Help choosing my first industrial machine

[MStone]

Hello!

I desperately need a leather sewing machine and I've done a lot of research and simply cannot decide what's best. I mostly make handbags with leather and heavy canvas, and I've been doing a combination of sewing what I can on my Janome HD 3000 (great for apparel sewing but can only handle about 1/4" of leather at most) and then hand sewing like crazy. I'm fairly convinced that a cylinder bed would be best for my needs. I've read great things about the Cobra Class 4 and the Cowboy 4500, but I worry that they won't sew well with lighter weight applications. For instance, I read that the Cobra Class 4 uses thread sizes #138 - #415, but I often need to sew with thread as small as #69 with a 18/110 needle. So then I looked at the Cowboy 3200 and the Cobra Class 3 and Class 26. They seem more reasonable in terms of sewing lighter weight leathers but the fact that they all have only about a 10" arm seems like a ridiculously small amount of clearance. I was tempted to buy a Singer Cobbler Patcher 29 found near me on craigslist, but I do occasionally need to sew through 3/8" or even 1/2" and it apparently can't handle that on a regular basis.

I'm also having trouble finding dealers on the east coast. I live in Maine, so if someone could direct me toward a good dealer in the Northeast, I would really appreciate it. 

Thanks so much!

Michaela

[dikman]

Hi Michaela and welcome to the forum. Others with far greater knowledge than me will chime in, but based on what you've written the 3200 sounds like a good bet. You're right in that while the Cobra Class 4/Cowboy 3500 will certainly handle the heavy stuff you will probably have trouble using them on lighter material. Some on here can do it, but I believe it needs a bit of fiddling around to do so.

[Wizcrafts]

1 hour ago, MStone said:

I'm also having trouble finding dealers on the east coast. I live in Maine, so if someone could direct me toward a good dealer in the Northeast, I would really appreciate it. 

Thanks so much!

Michaela

Try contacting Keystone Sewing in PA. They have been in business since Noah's Ark made landfall. The owner, Gregg, is a frequent contributor here.

If you are interested in learning more about Cowboy sewing machines, check out this website. They are located in Toledo Ohio and are one of our premier advertisers.

Cobra is a long time member here as is Techsew. Both have ad banners on top of our pages.

[Wizcrafts]

Oops, I forgot to include a good starter machine type. Go for a compound feed walking foot machine to start. It can be an upholstery class machine, like a Consew 206RB-5, or a Juki 1541, or even an old Singer 111w155 without reverse. All of these walking foot machines will sew with #69 through #138 bonded thread. The stock needles are 1.75 inches long and don't flex too much unless they are deflected by misaligned layers.

[AdamPCain]

@MStone I was in the same situation I sew about the same stuff you do. I also live on the east coast. I ended up buying a Juki 1541s from Keystone. Gregg literally spent 2hrs helping learn how to use it I couldn't be happier. Before I bought my machine I talked to just about all of the banner advertising dealers. I can say they all were great with helping me choose the right machine.

[RockyAussie]

without seeing your bag models or what sort of weight bags that you make and want to make it is hard to say what machine or machines would be best. A cylinder may be best and whether it has are a short or long arm will rarely matter. If you are wanting to go thicker than 1/4" but still do lighter work I can see a lot of merit in the CB341for handbag use. It can take a large M bobbin and has the advantage of having a small end that when doing tight gussets etc will come in very handy. The price as well looks good to me be that it has not got a walking foot,  but I have found that walking feet sometimes restrict sewing when you want to get around tight ends on gussets. To explain a little better , walking feet keep pressure down all through the sewing operation and being able to release the foot pressure with the needle still in helps the leather relax and stop from twisting up and sometimes forcing the 2 parts to separate. Hope that makes some sense to you. Here is a link on that machine-http://www.solar-leather.com/cowboy-cb341/

If you would care to check my website you will see many bags I make and most of these are done on a smaller cylinder than this one but still not with a walking foot.

 

[RockyAussie]

Here see a couple of pictures that no way could I use the bigger 441 clone  Cowboy machine I have could do.

[SheltathaLore]

Gregg at Keystone is great - I highly recommend him.  Other people on the forum have also had great experiences with the other vendors, so really, you can't go wrong with any of them.

[JLSleather]

Really two words in sewing leather.  Call Bob.

Beyond that, some simple statements for FYI:

I have one of those piece of cobra 4 things, and I wouldn't care to compel it to sew with thread smaller than 138 (I don't even sew with that on it, but it probably would do it).

Sometimes seems like more is better, maybe more so when you're new.   Turns out, it's heavier than I need - I have NEVER sewn 3/4" , nor do I anticipate that I ever will.

I have owned (and should have kept) a Consew 206-RB5 (like Wiz mentioned above).  Very reliable machine, no issues.  Sewed #46 thread up to #207 thread well -- just keep in mind that 207 is THE top end.  Confim with Bob, but I think the Cowboy 227R is the cylinder version of the same machine.

Not too many doing leather next door to me, or I would have swapped my Cobra 4 for the Cowboy 3200 (let the new guy save about $1,000).  Trade the lift capacity for the (possibly) better range of thread size.  Needles and attachments are same for both machines, so that's not an issue.  I make holsters, belts, sheaths, and some lighter 'stuff' and can't remember when I sewed anything thicker than 3/8".

Edited May 2, 2018 by JLSleather

[MStone]

Thanks everyone for the input! I really appreciate you all taking the time to help a newbie out.