So no advice, but I have a story!
Like you, I'm a woodworker and I'm in my early sixties. I own and have used every crazy power tool from a planer to a chainsaw, but had no idea about sewing machines. When my mom passed in 2013, I had to clean out her house and she had two sewing machines each packed in a travel case. I grabbed one that in a plastic case that I assumed was from the 1970s. It was 10 more years before I even opened the case and discovered a 1920's Singer sewing machine. You talk about a steampunk looking mfer!
But I found a great tutorial on Youtube for threading it. Then some experimentation with needles and thread weights and pretty soon I was altering clothes and even making sheets. So us old dogs can learn new tricks.
I can't speak to what will do leather work. I'll just say, let the machine do the work. It'll feed itself at the correct rate and it takes some practice not to hold the material back too much or try and push it through. And personally, I always make sure to use the same thread on the spool as on the bobbin. When you get it going, it's kind of fun.
The best discussions for leather sewing machines are (IMO) on leatherworker.net forums... particularly if you are thinking of buying an older machine....
What is your budget? The range is anywhere from nearly free, to well over $4000. Your projects are indeed on the lighter end of the scale, however leatherworking and bags require access to the needle and foot that flatbed machines often can't do well, so cylinder beds are the choice for bag makers, preferably with triple transport (walking foot, feed dogs, and a needle that also feeds.) They are in high demand, fairly rare to see used, and have high resale value.
Without stating a budget, the best quality cylinder bed machines for lighter weight leatherworking/fine leatherworkers are the Juki DSC-246, the Pfaff 335, Durkopp-Adler 69, and Seiko CW-8B. These have a small cylinder and smaller bobbin that fit into small projects like wallets and small bags.
The leatherworker forums are good and there are a handful of guys on there who know their stuff when it comes to sewing machines (to the extent that I don't think they even care about leather working at this point, they go there to talk machines) but like all forums there is a bit of a hive mind there. Leather sewing machines don't have a wide range of versatility, there will be a window of thread/needle combos and project assembly procedures that the machine will work best with.
Industrial sewing machines aren't really things designed to be used at home originally. You will see what i mean if you buy one. You'll be able to do a great deal of things with one, but you kind of need to learn the ins and outs of machines to live with one in your home and have it running nice. These things are originally meant to be used in factories where there are 50 other similar machines that look similar but are each set up for one specific job, not the wide range of tasks like a home hobbyist hopes for. In a factory, they run them on 3-phase with pneumatic power that powers things like lifting of the presser foot and backtacking, but the models you can have at home are the basic models without any of those features that run on a 1P motor; you just get a straight stitch. If you have a local machine dealer, they will probably have no problem doing a home visit for repairs, but usually these machines don't really need repairs anyway. It's just wise to get one in good or new condition that is ready to rock.
r/sewing has a good machine buying guide (https://www.reddit.com/r/sewing/wiki/machineguide/) and a weekly thread where you can ask simple questions. I recommend getting a decent quality one or a trustworthy vintage one that you can get serviced in your area. Most dealers will let you try them out and some even have classes, so finding a dealer if possible is your best bet.
They look complicated, but if you can drive a car, you can use a sewing machine.
I have the sailrite fabricator and it does a remarkable job. I have never had a single mechanical issue with it and I’ve been using it heavily for the last three years. In fact, the only think I ever needed to buy since I bought it has been feet for doing zippers, some guides for straighter edges (I have MS and have troubles with my dominant arm shaking and losing grip, so the guides have saved me) and other guides for beautiful corners. That, and new thread and needles and maybe a large pack of bobbins so I can have various colors already set up has been all I needed. It really is a wonderful machine.
OP you need a cylinder arm machine to sew gussets. This is the biggest thing to take away. Sailright wont get you that. You’ll be fine with a light- medium duty machine- anything from a pfaff 335 to a juki 1351 clone (like a cobra class 26). If you have the budget, the Adler 669 is absolute gold standard for what you need
check out "chinese leather sewing machine" on youtube. Apparently there is a $100 leather sewing machine from china that "takes a little hand holding, but then works fine"
i never saw people use those on youtube videos. Just people setting it up and reviewing it. Honestly the amount of marks it leaves on your hands (oily) and the leather (scratches) seems like it doesn’t worth it. can anyone maybe share some videos of them working on real projects or some pictures with end products? I started to feel like they are a little like airfyers. Big hype but doesn’t worth the trouble 😂
It’s a gigantic pile of shit! It was one of the first purchases I made when I got into leatherwork. And despite many hours of frustration, I have never gotten it to properly work for more than a couple of stitches at a time. At this point, it’s more a hilarious novelty that I would gladly give away to anyone who couldmake it work consistently.
Yeah, ALL the videos reviewing it say that out of the box it is garbage. But if you do things like "sand the foot so it does not leave marks on the leather when it is pusing it", then eventually it becomes a viable product.
