Hello Sander,
I have double needle sewing machine... what experience do you have in mind? Do you have some concretely questions?

Jan

Hey Jan,
Just overall, should I rather go with a walking foot or regular where the needle and feed dogs feed the material through the machine? It would seem to me that a regular type is more stable when it comes to french seams.

Hi Sander, I've had my shop for around 40 years and like you always did my French seams on a single needle machine. About two years ago I came across a "generic" Juki double needle machine on Ebay for around $1500 and thought " why not"? So I bit the bullet and because I do a lot of aircraft upholstery and most all use leather, I really use this machine a lot. I'll never look back. It makes my job quicker and more precise. If there is a draw back (other than the original price) it would be that you generally have to buy two spools of each color of thread that you use. Also, if you need color coded bobbins, you have to load two of those as well. A little more time but still worth it IMHO.

Out of interest which Juki model did you get Jack?

It's not a Juki. It's a Kingmax GC1560. A Juki look alike that uses all Juki parts. I believe it's a Chinese knockoff. Much cheaper though. So far no problems with it.

My thought on the double stitch machine i love it i purchased one in Oakland Calif for $600.00
took it to my shop made a new table for it set it up and time to play ....talk about a honey of a machine perfect stitch every time.so if you can find one buy it.mine is a consew 332 has no reverse but i still lovr it.

Just my opinion here but for french stitching a double needle post bed machine is the way to go. If you've never used one its hard to explain. The post bed allows you to sew tight curves with ease.

Ever wonder how they sew french seams on all of the head rests, where there is no room to flatten it out to sew with a flat bed machine. This task is made easy with a post bed.

My first experience with one was in a factory, sewing covers for freight trucks. It's a bit hard to get used to at first, but with some practice its second nature. The lady in my sewing cell that ran the post bed could french stitch a high back bucket backrest in about 20 seconds. It was impressive, machine wide open, never stopping to re-adjust. Obviously the quality was a bit wonky, but its a factory where you get paid by quantity.

short vid wish I had a vid of the factory where I worked, but this will give you the idea anyway

Hello Sander, Definetely, I would also go for a double needle, post bed, industrial sewing machine. I still have not bought one like that, but I have to do it at any moment. As an upholsterer IMHO I consider to do the job easier and get a better and perfect professional job is important to do the double stitches/french seams by using one of these machines.
I was checking this attached video where the young master trimmer perfectly performs the double stitches on a post bed sewing machine (min 5:06 to min 5:40):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C3tcrZNKRCc&t=2s

Excellent video!

Definitely a post bed machine I have 2 consew 339 RB-4 machines and a tight corner is a little tricky I didn’t know when I was buying but like you I wanted a perfect seam I use mine a lot don’t regret buying them for a minute

I agree. I have a post bed Consew 389RB-1. The extra large U style bobbins never seem to run out! Installed a servo which makes it that much better.

Thanks to you all for your advice, probably going with this machine:


Its a walking foot post bed, with a needle gauge of 8mm, priced around 1500$, seems reasonable?

Do it you will not regret it. They don't get much better than Adler that seems like a good deal!

Quick question though. What is the 8mm needle gauge measurement? I should know this but my brain seems not to be working today.

Hey Andy,
I meant the distance between two needles, 8mm is 5/16 of an inch.

That's what I thought I just wasn't sure. That seems pretty narrow to me. Everyone has their preference on what looks good. I tend to sew french seams 3/8 to 7/16. Have you measured the stitch width on the french seams you sew now? I'd hate for you to buy a machine then find out its not really what you wanted. I'm sure you have thought of that already, if that is the case please excuse my rambling

I have a Seiko split needle bar post bed machine. Well worth the expense.



I also have Consew 339RB in 1/4 and 3/8 gauge. Again, very happy to have them in the shop.

Well, bought the machine, test patches so far but man, its exactly what I wanted, I just didn't know it then :)



Thank you guys for the help!

Sander

Hey looks good!

I want one!! :-)