Found a great way to stitch the heaviest of nylon webbing for cheap

[Ana]

Just saw this thread, I use a singer heavy duty 4452 that bought new on sale for about $150.

It can handle leather, webbing and about 6 layers of sunbrella canvas, I found that as long as the machine has a strong motor the rest is just finding the right needle. Schmetz seems to be one of the best brands.

Not sure if the format of this machine is friendly without a surface around it to keep your material in place going straight, but I'm looking forward to the reviews.

 

[Texasguy]

Not sure if the format of this machine is friendly without a surface around it to keep your material in place going straight.

Generally people are using block magnets on the surface near the needle to keep a custom spacing and feed the material straight. Kind of a clamp, of sorts, to edge the material against. Reminds of a table saw method. Generally it requires a non-magnetic bobbin, the magnet can affect its position and f-k the thread feeding, if too close. I am thinking of using some small regular harbor freight small sized clamp and a block of wood or plastic.

Video:

 

[wetb4igetinthewater]

I drooled at the quick pan of the guy's shop.

Anyway, @Texasguy, thanks for sharing. For me, this isn't a money saver so much as a time saver. Getting work done at a shoe repair shop is cheap, but then there is the back and forth. With this, I can experiment. And the nice thing is, there is no motor, so it doesn't matter if I'm in the US or Europe, I don't have to use my big A transformer that I have for my power tools (got it when I moved to Australia for a bit).

This also allows me to experiment, fix up, redo, all without leaving my house. That capability gives a return on investment much faster as a result. I love this. Thanks for posting. I will be buying at some point.

 

[stillc]

Just saw this thread, I use a singer heavy duty 4452 that bought new on sale for about $150.

It can handle leather, webbing and about 6 layers of sunbrella canvas, I found that as long as the machine has a strong motor the rest is just finding the right needle. Schmetz seems to be one of the best brands.

I 100% agree, my wife uses Juki HZL-29Z, it looks like a toy, but it handles so much, the motor inside of this little monster is awesome.

 

[happy-diver]

Fantastic Sewing Machine for making quilts, serape’s, masks, blankets | eBay

 

[Altamira]

+1 for a cobbler. I have had harness stitching work done quickly, expertly, and inexpensively. I was to get the work done while I waited, but I am sure that is not always going to be the case.

 

[BoundForElsewhere]

Lots of dry cleaners have a tailor. I get all my webbing stitched up for $8 bucks a visit. That's usually good for two locations.
I'm all about doing it myself but I'll never be as good as those guys.

 

[BoundForElsewhere]

Generally people are using block magnets on the surface near the needle to keep a custom spacing and feed the material straight. Kind of a clamp, of sorts, to edge the material against. Reminds of a table saw method. Generally it requires a non-magnetic bobbin, the magnet can affect its position and f-k the thread feeding, if too close. I am thinking of using some small regular harbor freight small sized clamp and a block of wood or plastic.

Video:

Nevermind.

 

[SlugLife]

I've managed to do quite a bit with a normal sewing machine, but always have to go slow and be careful, otherwise I break the needle or thread. If I end up doing more with webbing than a few pieces here or there, that looks like it would do an awesome job, and I might get one.

 

[Damselfish]

I sew a lot of weird stuff. I don’t have one of these machines, but have used something similar in a leather working class and it worked great. If I want to sew steel plates or something, I pull out my grandmothers Singer. Or my 70s era Singer.

The words heavy duty on a sewing machine, especially on a newer machine, mean nothing. (New Singers especially tend to be lame whatever they call them.) But there are regular sewing machines out there that will work. Vintage machines are usually way better at this sort of thing, and can often be had for cheap. Or sometimes used industrials, though those will probably cost more. Vintage stuff may need some cleaning and TLC, but usually easy stuff if you are mechanically inclined at all. Correct needles and thread are important.

There are a variety of sewing and craft groups on facebook and other places full of vintage machine fans. Maybe even cosplay groups. Usually you can get an answer to what machines are good to look for, or info on whether a particular machine you found will do what you need. (As with Scubaboard, also lots of answers to questions you didn’t ask from people who don’t read the original question, but thats the way it goes.)