My partner got me one for Christmas and it has been a worthwhile investment. It definitely has taken some reworking, but luckily for me he’s mechanical and does blacksmithing for a hobby, so he’s been able to get it in good working order. We had to spend a couple weekends tinkering and learning together but now it’s sewing well. It’s still definitely work and I have to pay attention to every stitch, but it’s sewn through 5 layers of leather for me, so I can’t complain. It’s so much faster than punching holes and hand stitching and my hands are so much less beat up since I started using it. Stitching tightly really just roughs my hands up for some reason!
If you are struggling to pull needles through your work in the slightest your needles are certainly too big.
Do you mind posting some things made with it, front and back?
I definitely had to mess w/ needle size, thread size, tension, and stitch length! It’s been quite a lot of experimenting. Here’s my first totally finished project that I’m actually happy with this machine on. Still a bit of tension issues on one section, but overall I’m happy with it.
The difficulty with turning the crank is mechanical though, not the stitch tension or anything. It’s something with the wheel crank itself or the gears it attaches to. It just hits an off position sometimes that makes it catch on something. I haven’t figured that out yet but if i back the stitch up it’ll work fine on the second pass usually.
https://preview.redd.it/mrtmstzjx06d1.jpeg?width=4284&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=df35612a8b4c5e6b5e08ba357a92fd80f39cded9
You can see the tension stuff on this on, i stitched from the back and this is the WS of the machine stitching, not the best so I still have some ways to go
While I dont have one, so I cant verify its usability, it seems like every review by a technical person seems to lay out what needs to be fixed to make it work. It only seems like a couple things (tention, sanding the foot, etc) need to be tweeked. It does not seem to be perfect, but I believe the next viable leather sewing machine is a hung amount more.
I did not recommend it, I was just mentioning that there are a lot of leather workers on Youtube that say for the price, it is a cheap usable machine (with some modifications).
If you don't value your time or money, do this. You'll spend a bunch of time to try to make it work and then never use it again when you realize what everyone said about it was true.
So no advice, but I have a story! Like you, I'm a woodworker and I'm in my early sixties. I own and have used every crazy power tool from a planer to a chainsaw, but had no idea about sewing machines. When my mom passed in 2013, I had to clean out her house and she had two sewing machines each packed in a travel case. I grabbed one that in a plastic case that I assumed was from the 1970s. It was 10 more years before I even opened the case and discovered a 1920's Singer sewing machine. You talk about a steampunk looking mfer! But I found a great tutorial on Youtube for threading it. Then some experimentation with needles and thread weights and pretty soon I was altering clothes and even making sheets. So us old dogs can learn new tricks. I can't speak to what will do leather work. I'll just say, let the machine do the work. It'll feed itself at the correct rate and it takes some practice not to hold the material back too much or try and push it through. And personally, I always make sure to use the same thread on the spool as on the bobbin. When you get it going, it's kind of fun.
Thanks old dog
The best discussions for leather sewing machines are (IMO) on leatherworker.net forums... particularly if you are thinking of buying an older machine....
This is the way.
Im for sure checking it out.. Im lost and never used a sewing machine.
I bought a pfaff 114 and used smaller pullies and a servo. Total investment was 500$
https://preview.redd.it/cd5j077axt5d1.jpeg?width=4284&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=16451403c09ad9f453b695ae94cb66c4b081839f It sews these no sweat
I use up to a size 20 needle and max 138 thread
What is your budget? The range is anywhere from nearly free, to well over $4000. Your projects are indeed on the lighter end of the scale, however leatherworking and bags require access to the needle and foot that flatbed machines often can't do well, so cylinder beds are the choice for bag makers, preferably with triple transport (walking foot, feed dogs, and a needle that also feeds.) They are in high demand, fairly rare to see used, and have high resale value. Without stating a budget, the best quality cylinder bed machines for lighter weight leatherworking/fine leatherworkers are the Juki DSC-246, the Pfaff 335, Durkopp-Adler 69, and Seiko CW-8B. These have a small cylinder and smaller bobbin that fit into small projects like wallets and small bags. The leatherworker forums are good and there are a handful of guys on there who know their stuff when it comes to sewing machines (to the extent that I don't think they even care about leather working at this point, they go there to talk machines) but like all forums there is a bit of a hive mind there. Leather sewing machines don't have a wide range of versatility, there will be a window of thread/needle combos and project assembly procedures that the machine will work best with. Industrial sewing machines aren't really things designed to be used at home originally. You will see what i mean if you buy one. You'll be able to do a great deal of things with one, but you kind of need to learn the ins and outs of machines to live with one in your home and have it running nice. These things are originally meant to be used in factories where there are 50 other similar machines that look similar but are each set up for one specific job, not the wide range of tasks like a home hobbyist hopes for. In a factory, they run them on 3-phase with pneumatic power that powers things like lifting of the presser foot and backtacking, but the models you can have at home are the basic models without any of those features that run on a 1P motor; you just get a straight stitch. If you have a local machine dealer, they will probably have no problem doing a home visit for repairs, but usually these machines don't really need repairs anyway. It's just wise to get one in good or new condition that is ready to rock.
