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[Skronkman]

Hello people, I’m new to upholstery and teaching myself at the moment. I have an interest in leather and canvass work. Nice to meet you all, I hope I may ask some advice here and learn a lot.

Please can someone help me with my first question about my newly purchased sewing machine (used from a deceased upholsterer). It is a consew model 256. I am unable to find much information on the internet at all about this model. I have downloaded the manual which says it’s also for the model 244 (also limited info on this model). Please can someone help me figure out what this machine is designed for and if it is a replica or clone of a more common make/model so I can find parts and feet for it?

Many thanks.

[John]

Hi @Skronkman Welcome to the forum!

That is a really good industrial walking foot machine. It has a lot of uses and is perfect for automotive and marine upholstery. The feet for that machine should be very common. The old Juki, singer, consew machines all used the same feet. I believe even the new consew machines use the same feet.

[Skronkman]

Thanks for your reply. I have continued my research and discovered it is very similar, if not the same machine as the Seiko LSW-8BL and the Consew 255RB. I believe the newer models of the same machine are still in production and well regarded but are almost unchanged from the original and most parts are interchangeable.

I have ordered a whole bunch of new feet from eBay to experiment with and you are correct that the feet are ubiquitous.

I’m very happy with my purchase and glad that I seem to have landed on my feet with a good and appropriate machine for my intentions, sometimes we just get lucky!

I have now added a $200 servo motor that has made using it less intimidating and am trying to figure out a way to mount the needle position sensor which looks like it might be cool but probably not totally necessary.

I have been able to sew T138 thread top and bottom and get the tension right. I made a quick attempt at a leather knife role that came out much better than I expected for a first attempt. The machine seems to go through 4 layers of leather without an issue. I also made an outdoor umbrella cover from Sunbrella which while practical in its function wasn’t very pretty as my zipper sewing skills need much improvement.

Thanks again for your reply. I will try and add a photo of my first attempt knife role if I can figure it out.