Recommendations for a beginners first leather machine

[Cosplayholic]

I'm a hobbyist who makes reproductions of film, game, and television costumes for attending conventions and entering competitions. I have been sewing for 6 years now and have had a pretty good success rate and am comfortable sewing fabric but want to expand the range of skills I have. The next costume I have my eye on making contains a lot of leather and I know I will need the appropriate sewing machine to get it done properly and work with more leather in the future. I do have machines some sites advertise as being 'appropriate' for leather such as my singer 4423 and my all-metal Bernina 1008S but | really doubt their capabilities on thicker fabric and the number of broken needles that would involve.  From what I have read I know I need to be looking at a walking foot machine with a compound feed and a servo motor, for garment sewing I want a flatbed, my issue comes from my student's budget of around £600 (I am from the UK) which I know is not a lot and I am looking at 2nd hand machines. As I am making garments my leather shouldn't be too thick, I have attached an image of the first project I wish to embark on as an example, however, I do need to occasionally work on things such as holsters and belts so I guess a machine with an ability to sew a wider range of fabric would be better. Although I know each machine has a range that it is suitable for so may not be able to do everything I want, I am fine hand-stitching small pieces like bags, belts and holsters if the machine I got couldn't handle it (as I am on my current project: Dolores from Westworld). I have a friend who used to work at a leather store and now runs her own small leather goods business, and the grandmother of my boyfriend who worked making leather goods all her life as people to turn to for advice on choosing leather for my projects as I don't have much insight myself as I'm still learning, I'm sorry I can't offer more information.

These are some machines I have spotted on a quick ebay search that I may be able to afford, but I can't really risk buying something that I won't be able to use as I am a student and I'm not going to be able to get more money any time soon, especially with no competitions running currently with the pandemic as I use my prize money to finance my hobby. Some have more details listed in descriptions than others:

 Juki DNU 1181 £650 https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Juki-DNU-1181-Walking-Foot-Industrial-Sewing-Machine/174268045735?hash=item28932f59a7:g:FBMAAOSwvA9eovz9

Highlead GC-0318 £620 https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/HIGHLEAD-WALKING-FOOT-LEATHER-SEWING-MACHINE-SILENT-SERVOMOTOR-SPEED-CONTROL/263542363354?

Jack H2-CZ £600 (this one looks computerized which makes me a bit nervous) https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Jack-H2-CZ-Walking-Foot-Heavy-Duty-Direct-Drive-Industrial-Sewing-Machine/173998146449?hash=item2883190391:g:5ZIAAOSwvT1de8j5

Mitsubishi 4400 £650 https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Mitsubishi-4400-Walking-Foot-Industrial-Sewing-Machine/173922054095?hash=item287e8fefcf:g:ADoAAOSwcchdk3xf

TYPICAL 0302 £650 https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/TYPICAL-0302-WALKING-FOOT-INDUSTRIAL-SEWING-MACHINE-WITH-SILENT-MOTOR-COMPLETE/263531054622

PFAFF 5487 £550+unknown shipping https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Pfaff-Walking-Foot-Chain-Stich-Industrial-Sewing-Machine/264648067285?hash=item3d9e4108d5:g:f9gAAOSw07JeVmeF

Seiko STW-8B £360 https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Seiko-walking-foot-industrial-sewing-machine/133409704886?hash=item1f0fd68bb6:g:75gAAOSw1xZeu8LO

Global ????? £400 https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Single-Thread-Walking-Foot-Industrial-Sewing-Machine-great-energy-saving-motor/113766756298?hash=item1a7d06efca:g:EmEAAOSwUwtc79Iw

Sunstar KM-560-7 £400 https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/industrial-walking-foot-sewing-machine-Sunstar-KM-560-7/114090115062?hash=item1a904cfff6:g:IH0AAOSw4tJeMYgq

Sorry for the long, winding vagueness of this post and how little information I can provide, I would appreciate any recommendations, advice, corrections you can give me in regards to choosing a machine, maintaining one or leather sewing in general. Thank you for any help you give me!


I have also read the pinned 'The Type Of Sewing Machine You Need To Sew Leather' and a couple of other relevant posts

[ZigZag]

Hi, looks like some very interesting projects you have on the go. Where about in the UK are you? I have a Seiko STW8b with servo Moro’s that I’m looking to sell. Your welcome to try it out if you are localish. I’m in Hampshire.

