Want To Buy: Sewing Machine

[pamgeiger]

SailRite walking foot sewing machine. LSZ preferred. In Florida. If you have one, PLEASE let me know. Our boat NEEDS new canvas! Thank you so much!!!

[Cranston]

$ailrite ?! Go on ebay - look for "portable industrial walking foot zig zag sewing machine" - many come up "Morse" etc. - usually around $350. $ailrite claims they make mods that make their machine better. Don't know much about that. I was happy with my "off brand "machine" . They are made and China. Easily sews 8 layers.

[Boatguy30]

I bought one 10 years ago off eBay about 10 years ago. Fits in the sail rite case.

[pamgeiger]

Thank you for the information. We, too, are in St. A. Would it be possible to check out your machine before I wander into the depths of EBay? Pam 904.669.2159

[Northbound44]

Pam, read this before you buy.
I had one for 8 years and I sold it last summer. The Sailrite and the Thomson is exactly the same machine made in Taiwan. The others like Alphasew, reliable, consew cp206r, are Chinese copy.
Base on my experience , yes, this machine will sew thick material, but no, this is not an industrial machine, no it will not be able to sew the corner patches on your sail and yes this machine is strongly built but his poor design makes this machine heavy, noisy and not user friendly for long term use.
I did lots of project with it ( sail repair, sail pack , dodger and Bimini repairs, boat interior & exterior cushions.
This machine need a lot of maintenance ( timing and thread tension adjustment ), the grip of the walking foot is too aggressive and don't feed better than a good needle feed machine. At the end, I name it my swearing machine, then I Sold it.
Thereafter , base on comments I read on the web, I bought an old Pfaff 130. At first sight, this vintage sewing machine look like a grandmother machine, then I tryed it ... Wow !
The sound was like music to my ears, no more tac tac tac, it feed well , the stitches are accurate and this is a fast machine.
I can do the same thing I did with my Sailrite without having to do adjustment every hour.
This machine is in my opinion a better machine and you can buy one at a fraction of the price.
Otherwise , if you need to use a sewing machine exclusively to make or repair sails, buy an industrial machine like Adler, Juki or Pfaff.
Good luck