Hot Rods Anyone do auto/boat upholstery work? Need help picking a sewing machine.

I’ve decided to start a new project…….re-upholstering a few seats out of my boat. I’m always up for learning a new skill.

So, that being said…..I need to pick up a sewing machine that will work for this project. If this goes well, I might try to redo some seats in my car one of these days. But at this point, I just need a good reliable “hobby” type machine, I’m not going into business.

I’ve done a bunch of research on machines, and it sounds like I at least need something with reverse, something I can run very slow if needed, and it needs a true walking foot for doing multiple layers of marine vinyl fabric and/or leather.

So here are some machines I’ve been looking at…..just wondering if any of you guys have done upholstery work like this, and have had some kind of experience with these lower end walking foot machines.

Rex 607, about $269 online

Consew CP206RL, about $400 inline.

Sailrite LS-1, about $700 online.

To me, they all look like pretty much the same machine….just different colors, and different brand.

I don’t mind looking for a used machine, but there are so many out there, unless I have a specific brand/model that I know work for me, it’s kind of overwhelming if you don’t know what you are looking at……so if there any older ones out there that I should be looking for, please let me know!

Any other info would be great! Thanks

 

There is a social group about upholstery, check with them.

My pal Dave does automotive upholstery and uses a Juki industrial machine. HRP

 

I have an older Sailrite w/o a walking foot. (wish I had one I think)
Had it for a long time, but just starting to learn and use it.(was my ex-wifes)
Good company to deal with, lots of support, and replacement parts available if needed.
I've bought a lot of supplies from them as well as the machine
Also, people in the boating /sailing community looking for these on used market, so easy to resell

 

I am not an upholster but I am doing my own upholstery and personally I wouldn't want to try and do it with any of the machines you listed. They are all small compact machines with what looks like short throat depths. I have enough trouble doing the work with a regular depth throat. I can't imagine trying to reach the middle of a larger panel and get all the extra material stuffed into that small an area and still keep seams straight. They would probably be fine for doing work that only required sewing around edges but anything that you want to reach the middle of a panel with they don't look like fun Also the lack of a flush table would make things difficult as well.

As mentioned By HRP look at the Upholstery Social group lots of info there.

 

Gabe's uses a Consew, must be good.

 

Dave at work on the juki. HRP

 

Looks like Dave asleep at the Juki. The material needs to go under the needle.

 

Looks exactly like my Juki LU 563.

 

Big thing is to get an industrial machine with a walking foot and reverse. I have a Pfaff 545.

 

X2... I feel that a smooth big table is a must. ...and a big throat is needed for most anything I've tried sewing.

Mine is ancient industrial Singer, and I hope to get a servo motor instead of the clutch motor I put under it. The servo motor lets you go slow while learning. I geared down my clutch motor a lot, but it still can take off too fast at times...and that is not good for my inexperience and iffy confidence. It sucks to make a mistake on a piece that is almost finished...


I built my big table with a plywood top with slippery contact shelf paper on the surface.

.

 

It`s kind of like an open ended question. Go to your local store that sells industrial sewing machines. Try them out. Get prices on them. You will get more of an education this way. How much do you want to spend, you will find out why there is a difference in the machine at hand. Remember, long stitch length. Walking foot is a must and a machine with reverse costs more.

 

I've called all of the local sewing shops....unfortunately, none of them tell the industrial "leather" type sewing machines....they all specialize in the expensive digital ones for quilting and embroidery work. And since the goal of this project is to same a little by doing the seat covers myself.....I'd like to keep the price as low as possible, while still getting a machine that will let me sew up a quality seam of this project. If I could keep it under $500, I would be happy. I've searched around for used ones.....but the only ones I can find with the walking presser foots on them are the huge industrial ones that are $1,000+ used.

I'm not making a career out of this...I just need to recover a couple of seats.

 

This upholstery thing is pretty interesting. You will need a good machine that's for sure, do not skimp there it will only make you regret a cheap choice. There are a good number of quality machines out there. My first machine I bought 15 years ago and it just sat. I finally decided to start trying to do some of this work. that machine is a Rex 26-188. It is a good machine to start on. The one thing that is important when starting out is going SLOW and I mean slow. The Rex did have the clutch motor and to tell the truth for a beginner that damn clutch is the worst thing in the world. Mine had one speed and that was warp drive. An experienced guy would have been fine with that, but the new guy is just lost and I could not get any consistency at all with it. I then purchased a Adler machine that had been set up for leather and it had a servo motor.

With the servo motor you can dial in any speed you want and that makes learning much better. With the Adler I could sew as slow as one stitch a second if I needed to or just as fast as any clutch type motor when that was needed.

I did install a servo motor on the Rex machine and it is now usable, I used the clutch motor for a trot line weight.

