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Maya2001 -> RE: Sewing leather, leatherwork (12/14/2007 8:11:26 AM)
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quote:
ORIGINAL: BootBlackBlast
Even when sewing garment leather I'd make sure to use an industrial based machine. The leather is going to destroy someone's $99 Wal-Mart special sewing machine. Most motors aren't designed to handle it. Also keep in mind that any hide of leather has different grains and thicknesses so it will want to pull in every which direction. Be PATIENT, go slow, and practice lots.
As mentioned the different grains on either side affect the way the leather is drawn into the foot so tends to pull, that can be resolved using special feet, it could be walking foot, roller foot or teflon coated foot, if you plan to be doing lots of sewing it can be worthwhile in investing in a heavy duty machine and I don't necessarily mean industrial, their are older all metal portable machines that will do the jobs just fine you can go to a sewing machne sew some will buy customers old machines tune them up and resell often with a warranty, ask them what old vintage models they would recommend, you could try ebay but may need to take to a shop to have oiled, cleaned and adjusted, some seller will buy older machines and replace the motor with heavier duty ones and set them up for heavy duty use like on leather
I don't really recommend if you want to used for heavy leathers but good for garment leathers
example older cast metal husqvarna/viking made in sweden with rotary hook with slant foot
the pfaff 130 or 230 was originally made to be a sailmakers machine so was designed for heavy duty use
306 singer another that I have heard recommended
I started out a business making designer dog collars with webbing and trims and needed a machine that could punch through 3 layers of webbing and used an old viking as my first machine before moving up to an industrial machine and later added one designed specifically for leather as even industrials are designed for different uses so a industrial meant for regular garments does not have the same strength as one made for leather so even they can be killed with heavy use if not designed for but one designed for garments will handle garment leather fine but heavy leather will take their toll on them they can also be purchased off ebay as complete units I think I paid about $500 for my heavy duty industrial pfaff with walking foot which was reconditioned and tested before selling shipping was probably another $100 which beats paying over $2000 for machine and motor often alone with table, thread stands, lights as extras. I keep another ebay purchases lighter duty industrial on hand incase I have machine problems with the leather machine so can still complete orders but mostly that is used for dog coats, and I have a couple older portables just for convenience mostly home use, the one big thing with the industrials is getting used to the speed, as they will operate at much faster speeds so it takes getting used to or you can purchase special motors(servomotor) that allows the sewer to reduce the speed or buy what is called a speed reducer which is simply and extra wheel/pulley that you add in with a belt from the motor and another from the pulley to the machine to reduce the revolutions the machine runs at. Different feet and attachments for industrials can also be purchased off ebay
For hand sewing a a special wheel is used to mark the thread holes so they are evenally spaced and an awl is used to punch thru the marked hole placements then you use a leather sewing awl that has a spool attached to e needle to sew the leather
Thread should be a heavier nylon which is rot proof and very strong such as #69 or 92 they tend to be difficult to use in most home based machines
If using lighter leathers for cuffs example less than 10 stitching along the edges helps to prevent the leather from stretching
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