The Sewing Place

Heavy Duty Overlocker

Suffolkone1

Heavy Duty Overlocker
« on: March 06, 2022, 17:29:13 PM »
I am looking at buying an overlocker suitable for reasonably heavy/difficult fabric, i.e. denim, canvas and fleece.  The only one I have come across is the new Singer HD0405S.  Does anyone have any experience of this machine please.  All others seem to be of the industrial type which require a special table.

Ouryve

Re: Heavy Duty Overlocker
« Reply #1 on: March 06, 2022, 17:53:35 PM »
Any decent overlocker should be able to deal with those fabrics. The singer "heavy duty" claim is a bit misleading as it just refers to not being a flimsy, rattly, plasticky affair.

My Bernina L450 has a solid metal frame and powerful motor and hasn't flinched at anything I've fed her, yet.
Janome M50QDC - "Jane" - Small, cute and hard working. Pfaff Quilt Ambition 630 - "Pfanny" - Pfickle. Bernina L450 - "Bernie" - Very hungry. Bernina 830 Record - "Becky"

Ohsewsimple

Re: Heavy Duty Overlocker
« Reply #2 on: March 06, 2022, 18:03:40 PM »
Personally I’d steer clear of the Singer.   Berninas should be ok.  And Babylock but they’re quite pricey. 

Suffolkone1

Re: Heavy Duty Overlocker
« Reply #3 on: March 07, 2022, 08:12:13 AM »
I'm interested in the comments about the Singer as I have definitely been leaning towards this machine.  I took the description Heavy Duty to refer to the machine capabilities and not its casing material, for example it does have a 60% larger knife. 

Bodgeitandscarper

Re: Heavy Duty Overlocker
« Reply #4 on: March 07, 2022, 08:34:55 AM »
I've not used one, but it looks interesting.  I suspect/hope it would be a better machine than the cheap/rubbishy Singer sewing machines that give Singer a bad name these days.  There are some reviews on you-tube that may be worth watching.

Ploshkin

Re: Heavy Duty Overlocker
« Reply #5 on: March 07, 2022, 08:55:01 AM »
My bottom of the range Elna does denim, fleece and canvas ( not tent type!) without any difficulty.  It will cope with any fabric that my sewing machine can.
Life's too short for ironing.

b15erk

Re: Heavy Duty Overlocker
« Reply #6 on: March 07, 2022, 09:12:33 AM »
I have the Pfaff 4850 Coverstyle, which is also a Coverstitch.  This is a machine which has been a workhorse, and does everything I want.  I did buy a very cheap Singer O/L from Lidl, so that I could leave the C/S set up.  I find that the Singer is fine... :embarrassed:  Yes, it's noisy, and a bit fiddlier to thread than the Pfaff, but it has sewn everything from silk to denim, to upholstery fabric.

My first O/L was a Riccar, and that was used on every kind of fabric too.  That lasted me for well over twenty years.

Jessie
Jessie, who is very happy to be here!!  :),  but who has far too many sewing machines to be healthy, and a fabric stash which is becoming embarrassing.

Bumblebuncher

Re: Heavy Duty Overlocker
« Reply #7 on: March 07, 2022, 10:47:21 AM »
My SIL has the Singer heavy duty sewing machine and it is really just a normal machine with that as it's name.  Luckily she just wanted it for normal sewing and is happy with it but it certainly is not capable of more than any machine could do.
As it neared the top of the grade, it went more slowly. However, it still kept saying, "I—think—I—can, I—think—I—can." It reached the top by drawing on bravery and then went on down the grade, congratulating itself by saying, "I thought I could,  I thought I could."

Ohsewsimple

Re: Heavy Duty Overlocker
« Reply #8 on: March 07, 2022, 11:15:01 AM »
I don’t think much to the Singer so called heavy duty sewing machine.  I was asked to trial it by my boss to see how heavy duty it was.  Decided not to use the number of fabric layers it claimed to sew as it was struggling. Thought I’d either break the needle or put the timing out.  And it’s got to  be one of the ugliest machines I’ve seen.

Ouryve

Re: Heavy Duty Overlocker
« Reply #9 on: March 07, 2022, 13:07:02 PM »
I don’t think much to the Singer so called heavy duty sewing machine.  I was asked to trial it by my boss to see how heavy duty it was.  Decided not to use the number of fabric layers it claimed to sew as it was struggling. Thought I’d either break the needle or put the timing out.  And it’s got to  be one of the ugliest machines I’ve seen.

Meantime, my janome dealt with 7 layers of cord, plus interfacing, without breaking a sweat.
Janome M50QDC - "Jane" - Small, cute and hard working. Pfaff Quilt Ambition 630 - "Pfanny" - Pfickle. Bernina L450 - "Bernie" - Very hungry. Bernina 830 Record - "Becky"

Surest1tch

Re: Heavy Duty Overlocker
« Reply #10 on: March 12, 2022, 15:22:59 PM »
I've got 2 Janomes, both are quite capable of tackling thick and multiple layers of fabric, believe me mine have had some serious hammer over the years and stood up to it well. Having used industrial overlockers a lot in the past I'd say you really don't need one, all you need to do is make sure you use appropriate needle sizes and keep the blades sharp and you shouldn't have a problem with a domestic machine.