Sewing machines for rookies

[nodakian]

Thanks, that's good information. What about 500d cordura and molle webbing like OP is interested in sewing?

My Sailrite Fabricator with triple feed punches through 1/8" HDPE plus several layers of Cordura and webbing, no problem. (It balks at 1/4" HDPE and 2 layers of webbing.)

The only drawback is it runs straight stitch only. No zigzag. MOLLE is still doable, but it requires a couple back and forth runs. Compared to fiddling with my old Kenmore, though, the 3 extra seconds per MOLLE stitch is worth it.

 

[Bachto]

last time I looked into this, the Sailrite was recommended as a heavy-duty hobbyist machine. (There's a knockoff version too called the tuffsew).
Anyone heard of these?

I never pulled the trigger and bought one though. Too many options.

I run a Sailrite, I like it a lot. The only thing that is slightly annoying is it has a hard time sewing light stuff like Silnylon if you want to work on tents or anything like that. Besides that I have used mine for almost 5 years and have had zero problems.

 

[TaperPin]

I’ll put another plug in for the old as dirt (pre WW2) 31-20 that I bought from a sewing repair shop that doesn’t deal with commercial machines for $50. I have two others and finally stopped buying them since most people in our family just want a walking foot machine. It looks light like a residential model, but just the head is 65 lbs. and it’s a little tank. I cobbled together a small table, added a $150 servo motor, light and thread stand. The clear boxes just hold bobbins, needles, scissors, basting tape, etc. Anyone that likes to tinker can afford one of these and the table/motor can also be used for a walking foot machine. It’s a simple machine with only the feed dog to pull material through, but we used the same model to repair and modify our fire fighting line gear which was 1000 d Cordura. We must have taught a dozen fire fighters to sew on it and it came from the Missoula Smokejumpers so who knows how much history that machine has been a part of.

This one sews 8 layers of Carhartt material with 138 weight thread just fine. When someone in the family wants to learn to sew this is the machine we use since the thread is so easy to see and it’s just a nice simple design.

 

[lngbstr]

If anyone lives in the Phoenix area I have a blind that I need a repair on., I need a few corners patched where the poles extend on the bottom. DM please.

 

[minengr]

I scored a 15-91 and cabinet locally on marketplace for $50. When I get min I need to rewire it, or I may just take it to the local repair shop. I have a feeling it will take awhile for me to outgrow it at my current pace.

Nearly got a hernia trying to get that thing in the house and up the stairs by myself.

 

[TaperPin]

I scored a 15-91 and cabinet locally on marketplace for $50. When I get min I need to rewire it, or I may just take it to the local repair shop. I have a feeling it will take awhile for me to outgrow it at my current pace.

Nearly got a hernia trying to get that thing in the house and up the stairs by myself.

That’s cool! All the 15s have a great reputation. ISMACS has some good singer info on dating the machine based on serial number and the various models. https://ismacs.net/singer_sewing_ma...er-sewing-machine-serial-number-database.html

A useless bit of trivia is the Singer 15 design was chosen after WW2 during the US occupation of Japan as the official design to clone to provide an exportable product for Japanese manufacturing and get the country back on its feet so they could feed themselves. That’s why there are so many good quality Japanese machines that closely resemble the Singer 15.