Not satisfied. Recommendations for better sewing machines?

[CamoDeafie]

Wife says it won't do what you want. Don't waste your money. She says home sewing machines aren't good enough for heavy duty work even if they say "heavy duty."

This might work for you:

Borletti Sewing Machine - Premium Quality from late fifties Italy -...

For the last 15 years or so, I have been collecting, studying, re-conditioning, modifying, and sewing with a variety of sewing machines, searching for the “perfect” machine. Well, perfection doesn’t...

salem.craigslist.org

Wife says Jukis are the best, but they are spendy. This one is almost new:

Juki 9010A-SH Juki Needle Feed Sewing Machine with Automatic...

Up for sale is Juki 9010A-SH industrial sewing machine. This machine is a direct drive machine so the motor is in the head which gives it a very responsive feel. It comes with all the automatic...

bend.craigslist.org

PFAFFs are good

industrial sewing machine PFAFF 535 - household items - by owner -...

Good working order comes with everything you see. Table, motor

portland.craigslist.org

Shoulda checked before I went. well. The White machine is all metal case, gonna open it up to oil and clean.. then see if its all metal gears... since it has identical front load Class 15 bobbin case system to the Janome New Home 620 and the Riccar 2925 Black Beauty school machine.. probably from the same basic parts and factories... maybe will work better than those two as these two haven' been sewing as good on BDU cotton fabric with all purpose threads.

Edit. The Borletti machine doesn't seem all that bigger/different from my 1950ish Singer 15-91 geared drive machine that I have? Old photos from old place

 

[CamoDeafie]

@Cavedweller ; is there a reason I shouldn't consider the old Singer 211G165 walking foot industrial machine? I see the Pfaff looks decent... and I'll check Facebook Marketplace for other industrial machines like Jukis.. which Juki industrial models should I look at?

 

[Cavedweller]

@Cavedweller ; is there a reason I shouldn't consider the old Singer 211G165 walking foot industrial machine? I see the Pfaff looks decent... and I'll check Facebook Marketplace for other industrial machines like Jukis.. which Juki industrial models should I look at?

Wife says she can't opine on Singer industrial machines because she's never used one, but she's not a big fan of Singer in general. That said, she's never heard anything good about Singer industrial machines. That's not to say one wouldn't work for you.

She said any model of Juki would be OK. They're all good. No need to get a new one if you can pick one up used. But she thinks if you're not just in it for a hobby but are in business you should definitely get an industrial machine. It's a deductible expense.

 

[CamoDeafie]

Wife says she can't opine on Singer industrial machines because she's never used one, but she's not a big fan of Singer in general. That said, she's never heard anything good about Singer industrial machines. That's not to say one wouldn't work for you.

She said any model of Juki would be OK. They're all good. No need to get a new one if you can pick one up used. But she thinks if you're not just in it for a hobby but are in business you should definitely get an industrial machine. It's a deductible expense.

Alrighty; because the Juki DDL 227 and 555 both seem to be rated for more of garments and light fabrics from what I could find.. and a lot of people seem to be a fan of English,Scottish, and American made Singer machines so thats basically the 1970s or earlier.. there is a guy in Eugene who services idustrial machines as well as domestic/home machines, perhaps he would be willing to buy some of my domestic machines or reduce price on a juki walking foot.

 

[Cavedweller]

Alrighty; because the Juki DDL 227 and 555 both seem to be rated for more of garments and light fabrics from what I could find.. and a lot of people seem to be a fan of English,Scottish, and American made Singer machines so thats basically the 1970s or earlier.. there is a guy in Eugene who services idustrial machines as well as domestic/home machines, perhaps he would be willing to buy some of my domestic machines or reduce price on a juki walking foot.

Why don't you contact that guy, as well as a few others in the area (there is a shop in Salem on Lancaster) and feel them out? Explain to them what it is you want to do, what you've been using, and the problems you've been having. See what solutions they would recommend. Get a consensus opinion.

You might also be better off putting your machines up for sale on Craig's List. A retailer isn't going to give you the best price. He's got to make some profit from the resale, which would come out of your pocket. I don't know if you've tried CL before, but it's always worked pretty well for us.

