looking for a cylinder arm machine

[Sturmtrupp702]

as the title says im looking for a cylinder arm machine for doing knife sheaths and holsters and would prefer to get one with the ability to attach the top to make it like a flat bed for sewing wallets. so far the techsew 2750 pro has stood out to me the most ive also looked at the cobra class 3 and 4 my budget is 3000 any input would be greatly appreciated 

[Handstitched]

You may wish to have a read of this, its quite informative:

I have a' Q Stitch Colt' , a  Juki 441 clone that does all my  belts dog collars, holsters,  and heavy leathers to heavy webbing  tie down straps .  The machines you have mentioned are also great machines. 

HS

Edited June 11, 2020 by Handstitched

[Matt S]

The Techsew 2750 would be a good choice for wallets but not for sheaths or holsters. You need a far heavier thread/needle capacity for that sort of job and quite possibly a higher thickness capacity. The most popular entry level machines are Chinese clones of the Juki TSC-441, Adler 205, and various variations thereof. All of these are well supported for parts and accessories including flat-bed table attachments.

Your suggestions of the Cobra 3 and 4 are far more suitable. Many dealers have very similar machines under different brand and model designations (CB3500 and 4500 I think) so you may be able to shop around for a better price/accessories package/shorter drive. Many of these dealers support this website with banner ads so if I were in the market for one I'd try to buy through one of them.

Unfortunately there is no one machine that can sew everything and ideally you would have a separate machine for lighter and heavier jobs. However if you are happy to spend time adjusting and testing between different sewing tasks one heavier machine would probably suffice.

[WolfteverGunleather]

What @Matt Ssays about no "one size fits all" machine existing is correct. I have a Cobra class 4 that I keep set up for 277 top/207 bobbin that I use for holsters, sheaths, and other heavy work. I I love it for the heavy work, but found out pretty quickly after buying it that it is not as well suited for lighter work as other machines are. I also discovered how inefficient it is to lose a lot of time adjusting and tweaking tension and other settings when going back and forth on thread weights and needle sizes.

I started shopping for another machine and found a used Cowboy 3200 on this site at a good price and bought it. I keep it set up for 138 top and bottom and use it for bags, journals, and other lighter work. I really appreciate the time saving of being able to sew both heavy and light without resetting the machine.

With some patience and persistence, you could possibly find two used machines in good condition from members of this site without blowing your 3k budget too bad.

Good luck!

[Rhale]

I use a cowboy 3200 for the heavier stuff and it does a great job,  it’s a 441 clone much like the cobra and others check with Toledo sewing machines for the cowboy or leather machine co. For the cobra!

[Wizcrafts]

8 hours ago, Sturmtrupp702 said:

as the title says im looking for a cylinder arm machine for doing knife sheaths and holsters and would prefer to get one with the ability to attach the top to make it like a flat bed for sewing wallets. so far the techsew 2750 pro has stood out to me the most ive also looked at the cobra class 3 and 4 my budget is 3000 any input would be greatly appreciated 

I have a Techsew 2700 (predecessor of the 2750) that I got used. It is a light duty cylinder arm machine that uses Singer G size bobbins and maxes out with #138 bonded thread. It can sew over a soft 3/8 inch seam, but doesn't like it. I leave it setup with #69 or #92 thread for sewing thin to medium work up to about 1/4 inch. I have a Cowboy CB4500 for knife sheathes and all gun holsters and rifle cases that uses #277 or #346 thread. Both of these cylinder arm machines have table attachments that I use when necessary, but not otherwise. I have a flatbed machine in my shop for sit down sewing of flat things, like vests, jackets, phone cases, guitar straps, etc. It uses thread sizes 69 through 138.

While there are some heavy duty cylinder arm machines currently available that advertise they can sew 1/2 inch of leather, it will probably not be 1/2 inch stack of hard (wetted, shaped, glued, dried and dyed) veg-tan leather sewn with heavy (#277 or #346, top and bottom) thread that can withstand drawing and reholstering a handgun, possibly in a panic draw, or competition situation. However, if the sheathes and holsters you make don't exceed 3 layers of 8 ounce veg-tan, the aforementioned machine might do the job well enough to call it Macaroni.

[Handstitched]

21 hours ago, Matt S said:

Unfortunately there is no one machine that can sew everything

Yeh, you're right.  If only... eh ?  But otherwise we'd be forever making adjustments to the machine , ....and get no work done. 

HS

[luxuryluke]

Don’t forget the class 26 for more of an in the middle approach. 
Otherwise this is all solid wisdom!

[Sturmtrupp702]

i do have a econosew 2060 to do wallets once i get it to quit breaking thread and a Chinese patcher to do belts so the cylinder arm will primarily do sheaths and holsters the class 26 definitely sounds like it will do what i need or a class 3 does anyone have feedback on the cobra machines from tandy?

[Wizcrafts]

9 hours ago, Sturmtrupp702 said:

the cylinder arm will primarily do sheaths and holsters the class 26 definitely sounds like it will do what i need or a class 3 does anyone have feedback on the cobra machines from tandy?

I can't speak for Tandy, but I have sewn on a Cobra Class 4 and it is a fine machine. The Class 3 has a 9 inch arm and the Class 4 has a 16.5" arm. You would have to decide if you will ever need a longer arm before buying a 441 type machine. If you are in charge of all your designs, you may get away with a short arm. But, do you anticipate making drop loop gun belts with bullet loops? If so, go for the longer arm. I say this from much experience sewing bullet loops onto Western gun belts on my Cowboy CB4500. In fact, sometimes I wish I had bought a 25 inch arm model!

FYI: The 441 clones pick up where the standard walking foot machines leave off. That is #138 through #415 thread with needle sizes 23 through 27. The crank shafts are at least twice the size of those used in medium duty walking foot machines. The springs are massive in comparison. They can both exert huge amounts of top thread tension and still hold down tough leather as the take-up lver pulls up the thread knots. This is more difficult on lesser machines and is where they are likely to fail.