Entry level machine

[Toastie]

What is a good entry level sewing machine for around 400$ (if one exist). Right now my wife is looking at the Janome 3000

Up until now I have just been hand stitching small bags and whatnots I could find patterns for(I mainly have 5 to 7 oz leather I find on sale, most is chrome tanned).Eventually I would like to make suits of leather armor (but I know those machines are way out of my price range) so I was probably going to start with simpler stuff like gauntlets or bags. Now what has prompted me to look for a machine was that me and the wife were making some cloaks for our renaissance faire in November. We got some arctic fleece, over at Joann's, and then we stopped by Tandy leather and she saw some dyed rabbit hides that she now wants to use to the hide to line the edge of the cloak (I had also planned to line the very bottom of the cloak with some thin leather to prevent the bottom from getting frayed out, maybe some 2 oz chrome tanned)

We would also like to use this sewing machine to make different costumes

 

As for lining the cloak with that fur, would it be better to just use some sort of glue like Barge to attach it

[Wizcrafts]

2 hours ago, Toastie said:

What is a good entry level sewing machine for around 400$ (if one exist). Right now my wife is looking at the Janome 3000

Only used and very old industrial sewing machines sell for the $400 price point. New, they sell for $1000 and up. Tandy stores should have a portable walking foot machine made by Sailrite, that is able to sew 1/4 inch of leather with #92 (15 pound test) bonded nylon thread.

Consew makes a great low cost walking foot machine as the Consew P1206RB-1. It is a quality machine that will do what you want with up to #138 bonded nylon thread (22 pound test), into 3/8 inch of medium temper leather.

Janome doesn't make industrial leather sewing machines. The model 3000 is a plastic body domestic (household) cloth garment sewing machine.

[nylonRigging]

17 minutes ago, Wizcrafts said:

 

Janome doesn't make industrial leather sewing machines. The model 3000 is a plastic body domestic (household) cloth garment sewing machine.

I can't believe Tandy Leather is even advertising and suggesting the 'plastic' Janome 3000 . Not to say it wont do very light and thin . . but ' better route and example' . I see a old but good clean and set-up ( 111 needle feed ) that runs good and local here for 350-$ ,

https://youtu.be/_zHNuos-ngQ?t=2

.

Edited October 18, 2019 by nylonRigging

[Toastie]

Thanks for the information

I did run by my local Tandy and when I asked them about that Janome, they said judging by the amount of returns they get, those must not sew leather very well

For older machines I see a lot of people selling old Singer machines, would any of those work

[nylonRigging]

2 hours ago, Toastie said:

For older machines I see a lot of people selling old Singer machines, would any of those work

A ton of the old Singer 111 and 112 W's and G's ,always making there way threw the want to sell adds . You can't go wrong and they will do what you are wanting to do . they will easy run #69 thread , has the thread tension , presser-foot tension and the needle depth you need to get started , with basic wear parts cheep and all over for sale .

.

[kgg]

9 hours ago, Toastie said:

What is a good entry level sewing machine for around 400$ (if one exist). Right now my wife is looking at the Janome 3000

For the dollars you have chosen ($400) I would suggest looking at the Reliable Barracuda it is a portable walking foot that has the zig zag feature. It can handle up to v92 if you purchase at your local Home Depot for $500 or up to V138 if you get it from Reliable. It has a decedent  presser foot clearance of 10mm which is just a touch over 3/8" . Good starter machine. Then there is of course the used market.  

[dikman]

5 hours ago, Toastie said:

For older machines I see a lot of people selling old Singer machines, would any of those work

You need to be more specific as Singer made a huge number of different machines, both domestic and industrial. Some will do what you want, many probably won't.

[Gunnarsson]

There's plenty of old all metal domestic sewing machines that probably will survive the load of sewing thin leather, but to my knowledge there is no domestic machine with needle feed and/or a real walking foot, they all only use standard bottom feed. For reliable and even feeding when sewing leather you want a compound feed/triple feed (or whatever manufacturers name you use), i.e. a machine where bottom feed dogs, the needle AND the foot feed the material.
Many simpler machines often CAN sew fairly heavy materials. For a small oneoff project you may find the issues that comes with that "acceptable", for more serious use you will be tired of it quickly, and the machine may not last very long anyway. You want a machine designed for heavy use all the time, not a domestic machine meant for 99.9% making curtains and pants, and 0.1% heavier work.

[Cascabel]

.   Always bear in mind that there is no such thing as an "Industrial Strength" machine, and just because it is made of cast iron, and painted black does not make it a real industrial machine.  Many of them are Grandma's old sewing machine that showed up at a yard sale.   EBAY and Craigslist sellers lie !!   The old domestic machines are excellent within their limitations, but none of them are real "Leather" or "Industrial" machines.    A simple way to tell is that if the motor is the size of a man's fist, and attached to the back of the machine, it is a domestic machine.  Real industrial machines have a motor the about the size of your head mounted underneath the table. And real industrial machines are NEVER designed to fold down into the cabinet like a domestic.   They are much too heavy !!