 

[CamoDeafie]

The guy in Eugene advertises that he works on machines that no retailer services. His area of expertise seems to be vintage domestics but also vintage industrials. Seeing that the machines I have other than the Singer 4411 and the Serger are all vintage.... I figured he might be good contact

 

[Cavedweller]

The guy in Eugene advertises that he works on machines that no retailer services. His area of expertise seems to be vintage domestics but also vintage industrials. Seeing that the machines I have other than the Singer 4411 and the Serger are all vintage.... I figured he might be good contact

He probably is. Why don't you ask him what he thinks about that Borletti?

 

[JustShoot]

@Cavedweller ; is there a reason I shouldn't consider the old Singer 211G165 walking foot industrial machine? I see the Pfaff looks decent... and I'll check Facebook Marketplace for other industrial machines like Jukis.. which Juki industrial models should I look at?

there nothing wrong with the 211, or even the older 111's . it will do everything you are needing far better than your domestic machine using now.
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[JustShoot]

The problems your having is probably a combo of several things you machine cant give you, you need more presser foot tension, you need more upper thread tension, you need more Needle size also . your stepping up to t70/69 thread size, and 500 to 1-k denier nylons with urethane backed . You need start moving-up, and start punching with a minimum of 135x5 (18) needle size, and with 1000 den and heavy coat urethane backed even use size 20 or 22 to get the knot pulled-up centered in materials .
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[CamoDeafie]

The problems your having is probably a combo of several things you machine cant give you, you need more presser foot tension, you need more upper thread tension, you need more Needle size also . your stepping up to t70/69 thread size, and 500 to 1-k denier nylons with urethane backed . You need start moving-up, and start punching with a minimum of 135x5 (18) needle size, and with 1000 den and heavy coat urethane backed even use size 20 or 22 to get the knot pulled-up centered in materials .
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The fabric I'm using right now is an uncoated 420D Nylon pack cloth, which shouldn't have been a problem. It does seem like yes, 16-18 needles are best, I need higher upper tension, and a walking foot. I do have that dinky Singer Even Feed foot attachment (also called a "walking foot") but it didn't help much even with presser foot at maximum tension. We'll see how the 15-91 does, as I have new tension springs coming and replacement faceplate and tension assembly coming in. If that still doesn't work the way I want it to work even with the Even Feed foot, then yeah, it looks like I'll have to go up to the Industrial sewing machines with walking feet and reverses.

 

[JustShoot]

I just went threw and tuned a 15-91 for a buddy of mine, he uses it for patching and odd jobs . It will sew a couple pieces of 1-k Den. nylon together . But soon as you start sewing lapping seams of moving up thickness, it is asking to much of the machine. You need to start thinking about getting a used solid, everyday workhorse, even if an older 111 or 211 ...etc with no reverse, that is still GTG .
if you get up in Wash. county area, you need to come over a couple hours and lay down some stitches with some different machines, to see and look at different type machines, different feeds, bobbin assemblies, with using different materials. when you sit and sew with different machines you will have better tools when looking, hunting down, buying used machines fo sale out there.
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[JustShoot]

Hey Also, you mentioned wanting to move into, walk or Compound feed Industrial . Compound Feeds kickAss , But if your budget-$ wont stretch that far, and you do see a good deal on a common single-needle, industrial Bottom Feed . I would do 3x what you can do with that domestic machine .

You might be surprised on what you can do with them set-up proper on the feed parts and speed reduction, for punching thicker heavier materials, with also laying down nice Stitches . easy to do with t-70/#69 or t-90 thread, with the right model bottom feed industrial set-up proper for just rigging nylon .
Even on a Low-budget-$ ( bottom Feed only ) industrial , It's just all in the way you set a machine up . I have an old simple Mitsubishi DB170 machine that I keep around . It easy thumps threw ( 10 thick ) of 1000 Denier nylon Cordura PU backed, and lays down a nice looking stitch .

That Mitsu.DB machine is perfect example of a mass produced industrial single needle that is around everywhere and cheep priced . You could get into something like that on a good buy, if you just regularly looked craiglist .
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[CamoDeafie]

That's why I'm looking real hard at the 211 G 165 in Astoria on FB Marketplace; its $400 versus $1500+ for a Juki 1541 machine which seems to be the #1 recommended/used machine by tactical gearmakers/shops on Reddit, over the Sailrites and domestics.

 

[Cavedweller]

The Mrs. says it sounds like @JustShoot knows what he's talking about.

