Looking for New Sewing Machine

[Michael Curtis]

I have an 15 year old Necchi 3537 that has served me well for a number of years. I have modified it to increase the lift on the foot and presser foot tension to maximize sewing through heavier items, but do have difficulty sewing through thicker foam, especially when combined with webbing.

I know I could be using differnet design techniques, but like the idea of sewn through foam for waist belts and shoulder straps and I have a need for an ability to sew through multiple layers of webbing….So I am looking into purchasing a heavier machine.

I live in a rural area so there is not much of an opportunity to buy used. I have looked at Sailrites, both the LZ-1 and the 111, but have yet to pull the trigger.

Anyone have any reccomendations….

[Christopher Zimmer]

I have a sailrite LSZ-1 and I love it! I would highly recommend it for sewing through foam, it does my shoulder straps with ease. It also handles lighter cuben and nylon great, you just have to make some adjustments. It is a very nice machine for the money.

[Michael Curtis]

Thanks for the reccomendation.

I am curious what the thickest foam you have sewn through….In the specs it says it has a foot lift of 3/8"…I'm trying to decide if that is enough. I occasionaly sew through 1/2" foam and sometimes wouldn't mind going a little thicker.

Thanks

[California Packrafting]

Can anyone answer this? Is it possible to use this to sew through 1/2″ foam?

Thanks,

 

[Philip Tschersich]

If you can compress the foam to get it under the presser foot, then it should work. I have stitched through shoulder straps (easily 1/2″ thick) with my LSZ-1, but getting the strap into and then back out from under the foot can be a bit of a pain. The friction ridges on the feet are pretty aggressive.

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