Beginner Saddle Leather Sewing Machine

[Oelschlagel]

Hello Everyone, 

I am new to leather work and have been making small accessories for about a year. I ultimate goal is to make horse tack for barrel racing or possibly heavy leather hand bags. I am looking at investing into a leather sewing machine, what should I be looking for? What machines will work for me? I plan to make breast collars, halters, nose bands, etc. 

Let me know what you think. 

Thanks in Advance, 

Jessica

[R8R]

39 minutes ago, Barbara09 said:

Lots of leather sewing machines available in the market. But I want to recommended top 3 machines for you. Such as: 

1. Singer 4432 Heavy Duty Sewing Machine
2. Brother ST371HD Sewing Machine
3. Janome HD3000 Heavy Duty Sewing Machine

Source from: sewingmachinesview.com

1. No

2. Nope

3. Nada

4. SPAM ALERT

 

Those machines are for home use, and not for leather, at ALL.

 

Do some searching and reading here on the forum and you will start to see several machines stand out for the work you want to do. Many are advertised under the banners at the top of the page.

Cowboy CB3200 and CB4500

Cobra class 3 and 4

Adler 205 series

 

 

 

 

[chrisash]

Nearly all sewing machines state that they will sew leather, but what they mean is Chrome leather like that used for leather jackets about 1 mm or slightly thicker. This leather is generally very soft and flexible and therefore very easy to punch through with light thread

The leather used for Horse equipment is normally much thicker veg tanned leathers and use much heavier thread to make allowances for the extra strains applied to the stitching and therefore limited to aa selection of heavy duty industrial sewing machines with more powerfull motors such as posted by R8R above

[R8R]

BTW I own a Singer 4411 (same as the 4432 but less variety of stitch patterns). It would stop cold before the first stitch into veg tan.

Clothes and quilts and such, all day. Great machine for that.

[dikman]

That linked article is very misleading! It starts off showing a "proper" leather sewing machine and then promptly talks about what are simply domestic machines. The author appears to think that if it has the words "heavy duty" on it then it will work with leather. I wonder how many have been sucked in by this article?

[brmax]

I think you would benefit quicker with investment returns with a 3200 cowboy machine. I also think this standard table setup can help in the overall size concept/ duties. 

I dont think its needed, but if some thicker than 5/8” materials for bridles etc. are wanted, the class 3 cobra can be next handy size for that work. In a bigger shop setting follow up with a longer cylinder arm heavy stitcher as the 4500 cowboy and the class 4 cobra. These and some others can be obtained as quality machines based from others. 

Both of these just mentioned are as the class 3 much thicker capacity, but have a much longer cylinder for clearance in your products. These last three have a 7/8” or possibly a hair thicker material capacity.  

Keeping an eye on the local used sales listings is always an excellent tip. This is critical in searching.

Also with these choices mentioned from the machine section here, you can be assured a direct, qualified machine selection. With this, you then you can better gauge others you find. 

If you are as I sometimes am. At the go, go on get’r done point. Well give this place a holler. http://www.solar-leather.com/cowboy-cb3200/

 

good day

Floyd

[Wizcrafts]

I have dealt with the spammer.

[SmokeyMtn]

Has anyone ever heard of the Sailrite Fabricator?  It sounds like it is comparable to the CB3200.  I am wondering which would be better or if there is a different machine.  I want to start using leather to make purses and messenger bags.  Would like to get right machine first time!  Thanks!!

Edited November 14, 2018 by SmokeyMtn

[R8R]

14 minutes ago, SmokeyMtn said:

Has anyone ever heard of the Sailrite Fabricator?  It sounds like it is comparable to the CB3200.  I am wondering which would be better.  I am also looking for my first machine and want to do similar projects. 

Had one, good machine, different beast. No comparison. If you are doing leather regularly, CB3200 all the way. Fabricator is for canvas, upholstery, light leather.

[SmokeyMtn]

Thank You!

Edited November 14, 2018 by SmokeyMtn

[SmokeyMtn]

1 hour ago, R8R said:

Had one, good machine, different beast. No comparison. If you are doing leather regularly, CB3200 all the way. Fabricator is for canvas, upholstery, light leather.

 

Oh thank you!  That is what I was wondering....if it would really go through the leather like I need it to.  Greatly appreciate your input!!

[Oelschlagel]

Thanks for the help everyone, I think I will have to go with the CB3200, or heavier, if I would like to pursue the quality I am wanting to achieve. I will keep my eyes open.

[DonInReno]

These three get talked about as if they are interchangeable, but the Artisan and Cobra have the same capacity (thickness) as the full size 4500/4000/class 4.  What the cowboy 3200 does have is a lower price, so if you don’t need the extra capacity you’ll save $300-$500.

The Artisan 3200 has a 12” arm and will sew a full 7/8”.

Cobra class 3 has a 9” arm and sews 7/8”.

Cowboy 3200 has a 10-1/2” arm and sews 1/2”.

I have the Artisan 3200 and it runs beautifully, but the cowboy dealers are active, helpful, and have a great reputation for support that goes a long way if you have hiccups and need good advice to get out of a jam.  Cobra may have support that’s just as good - others are better able to comment on that.  

Artisan isn’t talked about much - I’m not entirely sure what happened on the playground - who did what or said what to who, but someone was buttt hurt....maybe some slow weekend I’ll search the gap in the old threads between when everyone was saying great things about Artisan and now. :-)

 

Edited November 15, 2018 by DonInReno

[SmokeyMtn]

R8R I like that you say go with CB 3200 instead of fabricator.  Now my concern is that it sews only 1/2" thickness, so I'm leaning toward the 3500 or 4500.  I am going to sew purses, do you know if these will handle light leather and/or leather with cotton fabric.  I think I saw that they do not work well on light leather? Or maybe my Viking Topaz 50 will handle the light stuff?

Thanks in advance!

Edited November 18, 2018 by SmokeyMtn

[chrisash]

The answer is No you need a light machine for light leather and a heavy one for heavy leather, there is none that do both jobs

[SmokeyMtn]

Darnit!  Thanks!!  Back to the drawing board I guess....