Leather: Sewing Machines?

orcbane

Newbie
After dealing with a lack of ease/success with my current sewing machine, I'm in the market for one a bit heavier duty. However, I'm not looking for the price of many industrial sewing machines.

Does anyone have experience with a cheaper machine that they've modified or simply used and had good results with light-medium thickness leather?
 
orcbane said:
After dealing with a lack of ease/success with my current sewing machine, I'm in the market for one a bit heavier duty. However, I'm not looking for the price of many industrial sewing machines.

Does anyone have experience with a cheaper machine that they've modified or simply used and had good results with light-medium thickness leather?


Heidi has one for sale if you want it. It's BIG. She used to use it when she had the leather business at the Renaissance Faire. You'd have to come get it though, here in Pennsylvania.
 
If you could be a little more specific I can point you in some right directions. For instance, what weight of leather would you like to work with?

Most newer sewing machines can handle 2oz. leather with no problems. 4oz starts to get tougher and require something more.

Old metal frame Singer machines can be found on eBay and are quite capable of up to the 6 oz range. Sometimes 8 oz if they have an external motor or the like.

10 oz leather, like that required for 2pt armor needs something a bit more specialized. There are machines that can be had, again cheaply on eBay, but those machines are more likely to have seen some abuse. For armor grade leather or heavier I recommend most people start with hand sewing. Its not as time consuming as one would think so long as you pre-punch everything with a multi-hole prong and use an appropriate chemical or beeswax to seal it all up.

The above is not all encompassing. Just some general guidelines to put you in a right direction.

--Chazz
 
I'm looking for something that can handle 3-4oz on average very easily/well. I already sew suede, and that does decent on the one I have right now... but it still has it's jams here and there. And that's for about 3oz. I know for a quiver I'm hoping to make it will be 5-6oz.

Fearless Leader said:
Heidi has one for sale if you want it. It's BIG. She used to use it when she had the leather business at the Renaissance Faire. You'd have to come get it though, here in Pennsylvania.

If I could get out to Pennsylvania, I would :(. That would be a dream. Thank you, though.
 
Make sure you are using leather-specific needles and metal parts will always win. I have always favored industrial or more-than-10-years-old-Singers. This machine:http://products.singerco.com/products/detail/1505 is similar to a more expensive one my brother has, is pretty cheap, and has a heavy duty motor.
 
Exactly along my price range. Some of the testimonials mention it being able to handle thicker fabrics, like canvas. I always use a leather needle, I believe my motor is just a bit too weak for it. Thanks a ton for the link :)
 
Surprisingly enough, I myself am also looking for a sewing machine. But i only need one that will go through 2 layers of 4 oz suede and/or leather.

Is that link provided, for those machines around $200 gonna work for what I need?

It will be for duel pocket pouches I make. Currently I hand punch all the holes then hand stitch and one pouch take 1.5 hours to make (not including cutting the patterns). Wonder how much faster it would be.

-Toddy
 
Toddy, I would say yes. The only problem you will have is finding one in decent shape. eBay is the only place I know to get an old Singer, unless you have a local shop that you trust and are lucky enough to find that they have one. Most sewing shops will try to sell you something new and don't keep these things around.

Many newer machines will in fact do the job. You could always bring a scrap of what you'd like to do and test it out. Should they be hesitant to allow you to try then I'd be hesitant to purchase the machine anyway.

The older machines were built of tougher stuff than current non-leather specific models. Like Fynwei has posted you are looking for a 10+ old Singer or industrial machine. Most sellers of those machines will include if it is capable of leather work. A lot of people go for them for that very reason. I picked up a Singer Stylist 534 from one for $50. It sews like crap on anything I really care about but is strong enough that I think it'll punch through 22 gauge aluminum. I only use it to do simple joining on light leather projects.

Make sure the machine is made of metal. When they switched over to plastic bodies a lot of the "oomph" was lost. Make sure that they include pictures and that the machine at least appears in decent shape. Not great, decent. After you get it take it to a shop and pay for them to service it. Any shop should be able to help you with that and service goes for $20-$100 depending on the model and what they have to do.

Remember when sewing leather to keep it slow and simple. If you have to do complicated patterns or are doing more than simple joining you may want to consider something more leather specific.

--Chazz
 
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