Sewing machine for liveaboards?

[Oliveoyl]

One of the few domestic possessions I would like to take with me on the boat would be a sewing machine. Current one is lightweight electric Jap job, fine for curtains (WTF, won't need those), turn ups, zips etc. But might need one that can do sails. Can be manual, but must be lightish and smallish.
Any ideas?

 

[sarabande]

Buy a seconhand hand Husquvarna. They are really solidSwedish steel. Ours does sails, dodgers, easily.

 

[jerryat]

Get one of the old Singer machines. We have one aboard all the time we're full time cruising and wouldn't dream of leaving it ashore. We've made everything from fender skirts and dodgers, to biminis, cushions and hatch covers, as well as repairs to sails etc for others. It's saved us countless hours of incredibly boring stitching.

You need to get the correct needles (as I recall, those for leather) but are then able to stitch up to 5 layers of sail cloth.

Both ours (one is a spare at home) are hand operated and very easy to maintain and use.

 

[KellysEye]

If it's 'lightish and smallish' it almost certainly won't be able handle multiple layers of canvas. The 'industry standard' is Sailrite - www.sailrite.com
There is a British distributor, I think Solent Sewing Machines.

The other quality machine is Reeds, they are no longer manufactured but sometimes come on the second hand market. This really is a market where you get what you pay for.

 

[trouville]

I have an old Elna solid Swiss made it has sewn awnings from heavy canvas but sail cloth depends!!a fine needle a carful hand and quickly! goes until any factor changes then it stops. But its very small and the strongest domestic machine.

 

[CodStewart]

Definately a Singer.
Will be looking for one once I get to Mexico. Failing that, a lovely friend of mine has hinted that she might have one going........she's a collector of them!

 

[npf1]

there was one for sale on here a week or two ago

 

[CodStewart]

Fing is, it would be hard to get it to Mexico. Will either buy there or me mate might drive down with one. Fingers crossed for either scenario coming true.

 

[Talbot]

Sewing machine type will depend on intended use. There are five options

Buy a proper heavy duty machine designed for the purpose - expensive and needs a lot of work to justify weight and space.

Buy an old singer sewing machine - details of machines here but make sure you get a zigzag machine as this is best for the sails.

get an elna or similar strong lightweight machine, and have it adjusted to cope with sewing heavier material, plus get no 18 needles (we have just had our old toyota machine fixed for this purpose), but recognise that it will not be able to do a lot of work.

use a normal machine and hope it will work!

get the sailmaker to triple stitch all seams on your sails and hope that will get you there!

 

[Kilter]

Another vote for the old Singer from me.

 

[KellysEye]

Couple of general thoughts:
- if you do buy an old machine make sure you can still get spares from somebody who has a proven (global?) mail order service.
- test the machine on the maximum number of layers of canvas you expect to sew before buying.
- for canvas work Sunbrella is the way to go, the lookalikes definitely don't last as long.
- usually the first thing to fail is the stitching (UV damage), we found the best thread is Dabond UVR.

 

[Jonny_H]

Couple of thoughts for your consideration (although I wouldn't class them as 'advice'!!)

* Husquvarna is now owned by Electrolux, so spares for their machines will be available throughout Europe but perhaps not much further afield than that.
* Old Singers - Great in my opinion - but heavy!
* Modern lighter machines - We've found a Janome machine great for canvas work (covers, even webbing straps) and sufficient for most sails. But - it will use a lot more power and won't last as long as the strains on the smaller motor are far more than they would be on a Singer.

That said when we set-off the year after next I'm pretty sure we'll be taking the Janome machine rather than trading it in for an older Singer.

Jonny

 

[MedMan]

Whatever the make it must be built of steel of sufficient cross-section not to flex when four or five layers of canvass are passed under its foot. Light weight machines flex allowing the foot to lift off the material and the needle to come out of alignment. This requirement means, per se, that a suitable machine will be heavy - there is no other way to make it sufficiently rigid.

