I use my flat-bed 90% of the time. There are some jobs that I can only do on a cylinder-bed but for the majority of leather sewing jobs, and especially upholstery type jobs, I find that a flat-bed is actually better. There's a lot more area to rest the weight of the item being sewn, which means less juggling -- and you should see how poorly I juggle as I press the reverse lever, tickle the balance wheel, support the weight of a large bag and drink beer tea at the same time. Poor support leads to wandering seams, untidy backstitching, crashing needles, skipped stitches and bad words being shouted at the dog. A flat-bed attachment on a cylinder-bed machine would alleviate some of these problems and I recently looked hard at getting rid of two flat-bed machines by doing this. However it's far from an ideal solution. Not only would it not solve the issues that arise from having a lot of 'stuff' shoehorned into a 2" tube (rather than a 7x18" flat bed) but the resulting flat area can't hold a candle to the 24x26" area I have to support my sewn item on a slightly diminutive machine table.

When hunting for the ever-elusive cylinder-bed machines I wondered why they are outnumbered more than 10:1 by flat-beds (and numbered pretty closely by post-bed machines) -- industry uses flat-beds more than 10 times as often as cylinder-beds, and then only for specialised tasks. I reckon that those factories turning out sofas, jeans, wallets, shoes, belts, holsters and saddles 40 hours a week probably know what they're doing better than I do.

[DrmCa]

Wholeheartedly agree that a cylinder machine is not everyone's ideal setup, but if you ever fixed zippers on boots and purses and made hats and purses etc, you'd appreciate them immensely.

Yes, a cylinder bed machine in the same casting is around 2x the price of a flat bed, but when you need it and don't have it, it hurts. Boy am I glad I spent $950 Canadian dollars for 335!

[mkc1962]

Thanks for the feedback folks. Will do some research on the recommendations. Have never given any thought to a Cylinder machine but can see where it may be valuable at times. I know a few guys that do this for a living (not me) and that was where I was steered toward the Consews. They both swear by them but at the same time said be prepared to pay as much for an old in top shape one, as you would a new one. My searching has clearly shown that to be the case. What I dont want, is to get into an older machine, then have to spend a few hundred more to get it in top shape.

 

These old casting 335's, do they have a suffix number that goes with them? initial searching only shows what to be new units in the $2500 range.

[DrmCa]

WizCrafts and Uwe know all about 335 suffixes I surmise.

For a walking foot machine which would be my only production machine, I would go to a dealer. Bought mine from GSM Sewing in Toronto and they let me stitch any leather I brought with me, with my thread. I did not notice any issues, but their tech tuned it ever so slightly and only then took my $$ and let me take the machine away. If this was "just another machine", I would probably take a risk and look in the classifieds at the lower price level like I did with all my textile machines (a couple of them are from scrap but working like new).

[mkc1962]

I found an Adler 67 somewhat local for $150. Sews nicely but needs some light motor  work. I have a brand new Clutch motor on my old Pfaff and may just swap them out. But considering the good deal on the overall machine, may just opt for a new Servo motor. Not really sure which would be a better setup, I see all sorts of opinions on the topic.

[dikman]

Simple, really - if you're going to sew leather you can't beat fitting a servo.

[mkc1962]

yes, the path I am leaning toward. I go pit up when back from vacation, will probably order a servo soon thereafter.

[DrmCa]

On 5/22/2018 at 10:07 PM, dikman said:

Simple, really - if you're going to sew leather you can't beat fitting a servo.

I was convinced of the same until I bought my latest textile machine (Mitsubishi, mentioned in another thread) which came with the amazingly tuned clutch.

It can be feathered down to 1 stitch per second, unlike any clutch motor I had earlier. The wife, who uses the machine now all the time, even declined me putting a smaller pulley on the motor, even though she uses reverse a lot to close seams.

Bottom line, yes, a servo is miles ahead of any clutch motor, and they are quite affordable these days. But it is possible to work with a fine tuned clutch motor as well.

[Pintodeluxe]

I have had a Consew 206rb1 and a couple Consew 226 machines.  I prefer the 226 due to the top loading bobbin.  They work well, and are easy to maintain.  I usually look for a machine with a paddle style reverse lever.  I never could get used to lifting the reverse lever up on the 206.  

If I needed a big bobbin machine I would shop for a Juki 563 or similar.