Canvas Sewing Machine Questions...

[TooCoys]

This was the video that turned me on to the 66. Sure the Sailrite makes it look easy, but the 66 did just as good a job, albeit a little more tedious.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wL4Rig60TKU&t=3404s

[TooCoys]

4 layers of leather, and 6 layers of denim on a slightly modified 66. Machine seems to handle it quite well and could probably handle more.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QRIMTLbrxUk

[The Sun King]

Mom taught me to sew before I started school and I am glad of it. I sewed all of the canvas on my boat with my grandmother's 1919 Singer. It surprised me a bit when it worked, so I went in for bigger challenges like webbing and straps. Previously I had gone to the shoe shop to have that sort of thing sewn, but the little singer works fine. The limited throat depth makes bunching up larger work a challenge, but taking time to roll or fold the excess pays off.



There's a reason Grandmother kept a can of sewing machine oil nearby...they need it. I really like the lithium grease idea and will try it on my next project.

[Bill_Giles]

I have an elderly semi-heavy duty Singer which blew a couple of nylon cogs. I borrowed my wife’s also elderly Bernina which weighs twice that of the Singer. It does not say heavy duty but that is some tough machine. No wonder they are top price on eBay, more than the Singer or Sailrite new.

[MicHughV]

I don't know much about sewing machines, but some years back, I toodled on down to my local Walmart and purchased, what I thought, would be a reasonable machine. I think I paid around $150 for it.
It has sewn everything and anything I have fed into it. canvas, leather, sail cloth.....

It's a "brother" machine, simple and easy to use, nothing fancy.

A good quality sharp needle and good quality thread are the keys to success here. Regular clothes thread won't cut the mustard here.

[mark0978]

I have had my first (and last) Sailrite LSZ-1 for 6 years. It doesn't make me mad until I try to use it, and then it wads up bobbin thread 50% of the time. If I want to sew really thick stuff I have to use the hand crank or the thread (from Sailrite) wads up in the stitch and it looks horrible. Sometimes I want to give it a burial at sea but lucky for it, I'm normally only sewing at the dock.

[Bill Seal]

In case you missed this the first time:
https://zamirsew.net/family-sew-port...g-long-arm-388

If your LSZ1 is messing up stiches, take it to a professional shop and have it re-timed.

[MVDarlin]

In my experience the Sailright we had was misnamed. It should have been called a Sailnot. We gave it away.

[MicHughV]

I was never very good with straight line sewing...but my machine had the zig-zag feature, which I exclusively used all the time on every sewing project I did...I also purchased some heavy duty super sharp needles and thread from a sailmaker...never had a single problem...

[Moontide]

Toocoys, what brand/model is the machine that can do the 3 layers of leather?

[StuartWeibel]

Originally Posted by JPA Cate

I bought a lightly used SailRite LSZ-1. It does the canvas easier, but to me is really clunky, noisy, and I am not as happy a camper with it as I had hoped to be. It paid for itself with the first project, a boom bag with lazy jacks.

Ann

I agree with Ann... the Sailrite machines fill an important niche, but if you've grown up driving a sports car (mine was an Elna), then a rattly pickup truck is a disappointment, even if you're hauling manure. Get the heavy flywheel if you go this route.

No one should even CONSIDER doing serious canvas work with a machine that is not a walking foot machine. It isn't just the number of layers you can sew through. Every skipped stitch will remind you of your mistake.

[Moontide]

Toocoys - nevermind - read the rest of the thread after instead of before sending prior one.

[john manning]

It is definitely not about motor power.

The best canvas and sail machine I have used was a hand powered Singer that was designed for leather work.

What you are looking for is a machine with a very strong needle which can sew thread up to and beyond 1mm diameter. For canvas work an ordinary walking foot unit is okay. For sails, having a zig-zag stepping foot is better.

I am currently using a Toyota ADS model bought second hand for $150. It is not strong enough to do any more than three layers of sail cloth. However it does have a heavy duty needle kit which I have not bought yet. The problem with most commercial machines (when used by amateurs like me) is they run too fast. Slow is good if you want a tidy result.

[mvweebles]

The walking foot is key on longer runs of multiple layers of thick material. Without it, the bottom layer will advance slightly more than the top. Many DIY upholstery jobs have long puckers and wrinkles, a sure clue of not using a walking foot machine.

I have three machines, one of which is a Thompson Mini-Walker I purchased from Sailrite close to 30 years ago. I would not consider doing heavy work on anything else. Just too time labor intensive and frankly, I'm only mediocre. I cannot afford not having every advantage

Good luck

Peter

[OkiMike]

We also used a Singer HD model for what would have been a $12000+ recanvas of the entire boat and ended up spending about $2000 on materials for including the canvas, punches, grommets, misc parts, and sewing machine.

It held up well, and we swapped readily back and forth between the generic foot and the walking foot that was included. The only change I made was to take apart the foot pedal and lubricate the pedal depression channel to make it smooth. From the factory it sticks and gives jerky results.

IMO, even “cheap” machines can do multiple layers of canvas, but where I imagine Sailrite machines shine is in the evenness of their stitching due to the walking foot quality. Singer’s is, quite frankly, trash. Nevertheless we used it and the project was a success. Just don’t be too hard on yourself when the stitching isn’t as pretty as the pros.

At the beginning of the project I told myself I’d celebrate with a Sailrite machine if I could complete this, but now I’m happy to keep ours since it was so just so cheap by comparison. It’s also much smaller and, thus, easier to store.