All of the machines listed here are pretty good machines. The Juki and the Pfaff are both very good machines. My Adler while pricey is also a very good machine. You will be best served by looking for a used machine as new some of these will need a loan. Pick a good machine to learn on get you wife to go to the fabric store and buy as much cheap material as you can and get to it. There is a learning curve, but like most things practice will get you going...

 

Adler walking foot.
I'd rather have a 30 year+ old Adler than a new Juki or Brother etc

 

I put a Sewquiet 6000 Servo motor on my Juki LU 563 walking foot machine and it works really well.
Easy to control the speed.

 

I have a Consew 226r walking foot machine.

 

Thanks for the info! Are there any "entry level" walking foot machines like the Rex, Consew, or Sailrite that come with a servo motor on them? Or do they all come with a clutch drive that's pretty much off or full speed? My wife has a cheap little sewing machine she uses for craft stuff.....and I've played around with it before. Unless I'm going at a snails pace, it's hard for me to follow a seam.....so buying a machine that's either off, or wide open is not an option for me.

I would love to pick up a nice used walking foot machine locally....but I just don't see any. I guess I could buy a used one off of Ebay....but you never really know what you are buying until it shows up, and I would think that the shipping would be really expensive.

I'm located in Springfield MO.......I've searched Craigslist, and don't really see anything. Anyone mind searching Springfield MO Craigslist and see if I'm missing something??

 

Converting my Rex over to a servo motor, was an easy deal only took an hour or so. The servo motors are not that expensive somewhere around $100 or $125 when I did mine over a year ago. There are some dealers that deal in used machines, I bought my Adler from a dealer in Tn. look around and if I do hear of one closer to you I will send you a message.

 

Check Craigslist and the FB marketplace for used commercial machines in your area. Your area being within a reasonable drive. There was a pretty nice machine for sale here locally a week or so ago but I don't have room to put it or a decent place to store it.
You just have to do your homework before you buy one to get one that will do what you want to do with it and that you can get parts and service for.
Outside of the physical capacity the Sailrites are really popular among boat folks as mentioned before and are usually easy to sell when you are done using them if you are in a boating area.

 

Its interesting the opinions you get here. I am a newbie but I started with an old Singer treadle. Did my trunk and a couple door panels first. I am getting better as I go along. Then I bought a Rex 26-188 and hated it. I couldnt get rid of that POS fast enough. It took me a couple years to find another machine. It seems location has a lot to do with availability and for some reason not may people will ship them. done overlook the old singer 111 and 211 or Consew 206rB they are good machines. check out the upholstery social forum here. there is a ton of info there on exactly what you are asking

 

Anything that has a self contained motor (like the ones you listed)would have a servo motor like a home sewing machine.

 

Are you sure? I was looking at some of the details on the Sailrite LS-1 and it talks about a "posi-pin clutching system".....I took that as it's got a clutch drive, not a servo motor. I'm assuming the REX and the Consew is the same thing since they are all pretty much copies of each other.

 

Many industrial machines have a clutching system that will kinda "pop it out of gear" so if you hit something hard it breaks the needle but doesn't hurt internal parts. For a hobbyist any of the machines you mention will probably do the job. Professionals use professional tools... they work better. Almost all walking foot machines are based on the old Singer 111. Don't know about REX but Sailrite and Consew parts are probably easily available. Big bobbins are nice.....

 

For you beginners, mount a coil spring under the foot feet. It will give you enough resistance so you can sew slower. Call your local upholstery shops, it seems we all have extra machines laying around. Or know where there is one at for sale.

 

If you not in a big hurry keep an eye on craigslist, as soon as you buy one there will be three of them for sale. I picked up a Consew 206 RB for $400 needing to redo some awnings for my business. Planning on selling it when I was finished, pretty sure I could get my money back and possibly more. For now Iv'e decided to keep it and set up an empty bedroom for winter time upholstery work. Also thinking about doing a servo conversion as the clutch is the main problem I had I learning how to use it.

 

I use a pfaff.

 

I bought a Pfaff 30 years ago with a nice table. I have never used it nor do I know how , but I plan on doing my own interior. When I was shopping and educating myself I found that the sewing machines that you listed may squeek you by , but will be a lot of headaches and frustrations to do a simple task. My saying is buy a machine that is better than you want , in the end it will have some resale value and cost to own it is nothing. Mine cost me $800.00 and was used once by a person making sails for a boat. It was like new and I realized that this thing will sew anything without a problem.
Vic

 

I have said it many times, buy a good machine use it as long as you want or need. They hardly ever go down in value. I use only Pfaff , have for 50 years. Still have my original 145h4 and 2 others ,one is 145 and other is 1245.

 

5 years ago i bought this Singer at an auction, $130. stopped for lunch with the machine in the truck bed, lady comes in and offers me $500. i said, No, i'm going to use it someday. that day has not come.