Sewing Machine for Canvas/Upholstery Work
 

Thinking about a used sewing machine to tinker with some canvas/upholstery work in my garage. What kind of machine should I look for?

The guy I was using for upholstery, before he passed, was using an old Phaff sewing machine, belt driven and with a walking foot.. That's about all I know. Good Luck!

Here you go:

http://cgi.ebay.com/PFAFF-230-INDUST...item19bc75f1df

Cool

I bought a Consew 18 and it works great, like it a lot. I did pretty much the same thing in that video with four layers of heavy vinyl and canvas etc. I did not, how ever, take the seat belts out of my truck so i cant verify that part of it :D



That Pfaff is a nice machine.

A few years ago I picked up an old Singer at a yard sale. Weighs about 50 pounds, all steel everything. It will also throw heavy goretex thread through 2-3 layers of webbing. Just make sure it is old and heavy and you are in good shape :drink:

My mother bought a new Singer two years ago to new canvas on there motoryacht
Had one problem called the company and problem was fixed.machine worked great!!

I have a red sailrite. Great machine, will sew thru anything. www.sailrite.com

I don't remember the model number but all the sail lofts use Singers. They will punch through mylar and kevlar then they will go through just about anything. You do have to keep up with the timing on them.

Jon

JUKI LU-563 waking foot great machine I have used one for over 25 years good luck

If you can find it, get a Juki, with a walking foot of course. They are hard to find used, but they are the best to use if you are going to be working with heavy material. Good luck to you.

walking foot makes a big difference in your control of the fabric. I would try canvas without it.

JUKI, I would suggest to get one that someone went through it and made sure it working good and timed right. You don't want to mess with a used one that is screwed up.
The latest one we got was a Husqvarna thru Viking.

Sold the old Consew and bought a Pfaff . . . this one goes through seat belts easy :D

ive got a blue sailrite and its great for working at home

Another vote for the Juki LU 563. We used to do about 40 million in sales to the Department of Defense. Most of it was heavy nylon (1,000 Denier nylon and webbing.) Entrenching tool covers, Grenade pouches, barrel cases, etc. We used mostly Juki's. Consews are also good but the Juki's were a tad more reliable. Buy refurbished not used. Repairing sewing machines can be a pain in the a** if you have not done it before!

Padraig

When I worked in the boat upholstery shop we used Mitsubishi sewing machines. Don't know if thats good or bad. That's just what we used.

I believe the one i have is a Mitsubishi It's an old one that my family used in their sewing plantFor automotive soft trim

I have had a couple sailrite walking foot machines, a consew, and a husquavarnia. I will say for most light duty stuff I grab the husquavarnia, but probably not for marine upholstery. I'd look at the new sailrites if I was starting from scratch. The sailrites seem a lot easier to repair for me than others.

https://www.sailrite.com/Sewing-Machines

We picked up an old school Consew 206RB. Heavy duty industrial machine about 10 years ago. It can sew through anything, it has a walking foot. No Frills, Forward Reverse and like the Energizer Bunny. Just keeps going.

This is an example picture, it came mounted to table with Motor, "Hot Foot Throttle"...lol.

https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.off...e6159adb3f.jpg

Excellent heavy duty machine.

Padraig

I picked up an old Singer machine from around 1920, I’d guess, to do the boat upholstery. I haven’t used it yet but the guy I bought it from said it worked great. It looks real cool too

S. Kaplan Sewing Machine.

That's what you call a really good one!
Back to the topic, from what I've learned Consew, Juki's and metal Singers (though are not that easy to maintain) are the best options.

And please, don't even try to use so-called newer HD machines - these are crappy built and won't sew through several layers of jeans, not to mention they're completely useless for a vinyl. Been there, done that, so I won't ever try to use m'lady's machine for upholstery.
Though I wasn't so lucky with used "vintage" units, so I got Sailrite in the end (the basic one). And it works perfect for me.

A couple of additional points. Make sure you have good quality thread and needles. Good needles are vital.

Padraig