Post bed vs cylinder arm sewing machine.

[Devid82]

Hi everyone, 

I would need some help from you as I'm not really sure which sewing machine will suit my needs best. I live in the UK.

I started a motorcycle leathers repair business last year and currently working from home. 

I have a flat bed walking foot sewing machine and looking to purchase a second one. Now the thing is that, with a flat bed, I really struggle when I have to do top stitching or get inside arms and legs for example. So I'm not sure which one of the 2 to get. Also, some times it happens that I would need to sew through plastic, like knee, shoulder and elbow protections.

Please see picture below to get an idea of the kind of plastic I just mentioned. 

I know that the post bed is ideal to sew through plastic for different reasons, but would I be able to get inside arms legs etc without a cylinder arm?

What would you do?

Thank you very much in advance.

Devid

[kgg]

I would go for a cylinder bed machine as I think it would overall be more versatile then a post bed. I think most post beds would limit your thread size to V92. I would recommend you drop by to a machine vendor with a sample and test drive it on a post bed and a cylinder bed.

kgg

[Wizcrafts]

I too sew on patches for a living. In my shop I have flat bed, post bed and cylinder arm machines. I use the flatbed for sewing through the fronts and backs. I use the post machine to sew over a back liner that zips open on the bottom. I use boot patchers to sew over pockets. Since you are looking into another machine, I recommend a long arm, big bobbin patcher. You can find used ones made by Singer (29 series) and Adler (30 series). I have a short arm, small bobbin Singer 29k71 treadle machine and a long arm, big bobbin Adler 30-7 on a power stand. The Adler does most of the work. The Singer has a tiny bobbin and the short arm has its limitations.

[Constabulary]

17 hours ago, kgg said:

I would go for a cylinder bed machine as I think it would overall be more versatile then a post bed. I think most post beds would limit your thread size to V92. I would recommend you drop by to a machine vendor with a sample and test drive it on a post bed and a cylinder bed.

kgg

agree - visit a dealer and test different machines. Sewing through that plastic material may be quite challenging for certain machines. That may require a needle feed or triple feed machine. Maybe you end up with two more machines - a post bed + cylinder arm machine.

[kgg]

6 hours ago, Constabulary said:

Sewing through that plastic material may be quite challenging for certain machines.

Sewing through the plastic is also what caused me the most concern.

kgg

[Devid82]

14 hours ago, Constabulary said:

agree - visit a dealer and test different machines. Sewing through that plastic material may be quite challenging for certain machines. That may require a needle feed or triple feed machine. Maybe you end up with two more machines - a post bed + cylinder arm machine.

If I had the possibility, I would get both machines. At the moment I don't have much space unfortunately. 

I was thinking about a cylinder arm until my dad started confusing me saying that the one I need is a post bed.

[Devid82]

On 6/26/2021 at 12:40 PM, kgg said:

I would go for a cylinder bed machine as I think it would overall be more versatile then a post bed. I think most post beds would limit your thread size to V92. I would recommend you drop by to a machine vendor with a sample and test drive it on a post bed and a cylinder bed.

kgg

I have been thinking about swapping my flat bed for a cylinder arm and getting a post bed. Would a flat bed really be necessary for repairs? Also, I watched a few videos where people said that it is possible to turn a cylinder arm into a flat machine with an additional table. 

Edited June 27, 2021 by Devid82

[Devid82]

On 6/26/2021 at 5:04 PM, Wizcrafts said:

I too sew on patches for a living. In my shop I have flat bed, post bed and cylinder arm machines. I use the flatbed for sewing through the fronts and backs. I use the post machine to sew over a back liner that zips open on the bottom. I use boot patchers to sew over pockets. Since you are looking into another machine, I recommend a long arm, big bobbin patcher. You can find used ones made by Singer (29 series) and Adler (30 series). I have a short arm, small bobbin Singer 29k71 treadle machine and a long arm, big bobbin Adler 30-7 on a power stand. The Adler does most of the work. The Singer has a tiny bobbin and the short arm has its limitations.

Thank you for recommending these machines. I'll have a look at them and see.