Sewing Machine Suggestions

Manny · Dec 2, 2012

I have one of these, it works pretty well up to six layers of sunbrella, struggles a bit at 8 layers:

http://www.american-sewing.com/sin-cg-500.html

Chris Patterson · Dec 2, 2012

I use a Kenmore which is more than adequate for my needs. I would like to have one with a walking foot, and a longer "arm" on it, but I can't justify the expense. If you intend to pursue sail sewing, it needs to have a fairly long arm because of the amount of material that ends up on the right hand side of the foot.
Of course if I had my way, it would have a Caterpillar diesel running it as well..

Bluesharp · Dec 2, 2012

I have a Singer CG500 that I bought brand new, and will sell for $100.00 plus shipping from North Carolina. It has always been stored in the house and has little or no use.

Tejas · Dec 2, 2012

Layers can add up quite quickly. A turned-up hem hiding the raw edge at a corner -- six layers. Top stitching a seam -- three layers. Turned-up hem at top-stitched seam hiding raw edge at the seam -- nine layers. Add webbing ....

With what are sometimes called semi-industrial machines, if the material can be gotten under the foot, the machine will probably sew it. The foot lift among other considerations limits what can be sewed.

Squidd · Dec 2, 2012

nother vote for heavy alll steel construction, steel gears and HD motor on Older Kenmore, Sears, Singer, etc....machines

>$200 on e bay, even less if you look around...

Has sewn thru everything I have put under it...so far

finding41 · Dec 2, 2012

I use a Singer Stylist 534. It looks just like the one in the link. Just older colour scheme. I have sewn new interior and exterior cushion covers with ease. I got it for $25 on Kijiji.

centerline · Dec 2, 2012

harbor freight has a heavy duty industrial machine on their website... I believe its a knock off of a consew machine. I know of 2 of them in use and one is used everyday to sew rigging and heavy straps and the other is in light duty service like you need.... both machines have been good to their owners and if I needed one I would sure consider it for the price and what it is capable off... I have seen it sew up to 1/2-5/8inch worth of truck strap material together....

Freedom77 · Dec 2, 2012

I have a 1948 White portable which will sew through five layers of levi denim. Good luck finding one of them today. Sailrite has a pretty good one from what I have been told. If ya can find something at a garage sale to get started and learn that would be a good start. You don't need a lot of fancy stuff. Straight and Zig-Zag (not the papers) stitch should do the trick. You want to make sure it has a heavy presser foot which is what pull the fabric through.

Sam Salter · Dec 2, 2012

I have a sailrite machine and use it in my business to repair sails and make new canvas covers etc..
I've had it for about 6 years and it does a lot of work, so I can recommend it. It does cost a bit though, but you might get one second hand.
From experience though, you need (or it would be good to have):
A walking foot.
Straight and zig-zag stitching.
sam

Sumner · Dec 2, 2012

Sam Salter said:
I have a sailrite machine and use it in my business to repair sails and make new canvas covers etc..
I've had it for about 6 years and it does a lot of work, so I can recommend it. It does cost a bit though, but you might get one second hand.
From experience though, you need (or it would be good to have):
A walking foot.
Straight and zig-zag stitching.
sam

I'll second the Sailrite. We started with an older industrial Singer...

http://blog.sew-classic.com/2008/11/06/singer-99-sewing-machine-review.aspx

...and Ruth did a number of projects with it. We still have it and still use it, but once bitten by do-it-yourself canvas projects bought the Sailrite machine and it has been a great investment.

Buying a machine is just part of the whole equation. The other is using it, maintaining and adjustments to it and being able to buy the parts you need occasionally. Sailrite takes care of all of that and we sure appreciate the fact that they do. We don't live near anyone who can repair or make proper adjustments to a sewing machine and Sailrite has made it possible for us to do that with their excellent videos and their help on the phone and through e-mails. That is worth a lot to us. If for some reason we needed another machine we would go right back to what we have. It is convenient to use at home and at the boatyard or on the boat.

Be careful of trying to buy too big of a commercial machine if you go that way. I have a friend that bought one and it is too fast and he has actually been overwhelmed by it. It needs someone on it that has sewn a lot and who knows how to handle it.

We have done a lot of projects....

http://purplesagetradingpost.com/sumner/macgregor-canvas/canvas-index.html

... with the sailrite machine and I can't imagine it not handling any project that a boater would ever want to do. We had never done a canvas project before and I'll give a lot of the credit to Sailrite for what we have done,

Sum

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rardiH36 · Dec 2, 2012

As a fellow "just do it" type of person, respondents have been giving very appropriate advice.

