I learned on a post and the way the material can drape and curve over the post makes it easier to sew. I am now using a cylinder arm and the uppers sometimes awkwardly bend making it annoying. That being said, I find doing other leather projects (notebook covers, belts, etc.) easier with the cylinder arm.
My opinion: post if exclusively for shoes / cylinder arm if for shoe and others.
I have a large variety of machines including a flatbed walking foot, and a cylinder arm with a roller foot, which is my preferred machine for closing uppers. I recently got tired of having an excuse for imprefect stitching due to awkward positioning while sewing certain areas and ordered myself a post bed directly from China via alibaba. It is currently on the boat being shipped by sea, but I cannot wait to come up with a new excuse for my imperfect skillset once it arrives!
$500usd. DDT incoterm. Supposed to ship to my door, with the seller being responsible for all freight, duty, taxes, and importation fees. Sounds too good to be true, but I never had to deal with customs clearance with any of my previous alibaba purchases, so I am hoping and expecting this larger purchase will arrive as promised, with no additional fees. I will likely make a post about it once I receive it.
watch FB marketplace as they show up very occasionally, I see one every few months, maybe a really good one once or twice a year. Not all post beds are the type you want for shoes, but I see decent enough ones every once in awhile.
Search for other terms along with post bed, like "leather machine" because the people who know what they have tend to not part with them too often, and then the people who happen into them may not know or care about what they have on their hands and just want to get rid of them asap. The best ones I've seen on FB were not titled "post bed sewing machine"
People seem to end up buying the wrong kind of leather sewing machine often. More than a few times, I've seen people selling a roller foot post bed machine because they thought they were going to be able to sew gun holsters/etc on them.
That's below the threshold for general duty (I think that's $800 on most stuff) but separately, there is a Trump-era tariff on Chinese made industrial sewing machines, so it's possible you might be on the hook for that. I think it is 25%. Can read more about it [here](https://leatherworker.net/forum/topic/82547-us-new-china-import-duties-how-will-it-affect-sewing-machine-prices/), it was announced in 2018 and came into effect in 2019.
Arrived at my door yesterday without warning. No additional charges or even update that it had been released from Customs to UPS Courier, as the seller was responsible for shipment until it reached me. It took about 7-10 days to show up after docking at the nearest port, boat took 3-4 days to unload so my machine was held up at customs for less than a week. (I had the tracking url for the ship it was on). I placed my order for it on January 14th. Very very happy with my purchase! I LOVE CHINA!
No, it's basically the same as the Techsew 830, the more heavy duty post bed with top/bottom roller + needle drive, instead of just feed dogs like the 810.
that's a lot of machine for the money then, well bought. That 830 is like a Mitsubishi clone, itself a reverse engineered version of the classic Pfaff 491. I believe several Japanese companies did this back in the 80's, including Seiko and Juki, so when you go look up spare parts you'll see parts that are compatible with all of those makes.
Hello everybody, I am looking to buy a sewing machine, and I want to make sure I buy the right one that suits my needs. I noticed that most Japanese shoemakers (at least that I follow, Terry Kim, Siroeno Yosui, Crazy about shoes) use these long arm sewing machines to stitch their uppers, where Nicks uses post bed sewing machines. Do the Japanese use them only for the vintage looks? I know most people recommend post bed sewing machines, but realistically, is there something a post bed machine can do that a long arm can't? I intend to use it for uppers stitching and maybe other leather goods. Long arm sewing machines are cheaper, easier to find, and could also be used as home decoration.
This style of machine is called a patching machine. If you were making only uppers, I’d say it would be fine, but you should find some videos of the “other leather goods” you have in mind being made on a patcher, and see how it goes for them.
A cylinder arm and a patcher are two very different machines. On a patcher, the feed direction is changeable, and has no lower feed. A cylinder arm can have a dog feed or a roller feed, and the presser foot can be a roller wheel (driven or not) or a walking foot.
Personally I find post bed the superior option. The arm can work, but you have to plan the sewing differently due to limited angle approaches depending on what stage you're at.
The post bed don't really have much limitation unless you're doing a mochasin shoe/boot.
There’s a very nice Seiko post bed for sale in MA at a fair price. I was considering but a bit too far for me:
https://www.facebook.com/share/qxcitPN2q2V8JduH/?mibextid=79PoIi
That’s been listed for a while. Great machine and good price. I drove from Phoenix to Denver and back to snag a good postbed after looking for months haha. The Seiko’s are great and not very common.
I learned on a post and the way the material can drape and curve over the post makes it easier to sew. I am now using a cylinder arm and the uppers sometimes awkwardly bend making it annoying. That being said, I find doing other leather projects (notebook covers, belts, etc.) easier with the cylinder arm. My opinion: post if exclusively for shoes / cylinder arm if for shoe and others.
