Hmmm... the Bernina 840 flatbed that I bought last year for a fiver and resurrected has had my bodged-on feeble domestic motor removed now because I wickedly attempted to make it stitch through umpteen layers of bag components. Which unsurprisingly it couldn't quite manage.
So I remembered the DC motors made by a chap in Cornwall that I had seen for sale in his ebay shop some time ago. Although the size of a domestic sewing machine motor, being DC they provide high torque on starting. Not enough to sew thick veg tanned leather but powerful enough to cope with multiple bag component layers and shoe uppers. I first contacted him a month ago and he has been back in touch and there have been emails exchanged with photos etc but things are happening really slooooowly and I still don't have one of his motors, there's none in his ebay shop, I don't know when I can expect to get one, and tbh I'm getting impatient now and my mind has wandered off on a tangent that goes something like this...
... OK I hadn't really got space for an industrial table... but then again I have just had a jolly good clear out of the spare room and put up oodles of shelves thus freeing up floor space... and if I slide the tumble drier into the corner and put those toolboxes into the cupboard.... then I could fit an industrial table in there...
So I am wondering the following:
1. where would I start looking for an industrial table - just the table and motor - no machine?
2. what would I expect to pay? (second hand; cheap if possible)
3. the size of the cut out on the top - are they tailored to each machine or is there some kind of standard size?
The annoying thing is that I used to own a Brother industrial machine which was in excellent repair, not a scratch, and a lovely machine. Then when my life took yet another unexpected and 'interesting' turn and I had to sell the house I (part) owned several years back, I had to downsize considerably and was forced to let it go. I had to sell in a hurry and the local sewing machine shop gave me £50 for it (ouch) and the man made out like he was doing me some kind of favour because he said he would have to buy a new clutch motor before he would be able to sell it again. I don't know what truth there was in that but to this day every time I pass his shop I still grit my teeth
(And relaaaax...
)
So... the back of my mind is churning away and wondering if getting an industrial base is a practical idea. I'd put up with a clutch motor but the humming can be irritating but there'd always be the option of one day upgrading to a posh and (mostly) silent servo motor instead. I don't want to let DC motor man down but then again I've waited a month now and nothing has materialised. So... I'm just wondering about the possibility of what I had previously considered to be not possible!