However, I've got to ask. Have you used a sewing machine before? If not, it's not a skill that just happens easily. Success is much more than just buying a sailmaker appropriate Sailrite type of machine (or other heavy duty unit). Even sewing through just a few layers of denim thickness material can be challenging if one doesn't have general sewing experience. Example: My wife still can't correct without my intervention handling her owned-since-college Singer machine when it hangs up sewing even (for example) the hem of clothing project.

At a minimum, for sail repair and Sunbrella thickness fabrics, the machine should have all metal gears (no plastic/nylon). Also must have zig-zag. Since my main use is only sail repair or relatively low impact Sunbrella/upholstery projects, I do OK with an older (garage sale find) Kenmore machine that has enough oomph to easily punch through several layers of heavy cloth. However, it's main limitation is lack of a walking foot and enough squeeze pressure between the non-walking foot and the base feeder to keep the sail-cloth feeding through consistently. With practice, I've gotten reasonably good at maintaining a workable feed rate. But the stitches still look amateur compared to a pro on a pro machine. And every time, I must experiment with the thread tension settings for the fabric I am attempting to stitch. And the needle size/type. And the type of thread. And the several other variables ...............

Anyway, my "upshot" is if you are totally new to sewing, consider first just buying a cheapo but older and hence probably more robust machine at a garage sale. Download its manual. Take it apart. Clean/lubricate it. Figure out it's mechanics. And practice stitching together random pieces of fabric. If your experience is good, maybe the machine will suffice for spot sail boat repair tasks. If not ... then spend the bigger $'s

Lost Parent · Dec 2, 2012

Sam Salter said:
I have a sailrite machine and use it in my business to repair sails and make new canvas covers etc..
I've had it for about 6 years and it does a lot of work, so I can recommend it. It does cost a bit though, but you might get one second hand.
From experience though, you need (or it would be good to have):
A walking foot.
Straight and zig-zag stitching.
sam

Hi Sam
I live in Airdrie and would like to know if you would like to sew up my geneoa off my Catalina 30
Tom

Sam Salter · Dec 2, 2012

Lost Parent said:
Hi Sam
I live in Airdrie and would like to know if you would like to sew up my geneoa off my Catalina 30
Tom

Tom,
I've left you a message.
sam

onecoolair · Dec 2, 2012

Did the cheaper sewing machine route, Had to have it repaired several times within in the first week...The third time I had it repaired it went back in the box. I got lucky and was able to sell it off on eBay. Ponied up the bucks and got a sailrite with all the bells and whistles that same week. Oh man what a difference...It was like driving a new Cadillac.:dance: Worth every penny spent !!! The sailrite paid its self off with in the first month. Have used for it several years now. Very good well done Repair Manuel...Easy to learn how to repair or do maintenance find worn parts with very good support from sailrite. Just be smart and not try to make it do the very heavy clue area of your sail especially if that extra layer of sunbrella is involved in that area. Either hand sew it with sailrites speedy stitch or be smart and Pay your local sailmaker to break all his needles..

Tejas · Dec 3, 2012

Same as onecoolair, bought a Pfaff 130 via graigslist, and while a nice machine, never completed a project until getting an industrial compound walking-foot sewing machine with a servo motor for slower sewing.

Sewing has actually ended up the easy task. What has been more difficult is design, measurement and patterning, sequence of assembly and fabric management.

Ron20324 · Dec 3, 2012

I had a Montgomery Wards home machine (it's that old) that does 6 layer hems in the corners- maybe more. Of course it's a metal housing. Regardless, I blew my tax return 8 years ago for the Sailrite and have really been sewing up a storm. True, what was said about the corners of the sail being too thick for the Sailrite, but that's what the sail-maker shops are for. I just start in the middle of the sail and go as far toward the corner as the machine can handle.

Having moved into a small-ish condo and tight for space, I want to sell (half catalog price) my Sailrite Ultrafeed table and keep the machine in the carry case. It is shaped like part # 100925, but the top (#100543) is made for the Ultrafeed. Contact repenceatmsndotcom.

Joe23455 · Dec 3, 2012

I have a necchi 6110, bought new for about $ 300.00
Has a walking foot attachment when needed.
made new bimini & a dodger with windows and sewed thru
everthing just fine. Also made repairs to 10oz. boat cover canvas
with no problems. Good machine., metal gears.

joe s/v trinity

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