Singer model ??

[Alawishes]

Hi Everyone,

A good friend is starting to do some leatherwork and has an opportunity to purchase this machine.  From the serial number I've found the date of manufacture to be 1892 but I cannot find any model number.  Anyone have any ideas?  Thanks, al.

 

 

[Matt S]

Looks like a Singer UFA, which was the predecessor the the 29K and has been repainted (neatly) at some point. It's a patcher machine, which sacrifices bobbin and thread capacity for the ability to sew in all directions in very tight areas. Primarily intended for repairing items, they don't really lend themselves to manufacturing though some people do use them for making stuff.

If it's like more modern patchers it'll sew a maximum of 1/4" total leather thickness with maxium TKT40/V69 thread, which is OK for things like wallets and notebooks though a little on the thin side for my taste. Bobbin capacity is very small. Spare parts will be like rocking horse droppings.

Cool machine for a collector but probably not what you friend needs. If you could let us know the area your friend lives and what they want to make we can provide more specific help.

[Alawishes]

Thanks for your info Matt.  After looking up the Singer UFA on Google it looks like you have hit the nail right on the head.  Other examples of this machine didn't have the table so in these photos it looks more substantial.  My friend is a gunsmith and made up some holsters, sewing by hand, but this machine came available to him very inexpensively and he's hoping to reduce the amount of hand sewing.... but I think not at the cost the right machine would cost him.    I agree, #69 thread is too light for what he's looking to sew, and some of the leather pieces will end up with a thickness of greater than 1/4".  We live in western Canada, just north of Montana USA.  Cheers,  al.

[Wizcrafts]

The UFA is a small bobbin patcher machine. It was designed to sew shoe and boot uppers with thin thread. The intended thickness is limited to about 1/4 inch. The foot has to have enough clearance left to lift off the leather and move forward for the next stitch. The thread handling capabilities are too small for the thickness needed to hold a holster together. Lastly, the maximum stitch length of a factory new patcher like that was 5 to the inch at about 1/8 inch. Even if a holster edge could fit under the foot and the foot had enough jump left to pull it along, the maximum stitch length would likely drop to 8 to the inch, or less.

[dikman]

Ahh, holsters, if your friend wants to sew holsters with a machine then he's looking at a heavy-duty machine. A minimum is a 441-class. Don't even think of anything less.

[Matt S]

There's a lot of good choices for sewing holsters but the types of machine you need are heavy duty and aren't very common, as industrial sewing machines go. The time taken to find a suitable second-hand machine, acquire it, then possibly fix or adjust it to do what your friend needs will be significant, especially if you're beginners at this. It will probably be better to buy a new machine that has been setup for sewing thick, heavy leather.

As @dikman says Chinese clones of the Juki 441 are popular for this purpose, and are very flexible machines that can be adjusted to many tasks. What is your friend's budget and what sorts of holsters does he/does he want to make?