Simple chart of models & key specs

[Fognozzle]

I understand the complexity that Constabulary is speaking of, but as toxo says the objective would mostly be to have a quick reference to divide machines into 'unsuitable' or 'worthy of further investigation', and to also provide a shortlist of specific machines worth hunting down. As a beginner, it's rather a tall order to research every single machine in 10 pages of "industrial sewing machine" search results!

[DonInReno]

I enjoy keeping a lookout for used machines of various types and the biggest limitation to a simple list of machines would be the number of machines that would be overlooked because they aren’t on the list. 

 First, a person should read the great write up that Wiz put together, then reread it about once a week while searching for a machine.   It’s much more important to understand the design you need, rather than the specific make and model, because of the variety in rebrands, older models, etc.

The easiest thing to look for is a built in walking foot design - simple machines without one are rarely capable of sewing with heavy thread.   Of course this generalization will let machines like the Ga-5 slip past your radar.  No less than a dozen companies across the planet have marketed that old design under probably 50 different names/models.

The other danger of going off a list of used machines great for leather is it doesn’t emphasize the importance of availability of parts.   Not all good machines can be easily fixed if something is missing or broken.  Even a clone of a well supported machine may have some parts that don’t follow the “standard” design.  

Then there are unbranded and unmarked machines that can be just as good as the machine it copies, but there are zero markings or part numbers to go off of.  Special purpose industrials may be 99.9% the same as a popular model, but have been given a model number that doesn’t even give a glimpse of what it’s based on. Foreign or older machines often aren’t prominently marked.

The other machines to look out for are machines, even popular models, that have been modified for a very specific purpose, making them almost useless for normal sewing.   Book binding machines or those for some industrial products look just like some leather sewers, but may not be capable of reasonably short stitches or may be completely missing feeding mechanisms.

Enjoy your search!
 

 

 

[toxo]

This is getting more complicated that it needs to be.Don, you're looking at it from a collector type point of view but the OP and many others including myself a while back who don't know one end of a sewing machine from the other just want the simple stuff. If a machine comes up for sale locally for what looks like a reasonable price I don't want to spend a week trying to find out if it will do WHAT I WANT IT TO DO. Forgive the caps. I promise I'm not shouting. A list of desirable features is what's needed. Not a list of machines. If a local machine looks like it might do and has the required features, THEN invest the time to find out how high on the desirable machines list it comes. My first machine was a boat anchor. I bought it cos it was local, it was cheap because it had a screeching motor and I thought "I can fix that". I put new bearings in it and had it purring by which time I'd found out it was a garment machine running at 4000 miles an hour and completely the opposite of what was needed.

[Bert51]

I think this is a good Post, a lot of people are giving good information and although we all have our own opinions and ideas, to me this is great for anyone looking for ideas on what they need.

Hopefully this post can live long enough to have all this information in one place.

I just wish I found this site before I made a few of the mistakes that I have made.

My list looks like this,

Singer 132K6 for a Heavy Flat Bed Machine

Adler 105 for a Heavy Cylinder Arm Machine

Singer 31K47 for Medium Flat Bed Machine

Singer 31K20 with Roller foot

Singer 29K58  Patching

Juki 555-5 for Fabric sewing and very light Leather

and of course an Overlocker or two.

Bert.

Edited May 3, 2020 by Bert51