Didn't have a huge response in the social groups and I was hoping for a little more help. Recently bought my wife an older Juki DDL-5550 straight stitcher for work that she's doing. It's an "H" series machine, which apparently designates that it's set up for heavier work. Traditionally that machine would be an Industrial garment machine, but in this case it will apparently do heavier materials like vinyl and heavy denim. This is basically the machine we have... (not the actual machine) We don't have plans to do a lot of interior stuff, but for some seat covers we're going to make this machine work. Down side is, this machine doesn't have a walking foot, which would make live easier. Is anyone here familiar with the machine? I'm told there is a walking foot available for it, but can't find information on it. Also, any tips on the machine and learning the machine would be helpful. We have no idea what we're doing.
My wife is a professional Seamstress, does Custom sewing and Alterations and Tailoring. She has had a Juki overlock machine since before we were married 23 years ago, and that thing is still going strong, it refuses to quit working, and she uses it a LOT, daily. They make one helluva sewing machine, that much I can tell you. Do a Google or Bing search, and you'll likely find a reprint of the service manual for that particular machine
Found a reprint of the manual at Atlas Levy (who actually rebuilt the machines). Just need to get it. On the prowl for a free version in the mean time... I've heard these things don't quit. Ever tried to get her to sew you some automotive related stuff with the machine?
Been doing upolstery work for 30 years. Your Juki is a good heavy duty machine. Unless your going to due heavy leather or multiple layers of canvass a walking foot machine is overkill. Get yourself some #18 to 20 needles, nylon thread(5 lb. spool) some scrap vinyl and practice. Practice sewing straight lines then mark out a pattern and practice sewing on the line. Speed control is your best friend. Slow and sready wins the race. DO NOT sew your fingers. Les Bliss
Awesome! That's good news and good info! And a good warning on the not sewing the fingers part! With how fast it sews, I have these vivid visuals of it sucking fingers in when not looking! YIKES! Do you think it will do leather appropriate for automotive seat cushions, or should we stick to vinyl/naugahyde type stuff?
Does it have a clutch or servo motor? I bought a Pfaff cheap that has a clutch and it is touchy to control when learning as in it races along like crazy. I found that if I put a hunk of foam under the pedal it made it easier to control.
nice machine, a friend has a walking foot machine and has said i can use it when ever i wish, he has done upholstery work and has given me pointers and will help, i have been watching craiglist and usedeverywhere for free leather sofa's, so far i have a garbage bag full of black leather and one of green, i guess i'm cheap.
You beat me to it! I was just about to say it has a clutch type motor, not a servo. GREAT idea on the foam! THANKS a TON!! Let's say I make my seat covers out of marine grade vinyl or Naugahyde and wanted a nice thick contrasting stitch. (Black vinyl with like a bone colored thread) What thread and needle combo would be suggested? What about bobbin threading?? I heard this can be tricky?? Man... I wonder how big of thread I can actually make work with this machine. I need to get that manual.
I had that machine when I was putting together some big rag for the studios. It was lightning fast and threw a good stitch at speed but would not have considered it for auto trim unless it was all I had. Don't even recall what style bobbin it had or the needle choices are except that my thread was likely 69 nylon which was my standard, making adjustment easy and pre wounds common. My auto trim machine is a Pfaff 145 with the smaller G bobbin. Would like a later machine with the larger bobbin but won't spend the money. I did much more work when I had an ancient Singer 111 with needle feed and no reverse. Think of these things as just another tool. Good Luck: Fred A
check this out http://youtu.be/7xDJO-HZe5U There are many more surely there's one on bobbin threading. Juki is a high quality machine. I started out on a Juki many moons ago. They had three of them in the trim shop where I used to work. When I bought a machine for my own shop I ended up with good deal on a second hand machine but it wasn't a Juki. You did well. lessbliss is right be careful and don't sew your fingers.
look under the table of your machine on the end of the motor is a spring with a wing nut [ this should be on the arm with the rod that runs down to the tredel] tighten the wing nut to slow down the machine. as you get used to the machine loosen the nut. lined tablet paper is great to practice sewing straight lines. use bigger pieces of paper with curves drawn on them for practice. put a piece of masking tape 1/2 inch to the inside of the needle to use as guide for a 1/2 inch seam allowance. a good practice drill is to make two arcs [ rainbow shaped pieces] out of a brown paper shopping bag. make them as big as you can. sew the inside edge of one arc to the outside edge of the other without ripping the paper. keep edges even keep an even seam allowance keep the material taught but dont pull on it as you sew and practice practice practice
I work for an upholstery shop and acquired a juki through some trading. Like said above, practice practice practice. I love using the machine, it will go through multiple layers of leather. the next think to invest in is a quality pair of shears!
As mentioned above everything I have read seems to recommend 69 nylon thread. I have no idea what that means but that's what is always recommended.
The 69 nylon is the synthetic twin of the old 24 cotton. It can be had with good UV resistance and is compatable with common #20 needles(mostly). Nylon's rot resistance and the UV is good for most non leather trimmings. Most factory machines don't have the stitch length at a max of 5/inch for a steady diet of Leather which often needs long stitches with larger thread for max strength and good looks. Guys are often talking how their machine sewing leather, especially if trying to sell something to rookies, but with the country going out of business I see lots of great upholstery machines for under $400 and older singers or the 225 consew for around or under $300. I stopped saving clutch motors with the servo motors now common and a pleasure to use. Sure you can spend bunches more, but for cosmetic differences and the prestige of a Pfaff and anything else not Chinese. Good Luck: Fred A
Thanks a ton for everyone's info! I really appreciate it! Think I may try and get a hold of some 69 thread and #20 needles and work on getting this thing set up in a couple weeks. Are all the "industrial" needles the same, or is their a certain size just for the Juki machines? Any particular foot attachment that might make life easier for the task? There are a TON of good deals out there! We mainly bought what we needed for my wife's side sewing business. We thought it was most important to get what she needed for her applications, but it turned out that it was also an "H" machine. So I GUESS we got lucky, if we can do what we need to do with it. We won't be doing a whole lot of upholstery stuff, but if we can make it work for this one project I'll be super stoked! We actually bought two machines; this ddl-5550 and we also got a Juki MO-3740 industrial Serger (3-needle) that looks like a torture device! Both were referbed a few years ago and the lady never took the time to learn how to use them before she went out of business with her clothing line. We got BOTH with a TON of extra thread, needles, oil, a bunch of feet and attachments, all for $600! They paid twice that from Atlas Levy and had the receipts to prove it. Couldn't believe it...
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