There is a place in KC that has industrial Juki's- I have the info at work, I will try to remember and post next week. We have Juki's at work, other than set up I haven't had to repair them, but they dont get used. Wife has a Singer, but same story- no repairs but almost no use. David
I have been researching this for the last few months. I have found that Juki or pfaff are the prefered choices for a reliable long term investment machine 1500.00-2000.00 range . The consew used to be the best but they are made in china now and are not as reliable as they used to be. If you are going to sew anything thicker than 1/4inch foam you will need a walking foot machine. I purchased an old singer industrial and quickly found out that it caused the material to bunch up when I tried to sew 1/2inch foam for seat covers. I contacted my local sewing machine repair shop and local upholsters for info. My local repair shop was very helpful and even let me test a juki he was servicing. I will be upgrading to the juki as soon as I can afford it.
After pricing complete interiors from places I admire... I've realized that I'm going to have to make my own. I've been doing some research and since I want saddle leather interior I'm going to go with a Tippmann Boss Leather Sewing Machine. It's pretty old school and since seeing them used (hand powered) I know I can completely do this. I'm going to start with my roadster first, as practice... then onto the coupe as it progresses.
Try calling Quality Industrial Sew in Grand Island NE. They have a web site. Ron has been a regular at NSRA and some Goodguy events for many years. Will steer you in the right direction.
Pfaff 145 or 545 are great machines. Checks out the HAMB Upholstery group at; http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/group.php?groupid=174
I run a Juki 555-4. It is not a walking foot. I wish it was, but a good walking foot industrial machine is way out of my range. It took some getting used to. It is sweat-shop fast and will sew .090 3003 with the right needle, or your finger.
Here is the info from work, haven't used them yet, but got it from somebody happy with their service. http://www.mosewco.com/ Phone: 1-800-257-4989 Fax:1-816-471-3929 E-mail: [email protected] David
I currently have a Consew 206 and love it, easy to change stitch length and have had no problems whatsoever. At work we have a couple of Pfaff and Adler sewing machines. The Adler machine is a workhorse with all kinds of features my Consew can only dream of. Biggest thing is getting a "walking foot" machine to do any kind of heavy sewing like what will be done to produce auto interiors.
PFAFF 1245 is the only way to go. It lasts forever and can stitch through about ten layers of vinyl or leather. EASY
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