[DonInReno]

You’ll wonder how you lived without a walking foot machine!

It can be overwhelming making sense of the capabilities of the multitude of models out there, but you’ll soon see that most flatbed machines with a walking foot have  similar capabilities.   

My advice for anyone buying their first walking foot flatbed in the lower price range is to look for the one that is the best deal and is essentially ready to sew without a lot of additional work or money - that way it can be used for as long as you want and can be sold for essentially what you bought it for.  That’s like leasing it for free or for very little money.   Six months sewing with any of the machines on that list and you’ll know what special features you wish it had and if you really need that larger machine to sew holsters.  I’m guessing the typical cosplay holsters are somewhat thinner and have softer leather than are typically used for high end models often talked about here.

Keep in mind there is a significant learning curve to sew if the machine has a high speed motor.

A good rule of thumb for Learning  maintenance is to put a single drop of oil anyplace two pieces of metal move against each other, and maintain any oil reservoirs (if any).  That’s about it - just wipe the machine off with a rag and a little sewing oil and you can probably sew for a number of years without any special detail cleaning.

 Don’t turn any screws to “adjust things” unless you are absolutely sure what the adjustment is.   You’ll want screw drivers that fit screws so the heads don’t get buggered up.
 

 

 

Edited May 16, 2020 by DonInReno

[Cosplayholic]

Thanks!  Yeah cosplay holsters can be done with thinner leather and I don't need to use such a big thread size ect as it wont be getting the wear a real holster would, so I wouldn't need to use a different heavy duty machine in that respect. Im looking at machines that have roughly what I think I need as 1) I don't trust myself to be making big adjustments 2) I want to be sure I'm not going to end up needing to spend loads more money to get a machine fit for my purpose. I am thinking about upping my budget a little in order to get a machine that I'm more sure of being able to trust. The whole lockdown situation right now means I cant travel to look at machines either plus I have exams over the next few weeks at university but I'm hoping i will find something reasonably priced if I just keep looking.

[chrisash]

There are some main dealers in the UK who will hire out machines by the week or longer and most will have a few makers models at present Jack seems to be advertising a lot and Highlead, typical are well known makes, I think the JUki 1181 should have a N after the number to indicate its setup for leather and costs a bit extra

I would suggest visit a dealer, ask for a demo with 138 thread the largest these machines will take and also bring your leather say a belt and a couple of your thickest leather. Also check out the slowest you can sew with the thickest leather

If you explain your financial position they may well have a demo machine they will sell at a discount price as they cannot sell it as new, could be £100 or more depending on how bad they want a customer, I doubt they are selling many at present time

Good luck and with a new machine and guarantees I doubt you can go far wrong

 

Edited May 24, 2020 by chrisash

[Matt S]

I bought my first real leather machine offn eBay for a princely £200. Still got it 4 years later, it's a backup to a backup that sits in storage, but I refuse to sell it for peanuts. Brilliant quality machine (Adler 67) that is stupid cheap because it isn't fashionable at the moment (fugly design and lacking a few modern features). I've seen them selling for under £100, and I'm not even looking for one. It'll put a Tkt20/V138 thread through 9mm of leather at 2000 stitches per minute all day long and not blink an eye. Something like that would do you fine for what you want to make for decades, or at least long enough to save up for an all singing all dancing machine.

I've bought more than a dozen industrial sewing machines since then, mostly now sold on. I make my living making stuff out of leather and I've found that crap tools are not worth their weight in sand, quality tools are worth their weight in gold. The best advice I can offer is to buy quality over features -- a quality used machine that has a limited range of accessories or features retains resale value a lot longer than a newer machine made of cast cheese and is less trouble keeping it working while you have it.

Out of your list my preference would be the Seiko -- fantastic quality machine with thread and thickness capacity range around what you want, ready and wide range of parts and needles from every industrial dealer and high build quality. Did i say high build quality twice? I really like Seikos. Juki, Durkopp/Adler, Pfaff, Singer and Mitsubishi are also top quality machines. Jack, Highlead, Global, Sunstar and Typical are all Chinese manufacturers of varying qualities. Apparently some of them are fine when set up correctly but my experience of owning and operating Chinese made machines was not pleasent. Not something I want to put my time or money into again, if I'm frank, and I can service and set up machines myself rather than pay someone else to do it.