 

    Another consideration is that the thickness a machine can handle is dictated by the fact that MOST, but NOT ALL machines release the thread tension as the foot rises either by the thickness of the material being sewn, or when climbing over a thick section like a seam.   This can cause skipped stitches and a host of other problems, such as tangles on the back side.  This applies to both domestic and industrial models.   This is a feature of the design of most machines, allowing easy removal of the work from under the foot when raising the foot manually when done sewing.   Some machines, like my Singer 42-5 can sew as much thickness as you can jam under the foot, as it does not have this tension release feature.

[MikeF]

KGG, on that Reliable Barracuda...interesting...I took a look at that at HD site but couldn't find much on spec...do you know what the motor HP rating is?  Any speed control?

[MikeF]

Should state the real case / question...I have a limited budget as well...straight forward stitching issue for my biz...I would like to stitch two chunks of 10 oz HO veg tan strap together...mile after mile after mile...and I am DEFINITELY getting tired of doing it hand. Would that Reliable do that?  Folks are too proud of their old industrials in the used market around here ...want too much.

[kgg]

28 minutes ago, MikeF said:

I took a look at that at HD site but couldn't find much on spec...do you know what the motor HP rating is?  Any speed control? 

As the Reliable Barracuda comes it only has a small domestic motor and speed controller like the Sailrite LSZ-1 but a lot cheaper cost wise. What Tandy done was take a Sailrite LS portable (no zig zag) and mounted it in a table with a Sailrite workhorse servo motor strapped to it. If a Sailrite portable could sew through two layers of 10 oz veg tan leather then I would expect the Barracuda should be able to do the same. If you tricked out the Barracuda like the Tandy machine you could save a fair bit of cash. But you still would only have a light duty table mounted portable walking foot machine. I think you would be far better off getting a brand name walking foot machine like a Juki du-1181n for about the same cost or 1541S which are made to work day in day out.

kgg

 

[Gunnarsson]

Sailrite made a video showing some of the differences between their machines, and the lookalikes and earlier versions of their own machine. They are speaking of products they sell, so obviously they will say their own stuff is what you should buy, but it is clear that there ARE differences between the expensive and the cheap machines with other names. I wouldn't buy a cheap one and expect something equal to the expensive one.

As I see it the portable sailrite machine it in many ways seems very similar to a domestic machine - similar thickness capacity, similar thread size, just add the walking foot. It fits in the gap between a domestic machine and a proper industrial, unfortunately at a price that often makes it more sensible to buy a proper industrial machine.
The sailrite lookalikes may be more worth the money as they're much cheaper, but lacking some of the upgrades and updates they may not be as good.

 

 

[kgg]

I have owned a Reliable Barracuda as well as used the Sailrite. I would again have no problems in choosing the Barracuda again. Maybe I got a good one but if you put the two of them side by side in a blind test I think it would be hard to tell what you were paying extra for. For someone who occasionally needs the walking foot feature, who whats to wet their feet first in the hobby or dollars are a major factor before buying a more robust machine the portable walking foot machines maybe a good option, regardless of the name on the machine. The problem is that for the price of a portable walking foot Sailrite LSZ-1 (~$1095) there are so many other options available like the Consew p1206rb (~$1095) that is a compound feed machine as an example.

kgg

[DonInReno]

If you don’t mind a little trouble shooting and learning adjustments and whatnot, you can get a very nice used setup for $400 that will last a lifetime.  Many costume makers have a simple sewer or needle feed machine for light to medium weight material and a second walking foot machine for heavier items.  
A used Juki 870 in very good shape pops up once in a while for $200 ($300 is more common) and a good Juki 562 is a bargain at $300-$400, but once in a while a $200 machine pops up.

I usually recommend focusing on getting the walking foot machine first since lightweight domestic machines out of the 60’s and 70’s are tough and almost free for lightweight sewing.

[jfak7670]

Check out a Consew CP206RL portable walking foot machine https://www.amazon.com/Consew-CP206RL-Portable-Walking-Machine/dp/B07G8FY9DF/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=Consew+CP206RL&qid=1579160776&sr=8-1 Consew is a brand that produces good quality machines and accessories for years. So, you shouldn't worry about it's reliability and versatility. For any beginner this one has enough for first designs. 

[Constabulary]

8 minutes ago, jfak7670 said:

Consew is a brand that produces good quality machines and accessories for years. So, you shouldn't worry about it's reliability and versatility. For any beginner this one has enough for first designs. 

It´s not a secret that they do not produce the machines they sell, they buy em overseas and put their brand sticker on them. Consew is in business for a long time but afaik they never produced their own machines. Afaik they always have sold foreign made machines (made in Japan, China ...) and relabeled them. But that does not mean the machines are bad.