Best Sewing Machines- New vs Used/Antique

[jrprottas]

6 hours ago, Matt S said:

@jrprottas bear in mind that those "portable" setups are still quite heavy. The head alone on a 3200 must be over 100lb.

thank you.  Its not just the weight...also the space it takes up and to a lesser extent, the noise. At 70, I can still wrestle around 100 pounds myself.  Also the entry level price that doesnt preclude adding things in the future as I get a better sense of this new hobby. Sure seems to be a more flexible choice than a Tippman or Outlaw.

9 hours ago, Wizcrafts said:

Yes, but not from actual experience. However, I have Barney handles on both patchers and frequently hand wheel my CB4500 and Singer 42-5 around corners.

what are barney handles? Would they make any machine hand-operable?

[jrprottas]

Wiz mentioned the Toro Artisan in one of his stickies and I finally studied the website. They're located in ca which is great. 

Anyone with experience with the 3200 they offer?  They claim its proficient with thinner leathers also. For example wallets.

[Wizcrafts]

Since they sell direct, it is best to call or email them about the minimum thickness it can sew

35 minutes ago, jrprottas said:

what are barney handles? Would they make any machine hand-operable?

They are little wooden handles that screw loosely onto sewing machine handwheels (after drilling and tapping a hole) that let you crank the wheel with a handle instead of your hand on top of the handwheel itself. They used to be available for steering wheels and Barney Rubble had one on his car. They are usually found on the handwheels on shoe patcher machines.

[SolarLeatherMachines]

On 8/3/2019 at 3:07 AM, Matt S said:

@jrprottas bear in mind that those "portable" setups are still quite heavy. The head alone on a 3200 must be over 100lb.

Our 3200 HC weighs 105 lbs.   As Wiz says, it's a Barney handle, only made of stainless steel.  I looked a long time before I found a handle that was really nice, and really comfortable.  If I was going to do this, I was going to do it RIGHT.    You can attach them to any wheel that you can drill and tap, but most of the lightweight machines have hand wheels that are basically sheet metal, and not suitable for the heavy stainless steel handles.   Might be ok for the small wooden handles Wiz is talking about.  

[jrprottas]

On 8/3/2019 at 7:27 AM, jrprottas said:

Wiz mentioned the Toro Artisan in one of his stickies and I finally studied the website. They're located in ca which is great. 

Anyone with experience with the 3200 they offer?  They claim its proficient with thinner leathers also. For example wallets.

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HERES WHAT THE ARTISAN WEBSITE CLAIMS. Seems to cover a broader range of thin to thick applications. Again, anyone have experience with the TORO ARTISAN 3200?

Heavy Dutyartisan® TORO-3200 Stitchers with a 12 ¹⁄₂" working area cylinder bed are known as Compound Needle Feed, Walking Foot (Unison Feed) Lockstitch Sewing Machine and include a very large size Bobbin and Oscillating Shuttle Hook system designed to stitch from as light as 2 to 3 sheets of paper, up to as heavy as ⁹⁄₁₀ inch or 24.1 mm thick. Some features of theartisan® TORO-3200 include a lever type stitch regulator with Reverse feed and a built-in bobbin winder mechanism. The machines stitch using threads manufactured using bonded twisted Nylon or Poly Threads from light weight sizes such as z-69 (tex 70) up to as heavy as size z-415 (tex 410) industrial threads. We recommend genuine SCHMETZ brand Needles from diameters as light as 794 NM110, (#18) up to NM250 (#27) including leather point needles 794 S #21 to #26 and 794 D #23 to #25.artisan® is the direct distributor of Schmetz brand, German manufactured highest quality needles and carries all of the various sizes.

[Wizcrafts]

2 hours ago, jrprottas said:

HERES WHAT THE ARTISAN WEBSITE CLAIMS. Seems to cover a broader range of thin to thick applications. Again, anyone have experience with the TORO ARTISAN 3200?

Again, I recommend that you contact the company directly with your concerns. If they warrant that their particular machine can effectively sew from x thinness to y thickness, by simply changing needle and thread sizes, then you can either take their word for it, or request sewn samples ranging from 2 ounces through 72 ounces (sewn with the appropriate range of thread sizes). If it turns out to be so, post pictures and buy the machine (get the full details about the warranty and phone/email/chat assistance after the sale).

[Wizcrafts]

I want to mention that I have personal experience running Cobra and Cowboy 441 clones. We have a CB4500 in our shop and use it every day. While most jobs are at least 12 ounces, a few are thinner. I have to do a procedure I call Dumbing down a Cowboy CB4500, Cobra Class 4, or similar harness stitcher to sew thin material with thin needles and thin thread. These are basically the same class of machine as the Artisan Toro 3200 and 4000: 441 clones.