Well, I am not a great welder but have friends who can do it. I can wire, do grunt work and basic stuff. Have a friend who can machine engines, another who can do transmissions. No one can do upholstery. Where can I get a decent, inexpensive machine and try may hand at this? If can at least do a serviceable job on my own stuff to practice and maybe do some work for my friends, I might do some of this stuff. Anyone? I really know nothing about sewing machines so any advice would be great.
Usta do it when i was in high school, If you find one and take your time learning and don't hurt yourself it can be done. Go to some of the trim shops in your area and watch how they do it. They may also know of a used machine. Good luck.--TV
Check on a used machine! Be sure to get one with a "walking foot" and a reverser.. Generally an Industrial Machine repair shop or your local upholstery supply shop might know of one for sale.Or call one of your upholsterers that might have an old one that he is not using for sale..
Keep your eyes on craigslist. My fiance just picked one up from a seller on there. It wasn't a give away, but at $500, it was a ton cheaper than new. She and a friend (who used to work in a sewing factory) are going to learn auto upholstery and hook up those of us around here that can't afford the big boy's prices. They're out there, you just have to look. As a side note, the ones on ebay tend to be for the machine only and don't come with the heavy duty table, pedal, spool spindles and all that jazz that you'll need. Be careful when you bid on one and make sure it has everything you need.
I picked up a Juki DNU 241H on Craigslist for $150! The guy at the sewing machine repair shop (where I immediately took it for a lube/adjust, etc.) said it jave a price tag of $1200 if he had it in his shop. $40 labor later (for adjustmets), it is perfect. They come up now and then, but you have to beat out the old ladies and get there first...
I bought one from a hammer here on the board, Consew 226R, walking foot & reverser, nice table, very nice all around shape. $500. It had the industrial cluch motor which works great but if your just learning like me replace the motor with a DC servo didgital direct replacement. It has a reastat that lets you sew at any low speeds instead of "wide open". New replacent motor was $169.00 to the door and I sold the industrial clutch motor for $75 on e-bay. JMO, Lon
Watch out buying a used one before you know what you're getting into. I got one off ebay and ended up having to get it tuned up after it was shipped to me.
Try Quality Industrial Sew in Grand Island Ne. Ron has been selling industrials for a long time. Has them in all sizes and prices.
This is not a big deal. In fact you probably want to have it looked over before you use it anyway. A tuneup will include an cleaning an lubrication, both necessary after a period of use in any case. Frank
While not really industrial, many of the older Singers have all steel gears and are capable of stitching up uppolstery. I just picked up a nice 237 in the cabinet for $25 at auction and spent another $60 getting it serviced.
Do you guys have model numbers, what should one be looking for on craigslist....search industrial sewing machine? or are there other searches, keywords?
Here's a good site for reference on machines. Just use the sewing machine classifcations to research a machine. http://www.ferdco.com/1/index.php
I've got one I am trying to sell. It's an old steel singer with a steel table and the extra large spindles. It works great, it was my wife's grandmothers who made curtain for a living. I have it on craigslist in Denver if you want to see pictures. Just search industrial sewing machine. I don't know how you would get it though. Shipping would be huge.
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