 

[ironmaiden]

can anyone recomend which singer hand model to get , as there are so many, as I'm also wishing to get one.
regards Rachel /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

 

[KellysEye]

[ QUOTE ]
Singer...You need to get the correct needles (as I recall, those for leather) but are then able to stitch up to 5 layers of sail cloth

[/ QUOTE ]

No, leather needles have a small blade tip. If you need to use leather needles on fabric then the machine is under powered and you will be cutting the fabric rather than piercing it by pushing the fibres to one side. The consequence is that the fabric will fray (remember the edges have to be heat sealed after a cut). We mainly use ordinary needles size 18 or 20 (US size, European equivalent is 110 and 125).

 

[jerryat]

Not sure you're right, but all I can say is that years ago before we started full time cruising, we went into our local (Plymouth) Singer shop.

We took in a selection of the sort of stuff we wanted to stitch and asked their advice. The chap tried out an identical hand-operated machine for us there and then before selecting the type of needle we should get. This was in addition to the 'normal', pointed type used for clothes etc of course.

It's 12 years ago so perhaps my memory is incorrect, but I'm sure the ones recommended were for 'leather'. Either way, these have a slight 'chisel' point and work superbly.

One tip for all. If sewing sailcloth, PVC covered cloth and the like, keep a saucer or other small container of water mixed with washing up liquid alongside while stitching. It you keep a 'wet' line running a few inches in front of the foot it will lubricate the needle, reducing or eliminate 'creep' and 'snatching', making the job many, many times easier!!

 

[fudge]

The minimum requirements for a sewing machine to work on sails and boat canvas are: A stitch length of up to 4mm; Zig Zag capability, preferably 5mm; strong upper thread tension and a very solid arm to prevent flexing as the needle penetrates the material. These qualities I am afraid do not come in your normal domestic sewing machine.

However, there is light at the end of the tunnel. Back in the sixties in Southampton, Kevin Read realised that the Japanese Riccar 603 offered these capabilities and that there was a market opportunity retailing these machines to sailors. He brought onto the market the Reads Sailmaker, a clone of the Riccar 603. Later on, the American Sailrite company produced the Yachtsman, based on the Riccar 601. All these machines are available second hand and parts can be got for them from Sailrite or from their UK distributors SolentSew.

Unfortunately, these machines command a high re-sale value and are much sought after. There is a little more good news. The frame upon which all these machines was based upon was used by many other manufacturers. They can all be adapted to work heavy duty materials with parts available from Sailrite. The machines can be identified by the marks on the underside of the frame. They are: JA 38 (transfer) JC-36 (engraved) and a lower case s superimposed over an upper case Z (cast).

Our machine is one of these, a Speed Queen, in attractive 1960s launderette colours. It has happily managed general canvas work, the making of a canopy and replacing UV strips.

I ought to put in a word for the Singer 96K12. A wonderful machine if you can find one and afford to buy it.

 

[ean_p]

failing these have a look at the Pfaff machines on e-bay and if you can find one the Brother which is the base machine for the current Sailrite units.

 

[tome]

Agree with others that it won't be light!

We bought a Sailrite LSZ-1 Deluxe machine from Solent Sewing Machines which is a great machine. Can be run from mains or by hand and has a zig-zag walking foot mechanism. It will easily go through 12 layers of canvas or leather. Full details here. They are pricey, but very well built

It lives at home and weighs in at a hefty 52lbs, but I would certainly take it with us if we were live-aboard for any significant period and it would be great for minor sail repairs

Here's a couple of dodgers and sail cover I was able to make using it (I'm no expert, but it's pretty easy once you get the hang of it). Next big project is to replace the cockpit tent

 

[trouville]

That looks ok!If i had to stow a large sewing machine for work aboard i wouldent do it.Everywhere there are sail lofts(difficult) and awning/cover makers(helpful) who have never refused to repair a sail or sew a patch on a cover mostly without charge.(saillofts dont always have someone working on the machine so i have to wait or come back & come back & come back before its done)

I did carry a small Elna and that sewed everything once i changed the drive belt the limit being the bundeled cloth that would pass under the arm!It did almost everything i offered it.