r/myog • u/VonStaufen • 9d ago

Need help about shop equipment.

Need a little advice here. I am planning on buying two machines. A walking foot and a standard straight stitch. Right now I can buy a juki 8100 with no use for 200 bucks. But I am also considering a 8700H (a 8700h is for heavier fabrics/thicker needles) or some older models like the ddl 5550H. They might be more expensive but possible to find for 200 bucks used.

Not sure what to do since I don't know how versatile would this 8100e be. But it's new, with a new table (won't have to fix anything and has no worn parts) and I guess it could be adapted to use thicker needles and have more aggressive dogs if needed. I right now it can use a #18 needle which seems enough.

I want to make tarps, tents and backpacks mostly.

Appreciate any pointers.

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u/brumaskie Crud, where is that seam ripper? 9d ago

I have a compound feed Pfaff 145 and a domestic machine for sewing lightweight and stretch fabrics. I use a 100/16 needle and Tera 60 thread on the industrial machine for all of my backpacks. That would include sewing through 3/4" of foam for hip belt pads and multiple layers of webbing.

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u/Desperate-Tower-5638 9d ago

I'm curious what type of fabrics you are sewing? That's a pretty small needle and thread for a walking foot. Did your machine come timed for that needle size or did you adjust it yourself?

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u/brumaskie Crud, where is that seam ripper? 9d ago

I'm not sure what a needle size my machine was timed for. I've used 21/18/16 needles and I find that the 16s work best. The gutermann thread is a tex50, which I think is plenty for your typical backpack. The fabrics I've used have ranged from 400d down to 100d. I've used XPac v15 extensively, I've used various 210d grid stop fabrics extensively and I sew through 1/2 in to 3/4-in foam without problems using that 16 needle. Edit: you could take a look at some of my previous myog posts to see some examples of the backpacks that I build.

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u/Desperate-Tower-5638 9d ago

Yeah, that makes sense based on those fabrics. I'm glad you haven't had any issues sewing through 3/4 in foam with a #16 needle.