Definitely find an industrial machine and it needs to be a walking foot. I have a Pfaff built some time in the early 60's. They are solid, almost indestructable machines. You will find that they operate very fast. Mine has a clutch motor so I bought a jack shaft setup that goes between the motor and the machine. That slowed it down to the point where I can handle it. My wife makes quilts and made a quilt for a guy out of old blue jeans. She was a little worried about running the heavy fabric through her quilting machine (also a Pfaff). I told her to try my machine and she loved it. She thought it went a bit fast even though I slowed it down a lot. When you start, buy some inexpensive material and practice sewing straight lines. If you intend to do anything with pleats, you need to be able to sew a straight line. Chefalo on youtube has some very good videos. Sailrite also has good videos.
I have an old Singer. Clutch style. No reverse. I bought it for $150 used and it has been one of my better tool investments. Reverse is handy to "lock" the stitch at the end of the seam. To get around having no reverse I use nylon thread and with a fire stick lighter I light the ends of the cut off thread and let it burn back in a molten mini fireball which goes out when it reaches material and locks the stich. If yours is driven with a round leather belt order a belt kit online and keep it handy. In a pinch, when I broke a leather belt, I used a giant rubber O-ring from a big well casing. Its still on there after several years. If you can find a class in sewing take it. My instructor was a woman who travelled to the local marinas making covers for flying bridges etc.
Back when I started sewing, his videos were the ones I could understand and not lose concentration..... because back then he never talked at all, so you are forced to watch his hands and how he holds things while sewing more difficult things like curves. McMaster Carr has those o-rings in any diameter and lengths (for those of us working with old stuff.)
I found a Consew 206 for $500 (along with table and steamer). Added a $150 servo. The original clutch setup is great for a pro, but I'm a rank amateur. Take your time and learn how it works. From what I understand, the previous owner of mine, a seamstress, pinned herself down with the thing and had to yell for 10 minutes until a neighbor heard her and came to help. Still, she was able to laugh about it when I picked it up.
Our house had all that frilly stuff when we bought it. It all went in the garbage, made the house feel dark and small.
So….we stopped by our local sewing machine store to have a look see. They only had two new heavy duty upholstery machines in stock at over 2k. no used ones. The sales person was someone I worked with before retirement (science teacher and I was in maintenance ). She suggested that our old Kenmore may be able to handle what we have in mind and could possibly be retrofitted with a walking foot for about $130. At least we can get some practice in or step up to a used machine that they can service when the time comes. Thanks for all the help fellas. Look for my progress in my “blowing this thing apart” thread https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/blowing-this-thing-apart.1257505/page-11
Keep in contact, I'll bet they have a list of people who want a good used machine. I bet they start at the top of the list and have it sold before they get far, that same day.
Sewing machine store is the last place I would look for a used upholstery machine. There are usually lots of them for sale on places like facebook marketplace. I find most don't get traded for new units which is the only way a store would get one. They get sold privately when businesses go under or users retire.
What’s nice about the store is they have a nice service department and will probably service the used machine I eventually buy.
We have a rapidly and very large aging population, and there are plenty of machines in the private sector. Many people are downsizing and want to sell things, especially larger, heavy items that seem overwhelming to re-home. Some older people don't trust selling by putting an ad on Craigslist or Marketplace, but if you are a good judge of Internet transactions like my Son is, you could run a want ad or search both sites daily. I don't agree about adding a walking foot to a home machine. Once you get sewing stuff, it leads to sewing thicker, or many layers, and you will be disappointed that you didn't get a used commercial machine realizing the money was wasted. It could just stall every time you try to start a line. That motor hum sound and nothing happens. I just saw the new reply about buying from a local shop. We have a huge well known one nearby and my neighbor actually works there. Their service guy told me to get the online Singer industrial manual and do it myself. They make so much money selling machines and supplies, plus running classes, they don't want to work on stuff except warranty .
Our place is all windows and lets in a lot of light. The curtains in the previous photos have never been closed because our place is very private and has nice views. Our winters are mild so we don't need to close them for insulation. Sadly these skills are going the way of the "dodo bird" so machines etc will end up being thrown out. I can buy a new 3 piece leather lounge suite for about the same cost as just the fabrics needed to recover them. This makes the whole trade redundant and only for hobbyists [I observed this 20 years ago] You are correct ! Those walking foot adaptors are useless [just bite the bullet and get the whole walking foot machine] If you can "time" an engine, you can service a sewing machine Broken parts [which are rare] are usually sourced from these service depts. Don't be scared of them, they are simple as shit
There is nothing difficult about servicing a sewing machine. There are plenty of youtube videos that can walk you through it.
My wife wants have a walking foot installed on her machine and start re- upholstering or dining room (ChromeCraft) chairs and get used to doing upholstering. Knowing my wife, when it comes to the hot rod she will know what she wants in a machine.
