New Tandy Craftool Pro Stitch Master made by Sailrite

[Treesner]

Tandy just launched some videos for their sailrite made sewing machine yesterday.

The upgrades I see is:
-it comes with a little table
-motor mounted in the table
-you can adjust the speed and power digitally 
-Narrower foot as well as less agrresive tread to not mess up the leather (I ground mine down)

Main thing that looks like a bonus on this machine is how slow you can stich with the foot pedal since they have it setup with a bunch of pullies and digital where as I normally would have to hand crank on my sailrite machine for the beginning/end of seiches 

 

$1500

https://www.tandyleather.com/en/product/craftool-pro-stitch-master-sewing-machine

 

[R8R]

Or for that money you could get their Fabricator machine and some aftermarket smooth feed pieces and have a more capable machine. The little one looks good for tight spaces, but for $1500? Dunno.

[Matt S]

$1500? That's $150 more than a Consew 206 with servo. A 206 can use up to v207 thread, takes 111 type feet, and large 1" diameter M bobbins.

Edited January 22, 2019 by Matt S

[kgg]

For that price door is open for many other more suitable options. My thought is that it is still just a portable walking foot machine not an industrial machine that has lost it's portability.

kgg

[ScoobyNewbie]

I have used it instore and it seems a lovely machine. Does a good job in tight places and yes, it goes very slowly if you need it to.

[koreric75]

4 hours ago, kgg said:

For that price door is open for many other more suitable options. My thought is that it is still just a portable walking foot machine not an industrial machine that has lost it's portability.

kgg

Agreed, the 15 class bobbin and thread size typing out at 92 makes the price point a no go for my taste, decent little machine but I can get similar results for way less money.

[benlilly1]

6 hours ago, Matt S said:

$1500? That's $150 more than a Consew 206 with servo. A 206 can use up to v207 thread, takes 111 type feet, and large 1" diameter M bobbins.

If you get wholesale from Tandy the cost is $1350 if I remember right. I paid $1500 for my Fabricator from Sailrite. I'm very pleased with the quality and they have tons of how to videos. Quality machines.

[kgg]

If you don't have the Elite membership at a cost of $150 US the regular price at Tandy of the machine would be $1499 US. If you like the Sailrite line of machines and support you could get an industrial machine, Fabricator, for $1495. hum

kgg

[Matt S]

8 hours ago, benlilly1 said:

If you get wholesale from Tandy the cost is $1350 if I remember right. I paid $1500 for my Fabricator from Sailrite. I'm very pleased with the quality and they have tons of how to videos. Quality machines.

Benlilly I'm glad you like your machine. There's certainly a niche that Sailrite seems to fill, and good for them. However for leather work I see very few advantages to this machine over a basic upholstery-weight machine like a Consew 206, which is obtainable for similar or lower price. It's entirely possible that I'm missing something though. What do you like about your Sailrite?

[kgg]

Matt, I think it's their overall support, availability of accessories, video's for their machines, video's for different projects and the quality of their machine manuals that are will written and presented in English making them easy to follow unlike some others. I still think their equipment is overpriced through.

kgg

[chrisash]

I thought I have seen somewhere that sailrite offer a very long guarantee, but looking at there site i failed to find mention , so could be wrong, but from others comments thney do seem to offer very good backup , probably helped by a limited number of machines on offer and built in strength for their intended market of yachts traveling around the world and out of service engineers area's

[bikermutt07]

15 hours ago, Matt S said:

$1500? That's $150 more than a Consew 206 with servo. A 206 can use up to v207 thread, takes 111 type feet, and large 1" diameter M bobbins.

Turns out you can't run 207 in the 206rb. You can run it on top but not in the bobbin. I know retailers list 207 in their descriptions, but it is a little misleading.

Cowboy Bob said the 206 just won't pull an even stitch with 207 in the bobbin. I think it has to do with the needle size ranges.

That being said, I found my 206 with a new table and servo for 400 bucks.

The real deals are out there somewhere.

[Matt S]

20 minutes ago, bikermutt07 said:

Turns out you can't run 207 in the 206rb. You can run it on top but not in the bobbin. I know retailers list 207 in their descriptions, but it is a little misleading.

Cowboy Bob said the 206 just won't pull an even stitch with 207 in the bobbin. I think it has to do with the needle size ranges.

That being said, I found my 206 with a new table and servo for 400 bucks.

Yeah that's pretty common with upholstery-weight machines like the 206. I have had a slack handful of machines in this category which are the same, from medium-low end Chinese to German Adler and Japanese Seiko. The shuttle drivers just aren't designed to pass 207/TKT13 around the bobbin casing so you run v138/TKT20 in the bobbin and use v207/TKT13 for a chunkier look, the seam being no stronger than its weakest thread (in this case the 138/20). This practice goes back at least a century. However this Sailrite machine is quoted for v92/tkt30 as the maximum thread size and running machines at their maximum for very long isn't a great idea. For a leather hobbyist I would say that a 206 or similar machine is a far better choice at a similar price than this Tandy machine.

