First sewing machine

[hanns]

Hello,

I am a hobbiest leatherworker and have been saddle stitching everything for years. This can easily add 10+ hours to some of my projects, so for the last maybe year or so I've been mulling getting a machine and lately I've been seriously researching it.

My work mostly consists of flat items made from 8-10 oz bridle leather with a soft leather liner. Total assembly <= 0.3". Not to rule out ever doing anything else, but that's typical for me.

I thought I had found "the one" in the Sailrite Fabricator because it checks all the boxes I've been told to look for:

• Compound walking foot
• Adequate foot height
• Large bobbin
• Can work very slowly at full power (a must for me because I'm new to sewing machines in general, so I'd like to flatten the learning curve as much as possible)
• Parts availability

However I see people say that machine isn't really meant for leatherwork, might struggle, isn't as good as brands like Juki for the money, loses resale value. People recommend Cowboy, Cobra, Juki, Consew. But my problem is price and understanding options. Cowboy and Cobra have a very high cost of entry. Juki has a ton of models and I'm not even sure where to start with them and what kind of motor, reducer, whatever else I'd need to make a good leather setup. Consew seems to be higher priced compared to Sailrite for a 206 once you add the table, motor, reducer, and shipping.

Ideally I'd like to be <=$1500 but could possibly stretch to $2k for a complete setup if the machine were really that much better. I am not opposed to buying used either if it's in good condition, but I don't particularly want to haunt the classifieds for a year hoping something comes up (haven't found anything to date).

I'd appreciate any recommendations you might have in that price range for the type of work I'm trying to do. Or maybe I'm just being unrealistic?

Thanks!

[toxo]

For the future it's really handy if your dealer is local and many dealers don't bother with advertising individual machines if they come and go quickly. My advice would be to phone around and tell them what you want it for. They might tell you a load of crap in which case it was worth the phone call for future reference but you might find a gem of a dealer with whom you'll strike up a relationship that will endure. He might have the machine that you're looking for or if not he might suggest something he has that is maybe just as good and that's when you do your research.

[JJN]

When I was looking for my first machine, I also looked very seriously at the Sailrite Fabricator. It was around $1400 at the time. While looking I found this same Sailrite that someone bought to make a Youtube review and never used it for anything else. It was listed at $1000 and took some time to sell. This might reveal something about resale value of this machine. I think it is a very good machine but I don't have any personal experience with. I finally bought a Juki DNU-1541S for my first machine and felt I make an excellent choice. I bought it from Keystone Sewing Machine Co, located in Pennsylvania, at a great price with free shipping (current price is $1710). Although I have quite a few machines available to me now, this Juki is still my "go-to" machine for most of what I want to sew. You can ask them to put a speed reducer on it too.

https://store.keysew.com/sewing-machines/juki-sewing/juki-dnu-1541s-with-assembled-power-stand-setup-ready-to-sew

 

[kgg]

7 hours ago, hanns said:

Juki has a ton of models

Yes, Juki has a very wide selection of machines for various applications. The flatbed machines I think that would meet your needs in the upholstery class would be the Juki DNU-1541"S" or the heavier and more costly Juki DNU-1508 either dressed with a 550 watt or better dial not digital controlled servo motor. As far as speed reduction I would suggest you give the standard speed / motor configuration a try first. If it works well for your needs you saved that cost to put into other things. Should you fine you need the extra toque or speed control it is a very simple change/add on.

I have a Juki's 1541S, 1181N and Kobe 1341 (clone of Juki 341) that I mainly use with no speed reduction and they work just fine. My personal thought is if I really need to add speed reduction to get enough "torque" to get the job done I am using the wrong machine and need to move up to another class of machine. If it is for speed control then I may have to think about adding a speed reducer or changing the motor.

The ideal thing would be to go to a dealer with your thickest stuff, the thread you are planning on using and give a few machines a test drive.

Buy Once, Cry Once

kgg

 

[hanns]

9 hours ago, JJN said:

 I finally bought a Juki DNU-1541S for my first machine and felt I make an excellent choice.

Thank you. The 1541S is one I've seen mentioned a few times and am looking into seriously now. I had seen prices of $2k shipped, but Keystone seems to beat that by a fair bit, making it more accessible. Thanks for the link.

6 hours ago, kgg said:

The flatbed machines I think that would meet your needs in the upholstery class would be the Juki DNU-1541"S" or the heavier and more costly Juki DNU-1508 either dressed with a 550 watt or better dial not digital controlled servo motor.

...

The ideal thing would be to go to a dealer with your thickest stuff, the thread you are planning on using and give a few machines a test drive.

Thanks for the suggestion. I am definitely going to do more research around the 1541S. I agree going in person would be ideal. Keystone is about an hour away from me if I want to deal with city driving. Might be worth a visit.

[DonInReno]

I highly recommend a speed reducer of some kind if you can swing it.  It’s especially useful for leather or other intricate sewing, but just as important it makes learning to sew with an industrial less stressful - you’ll have enough of a learning curve without being frustrated with a lack of low speed torque.  No servo will have decent torque at the lowest speeds - that’s why there are 100 discussions here on how to improve low speed performance and zero on how to speed things up.

Honestly it’s the single best investment to improve the entire experience, and if a new machine is set up for a speed reducer it saves the hassle of a retrofit.

[hanns]

37 minutes ago, DonInReno said:

I highly recommend a speed reducer of some kind if you can swing it.  It’s especially useful for leather or other intricate sewing, but just as important it makes learning to sew with an industrial less stressful - you’ll have enough of a learning curve without being frustrated with a lack of low speed torque.  No servo will have decent torque at the lowest speeds - that’s why there are 100 discussions here on how to improve low speed performance and zero on how to speed things up.

Honestly it’s the single best investment to improve the entire experience, and if a new machine is set up for a speed reducer it saves the hassle of a retrofit.

This is actually one of the things that really appealed to me about the Fabricator package. It comes with their Workhorse brushless servo motor that delivers high torque at the slowest speed (here's someone else's video demonstrating it versus typical brushed servos), making the learning curve much easier. You can move the needle in small increments out of the box without the need for a reducer and still have the penetrating power to go through material thicker than I usually work with. The last thing I want is to ruin a nearly-complete project because the machine got away from me, so you're right - this is a big consideration for me.

What would be cool is finding something like the 1541S set up with a brushless servo like that out of the gate to save the expense of a reducer replacing the standard brushed servo. Either that, or the machine + table with no motor and add the Workhorse or similar myself.

[chrisash]

I think you will find most modern servo motors are brushless

[dikman]

Yes, pretty well all of the generic servos out of China are brushless and have been for a few years. That Sailrite servo is a nice compact all-in-one unit BUT if you mount it under the table you will have to get down on your knees and scrabble around under the table every time you want to make any adjustments to the controller.

[DonInReno]

There’s more than a little marketing with all the claims of slow speed performance in the servos.    
 

The sailrite motor is a rebranded Reliable sewquiet motor.

https://reliablecorporation.com/products/sewquiet-6000sm-servomotor