Sewing Machines

[Jovietal]

Can anyone recommend a good sewing machine that can survive on a boat?
I have visited EBay and all the newer machines look similar
to the Sailright ultrafeed LS1 with the walking foot, but at a third of the cost. I have not seen the sailright on ebay.

any suggestions?
Lynda SV Jovietal
El Salvador

[cockeyedbob]

Bob's got a Sailrite ... works as advertised BUT WAY OVERPRICED. Keep it in the house so can't say if boat friendly or not ... think motor could have more oomph at low speeds ... otherwise, got to rate as adequate.

[svsirius]

We also have a Sailrite LSZ1 deluxe which has the oversized wheel etc.. and disagree with the overpriced comment -you gets what you pay for -expensive yes but does what it is supposed to do and holds up. We keep ours on the boat and so far has done everything asked.

FWIW a friend who sews a lot as a hobby also bought one for her canvas work she has two or three other machines and understands that market well.

[Bill Mc]

We have a LSZ1 Sailrite sewing machine with the monster wheel and binding attachments. The machine works wonderfully and if you think its overpriced and buy something else I doubt you will recieve the same support. The Sailrite company is more like a family you enter after you purchase one of their machines, they will spend countless hours assisting you over the phone, advising you and sharing their wealth of knowledge for your projects.

Fair winds,

Bill

[mikeedmo]

We bought a tuffsew from out of CA... cheaper than sailrite and it's a bulldozer! We've only used it for repairs on our dodger/bimini, replacing zippers, patches, etc. But we just laid out a pattern for all new canvas. I think we bought the package on e:bay and it was cheaper than buying directly from the tuffsew website... but the machine is very heavy... Bill Mc is correct about sailrite customer service, we go to the Ft. Lauderdale store and even though we don't have their machine they're incredibly helpful...of course we buy lots of supplies from them :-)

[Idiens]

A SailRite like machine is marketed in the US under other names. They all come from the same Chinese factory, but get packaged a little differently. I get the impression that Sailrite charge more but give better service.