$400 is a great deal and barring any major damage I don't think your machine will depreciate at all. 

45 minutes ago, kgg said:

Matt, I think it's their overall support, availability of accessories, video's for their machines, video's for different projects and the quality of their machine manuals that are will written and presented in English making them easy to follow unlike some others. I still think their equipment is overpriced through.

I can see why that would be an advantage. Also the increased flexibility over a wider range of lighter jobs would appeal to a lot of people. I wouldn't be surprised if it's great on canvas and lighter webbing (as it appears intended to do). Still seems like a hell of a drop in capability over an entry-level industrial for a leatherworker to me. As you've said upthread, it's a non-portable portable machine -- a clever combination of the least advantageous design elements of both designs.

[benlilly1]

3 hours ago, Matt S said:

Benlilly I'm glad you like your machine. There's certainly a niche that Sailrite seems to fill, and good for them. However for leather work I see very few advantages to this machine over a basic upholstery-weight machine like a Consew 206, which is obtainable for similar or lower price. It's entirely possible that I'm missing something though. What do you like about your Sailrite?

I do love the Fabricator machine! Yes, you're limited on thread size, and I'm sure veg-tan is not recommended but I have sewn veg-tan on it. I like the quality in the machine. So I'm guessing the new one for Tandy is high quality also. I won't be making holsters, saddles, or heavy leather items so this machine works for me. They are hands on at Sailrite and have great videos to boot! Fabricator has a 2 year warranty on parts and labor.

Edited January 23, 2019 by benlilly1

[bikermutt07]

@matts it is a Japanese rb-1. Although I can't figure out when it was made.

Sorry for the hijack.

[JJN]

@bikermutt07, I believe the first 2 digits of the serial number is the year it was made. I'm curious what yours is. My 206rb-1 is a 93.

[brmax]

I think it would be great to find, locate and discuss the presser feet like they have shown in the video. This texture or knurling they have made available for their machine is great.  I think theirs as “all” machines now days are made else where. With that it is primarily supported by users and in there after purchase discussions that advancements in design or castings are made better. Here as with some of these machine heads, they were smaller yet had ability for some portable heavier work. Particularly suited for limited storage on boats and areas liken to that. Thanks for the oppurtjnity  

Have a good day

Floyd

[chrisash]

Received tandy newsletter today, the price in UK for Pro Stitchmaster is £1727.99 plus vat at 20%= £2072 converted to USD =  $2193+vat = $2631

Not sure is Tandy sees a great market for it in the UK

[bermudahwin]

Even at business rate its £1555.20 + £311.04 vat totalling £1866.24.

H

[Yetibelle]

This machine reminds me of my Ferrari! I think I should have done a little more research before I spent all my money.

 

 

 

[Matt S]

6 hours ago, chrisash said:

Received tandy newsletter today, the price in UK for Pro Stitchmaster is £1727.99 plus vat at 20%= £2072 converted to USD =  $2193+vat = $2631

 

2 hours ago, hwinbermuda said:

Even at business rate its £1555.20 + £311.04 vat totalling £1866.24.

That's significantly more than what you'd pay for a new Chinese or used premium flat bed W/F upholstery-weight machine from a brick-and-mortar dealer.

[jcuk]

Hello

 

I went to the UK website and went through the process of purchasing - but didn't pay! And from what i could see the VAT was already included. 

 

Hope this helps

 

JCUK

[chrisash]

Yup your right i miss read it, it is vat inclusive

Soooorrrry

[bermudahwin]

6 minutes ago, jcuk said:

Hello

 

I went to the UK website and went through the process of purchasing - but didn't pay! And from what i could see the VAT was already included. 

 

Hope this helps

 

JCUK

Good spot, but it only says that in very small letters.

[Ardenmare]

I tried out the demo model at the Essex/Baltimore Tandy a couple of weeks ago. It's a nice machine, it was powerful enough to chew through 2 pieces of 5oz veg tan, although that's probably extreme for it. Really nice speed control. Just wish it could take a bit heavier thread sizes. 

I just checked out the Sailrite web page-the Tandy Stitch Master looks like a beige colored version of the Sailrite Ultrafeed LS1 portable that's been installed into a nice little table with their workhorse servo motor.  I like the smaller Tandy table, but for close to the same price, the Sailrite Fabricator sounds like a better deal with more capability. The site says it will take up to V-138 thread.

Edited February 6, 2019 by Ardenmare
updated info