In our area there seems to be a lot of used industrial sewing machines listed on Facebook marketplace, it's worth a look. HRP
Please don't do that! It is the sewing version of fitting a "Turbonator" to your car. Get a proper walking foot machine [preferably with the slow motor]. Watch this With these machines you are only the caretaker of them. You generally get your money back later when you're over it all. Plus with a walking foot machine YOU can use it as well. I learned on an Adler walking foot in the mid 70's [the machine was 2nd hand then] I purchased the machine off my employer a few years later for personal use. Then the poor machine sat in my workshop gathering dust. My employer's son [who is a very close friend of mine] purchased it back off me 15 years ago on the proviso that I could borrow it to do jobs when needed. At least he maintains it ,and keeps it clean. My friend jokes about me inheriting it from him , if he "falls off his perch" first. This machine has gone back and forth between us for almost 50 years.
In my long list of someday projects is a commercial singer chain stitch machine my mom bought back when I was about 6. It still works as it should but chain stich won't work for upholstery and I'd like to refinish it. I'll have to practice my penmanship with it to write names on jackets and such. It was a lot of fun when I was a kid. I need to see if they make a conversion to change it over to a regular stich. It's walking foot is controlled by a handle under the machine and will rotate 360 degrees.
Terminology.... I would call that either a compound walking foot or a walking needle... The only reason I'm replying is in case someone here goes to look at a used machine and it doesn't work like that one... Most old Singer industrial machines have one foot and it won't walk unless it's pressing down on material over the moving gripper teeth in the bed. The needle doesn't walk, just the one foot does. Those machines were once the industry standard in the USA for high production commercial work for maybe 75 to 100 years? Sure, we'd all like the most advanced machine, but the old ones are still doing quality work today.
You can also get a machine where only the needle walks with the feed dogs , this is known as a "Needle Feed" here is a Needle Feed machine Many people ignorantly misrepresent a needle feed is a walking foot ! [be careful when buying]
Terminology; some machines, certainly some Singers, have what they call a 'kicking foot' which to all practical purposes works like a walking foot. Also, all machines are not necessarily the same. We have a Singer 501s (I think) which is considered to be a 'leather' machine. Precisely what makes it that is unclear to me. Works great on leather, vinyl, carpet. It has a servo motor. My wife worked for a time in her early life as a seamstress as isn't phased by the pedal. She sort of dances on it much of the time, kind of feathering it, rather than stomping on it. Machine is turned manually in tricky areas. Chris
I wish my old Singer commercial had a walking foot, but honestly as a rank amateur I was able to somehow sew up all my interior without a walking foot or reverse. And by leaving the needle down when reversing, or making 90 degree changes I could back stitch the ends of runs and avoid threads coming loose. I wont say it was crazy easy, but it took me just a couple days to sew up all my interior and it came out better than I thought it might. I made one mistake on the first seat bottom by not getting the material tight enough. Had to take it off and split the seams, and sew it smaller to eliminate excess fabric. At least it wasn't too small which would have really cost me time and material had I messed up the other direction!
I do believe that the difference twixt a "leather" machine, or boot sewing machine, & usual industrial machine, is the length of the stitch in thick material(s), & the ability to use heavy cord, like 1/16" dia or more. The shoe/boot machine will go at least 1/4", or more. Look at a set of cowboy boot soles. Not used much in normal upholstery, but could be. Was used to create the "different" stitch-style for the 1955 Studebaker Speedster seats. I'd like to find & get one, along w/a decent walking-foot industrial machine, someday. Marcus...
Here's a cobblers Singer. The wing looking things you turn in the direction that you want to sew, and you don't need to steer the material . Also see the long bed if that's what it's called, you can slide a tall cowboy boot on that and then steer the needle to make designs, etc It's a walking foot It also has a tray up top for the thread to get coated with tallow as a needle and thread lube. My son sold this exact model on Marketplace that I didn't have a use for. There are Chinese copy's available but light duty construction.
Thanks for that, F&J. I'm not on faceplant, so's I wouldn't have seen it anyways. It's lookin' like I'm gonna have to end up on that shit-show, for a couple of reasons. A couple of the cobblers' machines I've seen, were very different looking, enough that I was wondering just how, exactly, I could get them to work on auto upholstery. The repairman/owner showed me different shoe, boot, & a couple other type machines. Sadly, he's long outta business, & I don't know where to find him anymore. Even thought about tent-makers' machines, couple of those guys gone now too. ;( . Marcus...
the model 29 Singer had accessories, one of which is shown on someones YouTube channel about the 29. It is a small steel table that quickly snaps on to the 29 main casting so you can use it to sew anything besides boots and shoes. Then you can lock the needle direction to straight, just like a normal machine, and run the material through just like a normal machine. BTW, I sold it pick up only, these are the heaviest sewing machine I ever tried to carry...and if crated, stuff likely would get broken the way nobody doing deliveries, cares these days. Another cobbler machine is weird looking, only for doing the outer edges of shoes to attach the soles which are layered. It sews the last layer to the shoe.
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