 

[CamoDeafie]

The guy in Eugene got back to me; he's flush and overloaded with sewing machines to the tune of over 150... and he recommends the 211-G-165 as a good deal and suitable for my kind of work, has a Pfaff 145 (didn't say which specific 145 submodel) that he wants $850 for

 

[CamoDeafie]

So, new faceplate with tension assembly and a rear machine cover arrived for the Singer 15-91; cleaned the tension assembly, lightly oiled the tension spring, scrubbed the disks' surface rust off, and wiped with an oily cloth to get them as smooth as possible.. then put in the 110/18 needle, threaded with Ranger Green T70 Bonded nylon, put a bobbin with the Foliage T70 thread, seems the bobbin case tension was too low and the bobbin wasn't wound properly.. swapped bobbin for the Ranger Green T70 threaded bobbin, cranked bobbin case tension up a bit, bam, balanced stitches on 2 layers of 420D, and 1 layer of webbing on 1 layer of 420D. Machine went through as if it was nothing. We'll see with 2 layers of webbing on 1 layer of nylon 420D, and maybe 4 layers of 420D fabric... likely will restrict this machine to 500D with binding tape until I have enough to get a proper industrial machine

 

[CamoDeafie]

4 layers of 420D Nylon, not a problem with T70 bonded nylon thread and 110/18 needle.
Same set up, 2 layers of 1" MOLLE webbing on 1 layer of 420D Nylon, not a problem for the 15-91 so far. For the PC project with proper design and eye towards simplicity and strength.. the 15-91 should be good to go. For projects requiring up to 6 or so layers of 1000D Cordura at the heaviest... an Industrial will have to be acquired, preferably a coumpound feed/walking foot just so I don't deal with presser foot shenanigans lol. Apparently the Singer 16 Industrial machines were larger Industrial derivatives of the 15 Class.. and according to early literature on collector sites, the 15 Class were for domestic and "light industrial" work, usually mid weight canvas or denim at the best? Like the stuff usually found on farms other than tack and leather which requires more specialized machines.. anyways.

Again, I will be limiting the 15-91 to 500D Cordura or lighter fabrics in the meantime. 500D to 1000D with binding tape, maybe at the most. We'll see.

Old face plate and rear inspection cover; tension retaining screw is totally rusted shut and I almost stripped the head from trying to remove it. Tension thread takeup spring is broken on this one.

The 1960s-1970s? White Jeans Machine model 1077; stitch length dial needs adjusting somehow. The dial contacts a lever arm with springs. I see one slotted stud with a nut, and a stud with two nuts on the arm which has a spring. Accessible from the top. The only plastic covets on this machine are the pulley side cover on the right as well as the table/tray. Top cover and needle bar cover are metal. Front face is not removable. Its basically one solid casting. Dials are plastic, wheels are plastic but pulley and stitch pattern cams are nylon. Has a crankshaft and connecting rod in the vertical for top and bottom shaft. Needle bar area is all metal. Hook gear assembly all metal with grease reservoir accessible from needle plate. Pretty burly for a domestic.. reminds me of the 1960s Singers.

 

[CamoDeafie]

Riccar 2625 is sewing fine on BDU cotton with covered cotton polyester thread and 90/14 Universal needle. Singer 15-91 is on the high table for now. Its wood base is a smidge too large to fit the lower level without tipping over due to placement of the base feet. Photos of scraps with 420D Nylon Duck and T70/#69 bonded nylon thread, both in Ranger Green. Webbing is Ranger Green. All materials used so far are more olive tint than brown tint.

 

[CamoDeafie]

@JustShoot ; theres this machine. https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/686137752370786/

According to the ISMACS Singer database, the serial number is for a 96 class made during 1937. ISMACS site says 96 Class is same as 95 Class but for Medium-Heavy fabrics. It looks like just a bigger 66 without reverse. The lack of reverse gives me pause. But it might mean just rotate the work and sew and rotate?

 

[JustShoot]

@JustShoot ; theres this machine. https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/686137752370786/

According to the ISMACS Singer database, the serial number is for a 96 class made during 1937. ISMACS site says 96 Class is same as 95 Class but for Medium-Heavy fabrics. It looks like just a bigger 66 without reverse. The lack of reverse gives me pause. But it might mean just rotate the work and sew and rotate?

300 series is heavy enough for you . and is a bottom feed , but might be a chainstitch ? and not a lockstitch . I not 100% positive . you need to call and ask them if one or the other.
reverse is a nice option but you can live without if need be .
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