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[Jim B]

Hi all,

I have recently started some stitching with a simple home machine with the intent of learning the art of trimming and being able to reupholster the interior in project vehicles I come across. I am still very new to all of this but have been reading and practicing as much as possible.

After a few weeks of practicing with scrap vinyl and the aforementioned Singer "residential" machine I have found the machines limits and am on the hunt for a used industrial machine to continue working with.

My mother is a very experienced seamstress and has many contacts in the sewing world locally, one of those contacts is a woman who has a Singer 331k with which she used to stitch custom boat sails with. I did my best to research the 331k prior to posting but was not able to come up with an viable reviews to determine if this machine will suit my needs. I have not seen the machine yet and so do not know much more about it.

Anyone have any thoughts about the 331k and its abilities?

Thanks in advance.

Jim

[John]

Hi Jim! Unfortunately the Singer 331k is not a walking foot machine. If your planning on doing automotive or marine upholstery you should shop for Industrial walking foot machines.

[Jim B]

Thanks for the info, that is what I thought. I was unable to find any good info on the 331 on the web. The search continues! Thanks again.

[Tourmax]

I'm late to the party, but the Singer 331k may (or may not) be a "walking foot".

You see, there were many variants of the 331K. The 331K105 (which I have) is a walking foot. Well, it's not exactly the walking foot most think of when saying walking foot. I believe the 331K5 also came in a walking foot version. There is also the 31 series (31-19 and 31-47 are walking foot machines too), which are basically earlier 331k's. They just predated the 331k, which anecdotal evidence suggests was just a 31 series in a new body (ie: marketing purposes so it looks "new").

the easiest (and most obvious) way to tell if it's a walking foot or not is the head will look like this:



These types are often called kicking foot, trailing foot, vibrating presser, etc. They are still drop feed machines, but instead of a fixed presser foot, the outer foot moves back with the feed dogs. The center foot comes down to hold the material for the needle (which goes through the inner foot) and when the center foot has the material, the dogs drop and the outer foot "springs" back to the forward position, Ready for the dogs to rise and clamp the material again. Then it starts all over again.

The other types are top/bottom feeds (feed dogs and the upper presser are mechanically driven) and then what most refer to as compound feed, where the outer foot is driven and the inner foot and needle are also driven. The compound feed is the most versatile when working with leather products, but it's also the most expensive.

Also keep in mind just because something is "industrial" or "commercial", that doesn't mean it's suitable for heavier materials. People seem to equate those words with toughness and they are right to a certain extent. But what "industrial" usually means is the machine is purpose built for a task. For example: an industrial machine may be specialized to sewing zippers into leather coats, but it may not do much else efficiently.

Basically, what I'm saying is make sure what you are getting is what you THINK you are getting....:)

[John]

@Tourmax You seem to be a wealth of knowledge on this stuff. Thank you for sharing!