upholstery gurus,,whats your thoughts on this machine?

I have a ******* 534 Stylist machine..it does multiple different sewing patterns..and some embrodery..would this be a decent machine for interior work?
seat covers, door panels (with out the hard backing)..making the door panels prior to installing them on the backing board.

whats your thoughts?

I dont know if this qualifies as an O/T post..its for a Hot Rod Interior if that makes a difference..and whats more taditional than doing it yourself?


if this thread dont belong here ditch it ok Ryan?

 

You may be able to do some auto upholstery work with that machine, but it will probably not produce the results you are looking for. You need a walking foot industrial machine. They can be found used, at a reasonable price, if you aren't in a hurry to buy. Watch Craigslist and auction ads, plus, if you know any trimmers, they usually know where machines are for sale. I picked up an antique, pedal type Singer at a garage sale for $100, and it had been converted to electric. We used it for a spare, and if the power went off, you could swap it back to pedal operation. Pretty cool old machine.
Be sure, when looking at industrial machines that they are walking foot units. There are a bunch of used industrial machines out there that were used in sewing factories, to make shirts, socks, and etc. These became plentiful when all those operations were moved off shore. Some good brand walking foot machines include Singer, Rex, Consew and others. With normal maintainance, these machines will last indefinitely.

 

when you say "walking foot"..are you talking the deal on the base that"pulls" the fabric in as it stiches?
if so this machine has that..

 

Thats for clothes,not made to handle upholstery.

 

I did a ton of upholstery research before I bought my machine. I was set to buy something like you posted, but learned that for seats etc that it likely wouldn't handle it - a basic seat seam if you think about it, with piping, is sewing 4 layers of material (vinyl), never mind where you meet other seams. I bought a Juki LU563 walking foot machine off craigslist. Walking foot - search youtube for a better visualization - moves the material only when the needle is through the material, so it cant slip. Then the other foot comes down, holds everything still while the needle moves up and forward and plunges again. I reduced the speed by 3 with a belt/pulley system as was too fast for me, and it sews thru anything. So far still learning, but have sewn with an old singer before, and this thing is amazing compared to that.

 

What everyone has said. Machines of this type will not use heavy enough thread for upholstery work and the also will not have a long enough s***ch to keep from cutting vinyl’s. Perforation is too close together and will cut the materials. No strength. Most of the time you are sewing through four thicknesses of material and more if you are using the foam backing for quilted patterns or tuck-n-roll. Hold out for an industrial machine. A friend just picked up one for $200. I was an upholster for 40 years. Wow I can still spell it.

 

I traded some rails for a Consew Machine. My wife is looking to get into upholstery just a side job/hobby. I think it'll do the trick.

 

You won't het far with that machine. You might be able to do some light duty stuff but no reall seat covers or binding on carpet.

I have an old Pfaff industrial machine. It is awesome. Sometime you can find them for about $1500.

It is a walking foot and will handle up to 5 or 6 layers of heavy leather. It will sew right through your hand and not even miss a beat.

 

yeah i hear what your saying..i played around with it some..i can s***ch door panel covers..and light covers..but no multi layer stuff..like two layers of seat leather and pipeing..no way..

oh well.

 

Thought i'd continue on with this topic instead of macking another thread. Which sewer names and model do i need to watch for on craiglist any in the 100-200 price range? I want to sew seatcovers up.

 

I have a question for you guys that own industrial machines.

I have an old Singer heavy duty machine. It is mounted in a cabinet/table and has a huge motor under it with a belt driving the hand wheel. The pedal is hooked up to a clutch on the motor. It runs so fast I can't control it. It goes 2 or 3 s***ches at a slow speed then the clutch grabs and it takes off no matter where the foot pedal is. Is there some way to adjust this thing? Or some other better way to run it. I have done light sewing with a regular household machine before and know a little bit but this thing thing is just insane.

 

mink: I'd suggest a singer 111W for a cheap machine that'll do what you want. I just sold one a few nights ago for $250 and it worked great.

The only thing is it doesn't have reverse or a knee operated foot lift. You can live without those features , but I got a good deal on a pfaff 545 that had them and never looked back. I got it for $400 from some place that sews muscle car interiors.

mike47: you know, my 111 didn't really run away from me all that much. I just feathered the hell out of the clutch(can't burn it out, that's what I hear) and sooner or later I kinda got the hang of it. that said it took a lot of practice.

Here are some fixes or options

1) get a reducer pully to take the place of your stock one, just like underdrive4 pulleys for a car it underdrives your machine and slows it.

2) easiest fix is to replace your clutch motor with an electric stepper motor off ebay, they run around $150 shipped and you can go super slow if you want.

3) My machine ran a leather belt that was loose, I suspect the belt slippage helped to slow it down

4) run a bungee cord from the pedal to the frame to increase the resistance and make it a little easier to modulate

FWIW my pfaff is a lot easier to control than my singer was. When THAT ****er is running full out, it's really amazing.

anyway that's all I can think of right now.

This is the upholster forum , if you search around there I'm sure you'll find more info. It's a great place.

 

Thanks Johnny, The stepper motor sounds like a decent fix. This thing goes so fast it'll throw the work piece right off the back of the table! It's a 1919 Singer. It works great in a straight line for as long as I can hold it but man, it's fast.

 

mike47 i know a company in newark that has parts and can make anything you need its called nc carpets

 

Thanks

 

I've got a '48 model Singer model 78-3; I machined a smaller drive pulley for the motor, which did slow it down, but it still goes way too fast if I "step" on it. The replacement motors are probably a better way to go....