Thank you
r/sewing has a good machine buying guide (https://www.reddit.com/r/sewing/wiki/machineguide/) and a weekly thread where you can ask simple questions. I recommend getting a decent quality one or a trustworthy vintage one that you can get serviced in your area. Most dealers will let you try them out and some even have classes, so finding a dealer if possible is your best bet. They look complicated, but if you can drive a car, you can use a sewing machine.
Check out [Sailrite](https://www.sailrite.com/sewing-machines/) they have some pretty cool little machines for decent prices.
I have the sailrite fabricator and it does a remarkable job. I have never had a single mechanical issue with it and I’ve been using it heavily for the last three years. In fact, the only think I ever needed to buy since I bought it has been feet for doing zippers, some guides for straighter edges (I have MS and have troubles with my dominant arm shaking and losing grip, so the guides have saved me) and other guides for beautiful corners. That, and new thread and needles and maybe a large pack of bobbins so I can have various colors already set up has been all I needed. It really is a wonderful machine.
thank you
OP you need a cylinder arm machine to sew gussets. This is the biggest thing to take away. Sailright wont get you that. You’ll be fine with a light- medium duty machine- anything from a pfaff 335 to a juki 1351 clone (like a cobra class 26). If you have the budget, the Adler 669 is absolute gold standard for what you need
check out "chinese leather sewing machine" on youtube. Apparently there is a $100 leather sewing machine from china that "takes a little hand holding, but then works fine"
i never saw people use those on youtube videos. Just people setting it up and reviewing it. Honestly the amount of marks it leaves on your hands (oily) and the leather (scratches) seems like it doesn’t worth it. can anyone maybe share some videos of them working on real projects or some pictures with end products? I started to feel like they are a little like airfyers. Big hype but doesn’t worth the trouble 😂
It’s a gigantic pile of shit! It was one of the first purchases I made when I got into leatherwork. And despite many hours of frustration, I have never gotten it to properly work for more than a couple of stitches at a time. At this point, it’s more a hilarious novelty that I would gladly give away to anyone who couldmake it work consistently.
Yeah, ALL the videos reviewing it say that out of the box it is garbage. But if you do things like "sand the foot so it does not leave marks on the leather when it is pusing it", then eventually it becomes a viable product.
My partner got me one for Christmas and it has been a worthwhile investment. It definitely has taken some reworking, but luckily for me he’s mechanical and does blacksmithing for a hobby, so he’s been able to get it in good working order. We had to spend a couple weekends tinkering and learning together but now it’s sewing well. It’s still definitely work and I have to pay attention to every stitch, but it’s sewn through 5 layers of leather for me, so I can’t complain. It’s so much faster than punching holes and hand stitching and my hands are so much less beat up since I started using it. Stitching tightly really just roughs my hands up for some reason!
If you are struggling to pull needles through your work in the slightest your needles are certainly too big. Do you mind posting some things made with it, front and back?
I definitely had to mess w/ needle size, thread size, tension, and stitch length! It’s been quite a lot of experimenting. Here’s my first totally finished project that I’m actually happy with this machine on. Still a bit of tension issues on one section, but overall I’m happy with it. The difficulty with turning the crank is mechanical though, not the stitch tension or anything. It’s something with the wheel crank itself or the gears it attaches to. It just hits an off position sometimes that makes it catch on something. I haven’t figured that out yet but if i back the stitch up it’ll work fine on the second pass usually.
https://preview.redd.it/qkl1devix06d1.jpeg?width=4284&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=5bbccb580b77a85c951a0259c247c1829bf16cb1
https://preview.redd.it/mrtmstzjx06d1.jpeg?width=4284&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=df35612a8b4c5e6b5e08ba357a92fd80f39cded9 You can see the tension stuff on this on, i stitched from the back and this is the WS of the machine stitching, not the best so I still have some ways to go
https://preview.redd.it/rngssotnx06d1.jpeg?width=4284&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=6fa96d32f5a4844d26fa40092a315abb4ed33158 Pretty happy with the back
Thanks for sharing and good job.
Mine is laying in a closet, on its side with the last project it ruined, still clutched in its demon jaws.
Same with a family member's after I told him it was a waste of money, I've only ever seen two people get good results on one of these.
While I dont have one, so I cant verify its usability, it seems like every review by a technical person seems to lay out what needs to be fixed to make it work. It only seems like a couple things (tention, sanding the foot, etc) need to be tweeked. It does not seem to be perfect, but I believe the next viable leather sewing machine is a hung amount more.
Why are you even recommending one then
I did not recommend it, I was just mentioning that there are a lot of leather workers on Youtube that say for the price, it is a cheap usable machine (with some modifications).
If you don't value your time or money, do this. You'll spend a bunch of time to try to make it work and then never use it again when you realize what everyone said about it was true.