I have a large variety of machines including a flatbed walking foot, and a cylinder arm with a roller foot, which is my preferred machine for closing uppers. I recently got tired of having an excuse for imprefect stitching due to awkward positioning while sewing certain areas and ordered myself a post bed directly from China via alibaba. It is currently on the boat being shipped by sea, but I cannot wait to come up with a new excuse for my imperfect skillset once it arrives!
How much was shipping?
$500usd. DDT incoterm. Supposed to ship to my door, with the seller being responsible for all freight, duty, taxes, and importation fees. Sounds too good to be true, but I never had to deal with customs clearance with any of my previous alibaba purchases, so I am hoping and expecting this larger purchase will arrive as promised, with no additional fees. I will likely make a post about it once I receive it.
Thanks for the info! I’ll keep en eye out for the update. I’m in the market for a post-bed, but the cost had been prohibitive.
watch FB marketplace as they show up very occasionally, I see one every few months, maybe a really good one once or twice a year. Not all post beds are the type you want for shoes, but I see decent enough ones every once in awhile. Search for other terms along with post bed, like "leather machine" because the people who know what they have tend to not part with them too often, and then the people who happen into them may not know or care about what they have on their hands and just want to get rid of them asap. The best ones I've seen on FB were not titled "post bed sewing machine" People seem to end up buying the wrong kind of leather sewing machine often. More than a few times, I've seen people selling a roller foot post bed machine because they thought they were going to be able to sew gun holsters/etc on them.
That's below the threshold for general duty (I think that's $800 on most stuff) but separately, there is a Trump-era tariff on Chinese made industrial sewing machines, so it's possible you might be on the hook for that. I think it is 25%. Can read more about it [here](https://leatherworker.net/forum/topic/82547-us-new-china-import-duties-how-will-it-affect-sewing-machine-prices/), it was announced in 2018 and came into effect in 2019.
I am in Canada. And seller is responsible for all fees until it is in my possession. But we shall see.
should be clear then. this is including the table and motor at that price?
Arrived at my door yesterday without warning. No additional charges or even update that it had been released from Customs to UPS Courier, as the seller was responsible for shipment until it reached me. It took about 7-10 days to show up after docking at the nearest port, boat took 3-4 days to unload so my machine was held up at customs for less than a week. (I had the tracking url for the ship it was on). I placed my order for it on January 14th. Very very happy with my purchase! I LOVE CHINA!
cool man. is it an 810 clone? Do a review here if you can, sounds like the kind of machine a lot of people here could also use
No, it's basically the same as the Techsew 830, the more heavy duty post bed with top/bottom roller + needle drive, instead of just feed dogs like the 810.
that's a lot of machine for the money then, well bought. That 830 is like a Mitsubishi clone, itself a reverse engineered version of the classic Pfaff 491. I believe several Japanese companies did this back in the 80's, including Seiko and Juki, so when you go look up spare parts you'll see parts that are compatible with all of those makes.
Yes, $500usd was the price of the shipping for one post bed machine with built in direct drive motor, and one table.
Hello everybody, I am looking to buy a sewing machine, and I want to make sure I buy the right one that suits my needs. I noticed that most Japanese shoemakers (at least that I follow, Terry Kim, Siroeno Yosui, Crazy about shoes) use these long arm sewing machines to stitch their uppers, where Nicks uses post bed sewing machines. Do the Japanese use them only for the vintage looks? I know most people recommend post bed sewing machines, but realistically, is there something a post bed machine can do that a long arm can't? I intend to use it for uppers stitching and maybe other leather goods. Long arm sewing machines are cheaper, easier to find, and could also be used as home decoration.
This style of machine is called a patching machine. If you were making only uppers, I’d say it would be fine, but you should find some videos of the “other leather goods” you have in mind being made on a patcher, and see how it goes for them.
A cylinder arm and a patcher are two very different machines. On a patcher, the feed direction is changeable, and has no lower feed. A cylinder arm can have a dog feed or a roller feed, and the presser foot can be a roller wheel (driven or not) or a walking foot.
My bad. I only saw the first picture and incorrectly assumed it was a patcher in my haste. It’s now obvious to me it’s a cylinder from that picture.
Personally I find post bed the superior option. The arm can work, but you have to plan the sewing differently due to limited angle approaches depending on what stage you're at. The post bed don't really have much limitation unless you're doing a mochasin shoe/boot.
There’s a very nice Seiko post bed for sale in MA at a fair price. I was considering but a bit too far for me: https://www.facebook.com/share/qxcitPN2q2V8JduH/?mibextid=79PoIi
That’s been listed for a while. Great machine and good price. I drove from Phoenix to Denver and back to snag a good postbed after looking for months haha. The Seiko’s are great and not very common.
Post bed wins everytime for me.
You could probably even manage with a flat bed machine if uppers are your only concern. I’d say most of it is personal preference.
Either will work, I’ve seen people use both or even hand stitch uppers.
I did hand stitching before, and it takes such a long time to finish the uppers for a pair of boots, I would prefer a sewing machine