 

guys do you know if any of the three sewing machine i found are industrial?? one is a pfaff230 another is a Nechi supernova ultra, another is a dressmaker . If you know which ones i should keep and which i should bring back to the dump let me know

 

"industrial" is a term that's abused almost as much as 'walking foot' when it comes to sewing machines on ebay. there's a pfaff here that says it's industrial, but looking at it, it doesn't appear to be a true walking foot design, which along with a separate head/motor unit are what *I'D* consider to be industrial car upholstery machines.

I just looked at a dressmaker on ebay, it doesn't seem to be a walking foot either.

In my very amateur opinion, you might be able to do interior work with the pfaff or others, but you surely aren't making it easy on yourself by using a machine that you'll be working near the limit of its capacity.

The motor on my pfaff is about 4 times as large as the one on that 230 on ebay.

For free, if it works, hey I'd love to have it myself for shirts and whatnot. If you want to do a car interior, I bet you can do it, but man is it going to be difficult.

Just my guess, so take it for what it's worth ;-)

 

I know nothing about sewing machine. These seems to be from the 60's so far from the little research i have done.

I trying to figure out which ones i should keep. I want to make a seat cover . I think the pfaff might work.

 

Do those guys actually work? On ebay they seem to go for over $100 each, enough to be worth selling but not really enough to be worth fixing if they break, unless you can DIY.

Hope you got lucky! It's surely worth fiddling with to see if you can get it running.

 

I cant tell if they can sew threw seat material , if so i'll invest in them

 

A more definitive explanation of "walking foot". On small home machines, like in the OP's pic, only the lower foot, in the base, moves to pull the fabric. On a walking foot machine, both the lower foot and the upper center foot pull the fabric. The upper outer foot then holds while the center and lower feet move up for another bite.

A bit of advise for guy with the Juki lu563, keep the bobbin hook well oiled when using it. I sewed on one at a van conversion place, and had to replace it every few months. That was doing production work, though.

I use a Juki lu562, and a monster juki lg 158 long arm machine that will sew through 5 layers of door panel board!

 

Industrial machines usually have a giant motor mounted underneath the table. The one I have will sew through 8 layers of vinyl and weighs a million lbs, turns out it was made for sewing leather.
I found this while looking up info for my Rex sewing machine on sewman.com

What is an Industrial Sewing Machine?

Industrial sewing machines are used by the garment industry and consumers who are looking for a faster and more professional job than is provided by household sewing machines. The industrial sewing machine has two distinct parts: the sewing machine itself, and the power stand. The power stand is where the motor is located, giving the machine its great power.


Some other terms are used to imply that a household sewing machine has the power of an industrial sewing machine. In these cases, the customer should verify the actual motor power and s***ching speed.
Semi Industrial - This term is used by household sewing machine manufacturers to give a false impression that their machines have a similar speed and power to an industrial machine. Be warry of this fasad.
Heavy Duty - This term is used to give an impression that a certain machine can sew through very thick material like canvas that other household machines can not handle. The key factor in the ability to sew through multiple layers or tough fabrics is the motor strength itself and its gear ratio.
Industrial Strength - The term is used to give the impression that a household machine can do the same job as an industrial sewing machine.

 

If you are looking at Phaff industrial machines, mine is a 545 model and the older ones were 145's. I have been using it for more than 20 years in the business. The only difference is the 545 has a larger bobbin in it. Consew is another good brand. Just make sure it is industrial grade for sewing several thickness of fabric at one time.

 

Anyone familiar with a Sundia LS2 - 150V? I found one, but know nothing about it.

 

Also found these. Juki #DDL227, Juki #DDL555, Singer #491. Any thoughts on whether they'll do interiors.

Thanks.

 

There are industrial sewing machines for clothing and industrial machines for upholstery work. Like said earlier - They have a heavy duty stand and motor - made to sew 24/7 for years.

A good uph machine will have two feet on top and a feed dog from underneath. The good old Singer 78/Consew 28 was a great uph machine, but didn't have the feed dog underneath. So the s***ch length could vary considerably due to thickness or the machine going faster than your mind could keep up with! One of the feet on top is a "walking foot". The other is a stationary foot that just goes up and down.

The stationary foot holds the material down while the walking foot goes up and forward and the feed dog goes down and forward to grab another bite of material and feed it through the machine. A much more positive feeding system and uniform s***ch length.

A good machine for uph. will have walking foot and feed dog.

Another big thing to look for is the size thread and needle the industrial machine will handle. Uph. thread is much larger in dia. than thread for clothing. Sewing uph. fabrics, vinyls, leather with an industrial clothing machine will quite often work, but they won't handle the uph thread required to hold it all together. Using thread designed for clothing will never last for uph. trim work. Just not strong enough.

Here's a link to info and pics on many industrial machines for uph and clothing:

http://www.industrialsewmachine.com/contents.htm

You might join the uph social group....lots more info on auto trim.

 

Maybe this will help....

First pic= not good for auto trim, second pic= good for auto trim.

Power should look like the third pic.

 

well put, trimmer len!

I know all this stuff was really confusing to me before I bought my first machine, pictures really help, hope it helps the OP!

 

Yep this helps alot..I understand the concept and what to look for ..
I also talked to a Lady that does custom Aircraft seats, for restorations and up-grades to small aircraft,(she had a small shop on the airfield my Cessna XP was based at) and saw her machine and she explained some of the in's and out's of the workings and reasons for the different types...
thanks alot all of you for all the information in this thread.
I may-or may not tackle the upholstery job when it comes time..(depends on budget and cost ..or lack of funding at the time, and or if i feel skilled enough to not make a complete debacle out of it) but if I do I know what to be on the lookout for.

Johnny1290..thanks for your help too..I shot you a Pm..tell me what yer thoughts are