Sailrite Alternative

[model 10]

Make sure you can get needles for whatever you buy. I have a Singer 306, a good old machine but big needles very rare.

[senormechanico]

Originally Posted by Guy

Make sure you can get needles for whatever you buy. I have a Singer 306, a good old machine but big needles very rare.

Your machine will use 130/705H needles available at any sewing shop.

Schmetz are the best imho.

They're available in sizes up to #18 shaft diameter.

http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_nkw=...296&mfe=search

[ranger58sb]

Our canvasmaker uses several Consew (?something like that?) machines, all with the walking foot feature.


For "household" grade machines, wifey tells me older White models were roughly equivalent to older Singer models. Might be true of older Viking models, too, but that's just a guess.


-Chris

[CGirvan]

Has anybody got experience with any of the cheap chinese sailrite knockoffs,
they go by several names:

Consew CP146R
Family FS288
Alphasew PW400ZZ
Techsew 611
Strongarm
Rex 607Z
Sewline SL146-7

These seem to be made from the original casting molds used on the Sailrite version 1 machines, they all seem pretty much the same with different branding.
There is a scarcity of reviews so not sure if junk or not.

[senormechanico]

If theose machines are indeed made from casting molds of Sailrite machines, and therefore a ripoff of someone else's work, my opinion would violate CF's "be nice" rule.



I've not seen any machine that looks similar to a Sailrite which was anywhere near their quality.

I believe I once saw a video on Sailrite's website that compared cut apart pieces of their machine vs. the same copycat part of a competitor.
Lots of voids in the metal, poor finish and accuracies.

You get what you pay for and sometimes you don't.

Cheap is cheap. There's a reason it's cheap.

[model 10]

Originally Posted by senormechanico

Your machine will use 130/705H needles available at any sewing shop.

Schmetz are the best imho.

They're available in sizes up to #18 shaft diameter.

sewing machine needles | eBay

Wow! I hope you are right. I thought I could only use Schmetz 206x13. I will go look at some. Thanks.

[travellerw]

Originally Posted by senormechanico

If theose machines are indeed made from casting molds of Sailrite machines, and therefore a ripoff of someone else's work, my opinion would violate CF's "be nice" rule.



I've not seen any machine that looks similar to a Sailrite which was anywhere near their quality.

I believe I once saw a video on Sailrite's website that compared cut apart pieces of their machine vs. the same copycat part of a competitor.
Lots of voids in the metal, poor finish and accuracies.

You get what you pay for and sometimes you don't.

Cheap is cheap. There's a reason it's cheap.

Actually this has been covered over and over.. Sailrite used a casting of another machine to build thiers. Thier machines include many enhancements that are not included in the lower cost "clones" (not really clones cause the Sailrite is a clone). No one has ripped anyone off..

When I did a search in the past, I found a few people using the clones and claiming they were adequete for lighter duty stuff like cockpit cushions. They didnt fair so well when sewing really heavy stuff like stac-pack or even webbing.

[bstreep]

On top of everything else, buying a Sailrite will give you Sailrite support. These folks have been wonderful to us over the years. I don't know anything we've bought for our boat that is supported as well as Sailrite supports its products.


Sent from my iPad using Cruisers Sailing Forum

[travellerw]

Originally Posted by bstreep

On top of everything else, buying a Sailrite will give you Sailrite support. These folks have been wonderful to us over the years. I don't know anything we've bought for our boat that is supported as well as Sailrite supports its products.


Sent from my iPad using Cruisers Sailing Forum

I agree %100.. Although I didn't buy a machine through them, I bought TONS of other stuff. They were fantastic, even when I screwed up and ordered the wrong things.

[Vipe6]

I am looking at a second hand Pfaff 260. Is this any good?

[Azul]

Originally Posted by Vipe6

I am looking at a second hand Pfaff 260. Is this any good?

Here is a discussion of your question: I sold a bunch (dozens) of older commercial sewing machines for my GF's furniture company to clear up some space and it was surprising how many people on the floor of a 150 employee furniture company were still using really ancient Pfaffs and Singers while newer and more powerful machines languished in a storage area. There was a Singer 101 that looked positively ancient that was being actively used. OTOH, the Mac Daddys were the Durkopp-Adler 240V, computerized, compressed air driven walking foot machines. They could zoom through anything at high speed.

Sewing Machines >> Pfaff 260 or Mini-Walker?

[Bill Seal]

I've been using a Chinese version of the Sailrite for several years, did the tuck-n-roll on my hotrod, a heavy weight cover for it, did some major sail repairs, made a full cockpit covers -including chonking through zippers, Velcro, and 6 layers of Sunbrella- and have had no problems with it. One thing I like about it is the 9" throat depth instead of 7" on a sailrite. Just keep the needles sharp.

[Northbound44]

I had a sailrite, heavy, noisy, expensive, need lots of adjustments & maintenance so I sold it .
I bought a used Pfaff 130. Light, powerful, accurate, easy to use, silent and fast. I can do everything i did with the Sailrite.
If you need seswing really thick sail material ex: head, tack & clew on 500 ft2 sail, go for industrial sailloft sewing machine. These arent not made for this purpose.

Sent from my SM-T210R using Cruisers Sailing Forum mobile app

[mdgpl]

IMHO, there is no "Sailrite Alternative" About 5yr ago I bought a cheaper look-a-like machine, a Reliable Baracuda 2000Z. I thought I saved myself $300. NOT. Over the past 5 years I spent twice what I saved on parts AND I can't tell you how many times I just put the cover on the Baracuda and walked away in frustration.

I found out along the way that I could buy parts for the machine from Sailrite vs waiting weeks from Reliable, and what I found was that they were much better parts made to much tighter tolerances.

With a big project coming up sewing up over 20 yds of canvas and vinyl, I decided to buy a Sailrite LSZ-1 and ditch the old machine. Smartest tool upgrade I have ever done. I recently finished the project. Not one broken needle, not even a broke thread. The stitches were straight and even and the torque to go through multiple layers was there when I needed it.

You get what you pay for. Looks are deceiving. Like so many things in life, its what's on the inside that counts.

[thostr]

Another unhappy 'cheap Chinese clone'-buyer here... While my 300 dollar Aliexpress-bought generic 'portable walking foot' machine provided me with workable sewing for some months, timing gradually got worse, and the foot height was way lower than I expected. When I tried to adjust the machine by following a Sailrite instruction video, I found that one of the set screws was loose and threads damaged. When tightening another set screw (controlling fore/aft-movement of outer foot), the casting broke. This was during very moderate tightening of the set screw. Machine also had damages to exterior when I received it, not attributable to bad handling during shipping. Casting breaking and exterior damage might be related, but not the damaged set screw threads. So I'm not too convinced of these generic machines, buyer beware!