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I've been looking at this, which comes in at £1020, although carriage adds another £80
https://www.sewingmachinery.com/highlead/highlead-GC0618.html
It will be used for most of the things you describe
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My 60's Bernina has died and is not worth repairing according to the local repair place. The pedal has given out and to be honest it used to struggle with Cordura seams once they got somewhat thick, despite it being old/heavy/supposedly a good Singer 201k alike
How knackered is it?! Pedal replacement is easy, generic domestic pedal is £15, and just transfer the cables, like-for-like. The contacts do wear over time, making the control inconsistent, and make the power appear to diminish because it's not connecting at max.
Which model Bernina is it? I've got an old one (70's/80's) which seems to suffer from relatively low pressure on the presser foot, which means it doesn't handle thicker fabrics/seams too well. Been meaning to look and see if I can compress the spring more or replace/upgrade it, to get it back to a good, reliable level.
If possible I'd recommend keeping it. I find a quality domestic compliments an industrial, with the option to do zig-zag, bar-tacks etc if needed ....or if one packs up!
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moocher
Chopsicle
@fax_yourself
I'm in the market for a sewing machine for bag making.
My 60's Bernina has died and is not worth repairing according to the local repair place. The pedal has given out and to be honest it used to struggle with Cordura seams once they got somewhat thick, despite it being old/heavy/supposedly a good Singer 201k alike
I thought I wanted a Juki dnu-1541, I watched a few videos of middle aged men enthusing about how the walking foot will climb over anything as they merrily rip through big stacks of leather. Tijmen patiently pointed out to me that this is not the be all and end all and that a needle feed machine might be more appropriate if I am trying to have a "one machine to do it all" - that the walking foot is not that preferable for some lighter/liner materials.
Do people have suggestions for a machine around the 1k mark, new or used, available in the UK that is suitable for bike bag type purposes? 1000D Cordura being the thickest thing it is likely to sew. Industrial, straight stitch, something with decent parts availability in the UK.