The Upholstery Forum

Anyone have or have used a Consew 206RB-5?
I'm in the market for a backup machine as well as probably just having one machine set up for welt foot and standard on the other so i don't have to switch feet all the time. Had a line on an old long arm but the guy decided not to sell. So I've been looking around and for the price and where its located seems like a reasonable deal on what appears to be a good machine numbers wise. It is 2 years old and set up for leather work. I have a Juki that i use everyday and will be just fine but i don't want to spend that kind of money on a secondary machine.

Any tips or feedback is appreciated. I am supposed to go look at it this Saturday, so I'd like to know if im wasting my time or not.

Thanks!

What I can tell you is that in one shop I worked in they had this was the only machine that would sew through thick seat belt materials and the place was swamped with Jukis.

Solid machine and well documented on the web. If set up for leather, chances are it will have a speed reducer...bonus! We got a new one last year and although i was skeptical, it seemed to be build just as good as the Japanese ones. Time will tell if they last 40 yrs. like the old ones did.

The 206RB-5 was my first industrial machine (and I now have two other machines) and it actually remains my favorite. Mine has a servo motor but no speed reducer, and I simply changed the motor pulley to a smaller 45mm pulley. That made it slow enough that I have all the control I need. And there are two outstanding (each over an hour long) videos on YouTube about complete maintenance and adjustment. I'm sure you'll be very pleased with the machine.

I have had one for over 5 years. I have a servo and changed the pulley size to a smaller on on the servo and a larger one on the machine. Very slow speed. Machine works awesome.

Thanks everyone! I've been on a few forums as well as here and everyone is saying the same things. Makes me feel a lot better about buying it. I have a Juki 1508n as my main machine now. It does a good job for the most part. I just need a backup/secondary machine. If it works as well as everyone says it may become my primary machine!

Guy said he has the reducer pulley for torque to do leather work, which is part of the reason i feel like its a good value.

Thanks again for your input!

Matt Hamblin wrote: Guy said he has the reducer pulley for torque to do leather work, which is part of the reason i feel like its a good value.

Matt Hamblin wrote:Thanks everyone! I've been on a few forums as well as here and everyone is saying the same things. Makes me feel a lot better about buying it. I have a Juki 1508n as my main machine now. It does a good job for the most part. I just need a backup/secondary machine. If it works as well as everyone says it may become my primary machine!

Guy said he has the reducer pulley for torque to do leather work, which is part of the reason i feel like its a good value.

Thanks again for your input!

Matt Hamblin wrote:Thanks everyone! I've been on a few forums as well as here and everyone is saying the same things. Makes me feel a lot better about buying it. I have a Juki 1508n as my main machine now. It does a good job for the most part. I just need a backup/secondary machine. If it works as well as everyone says it may become my primary machine!

Guy said he has the reducer pulley for torque to do leather work, which is part of the reason i feel like its a good value.

Thanks again for your input!

Just wanted to point out that really is should be other factors of the machine/price in order to determine if it's a good value or not... The reducer pulley is not a big deal. I paid $12 (Canadian) for my pulley. The overall condition of the machine should be the issue. But if the photo you posted was of the actual machine, judging from that it looks good.

I have never personally used one but I know that many people are very happy with theirs.

Well i picked up the machine over the weekend. Got a bunch of extra needles, bobbins, thread, about 20 feet, a brand new spare servo motor and a few odds and ends. Ended up being a pretty good deal overall.

I haven't used it a lot yet. I had to rebuild the table because nothing was tight or set up right. I'm going to go through and reset a lot of the adjustments as i get the time to do so. Videos online are actually pretty good. So far the best thing it's done for me is welt cording. For whatever reason my Juki always has issues once a welt foot is installed. (Thats a whole nother issue there). I used the same basic feet on this and stitched very nicely and had no issues whatsoever. So at this point i am pleased. I will update later on if I see anything but i believe it was a good investment.

Thanks all!

@Matt Hamblin , Keep me posted on tension and top stitching, stitch length etc...

BTW, this series of videos is unbelievable. I used them to initially set up the machine. Takes a little while to go through but is very well done and will get your machine in perfect running order.

BigRig wrote:@Matt Hamblin , Keep me posted on tension and top stitching, stitch length etc...

Is there anything in particular you're curious about regarding the 206RB? I have one and it remains my favorite machine. It handles everything I throw at it and works like a charm. I did have to follow the two fabulous maintenance videos (on YouTube) though and made sure everything was in spec. Stitch length (forward and backward) seems right on. It's actually even more accurate than my brand new Techsew 2750 Pro in terms of stitch length.

If I could only have one machine, it would be the Consew.

Cheers!

Consew 206RB4 is that a lesser perforning machine than the RB5?

Sorry @BigRig , I don't know what the differences are between the 206RB-5 and 206RB-4. But the RB-5 has been around for many years now. If you're asking because you have a line on a used RB-4, I wouldn't hesitate as long as the machine is in good condition. They're really good workhorses. It's possible that the earlier models didn't have servo motors (this is a must, in my opinion) and if the previous owner didn't upgrade, it's an under $200 (Canadian) upgrade that you can do yourself.

@Mtl_Biker , I seen one and see it has a massive pulley on it so somebody tried to reduce the speed on a clutch motor. I often look at national2000 in montreal for new equipment

Shouldn't notice any differences between RB4 ans aRB5 as far a a user. Maybe a different stitch length knob or something silly but no less performing. Any generation 206RB is a solid choice.

@BigRig Were you just looking on their website or did you visit them in person? I've never been there but I have looked on their site. They're only about 3 km from my office. Might be worthwhile for me to visit them... I'm kinda thinking I should add a post bed machine to my kit.

@Mtl_Biker , you should go, with all the previous textile manufacturing they have huge inventory always coming in. I talked to them before waitng on an old Singer 211 if they ever surface again.

I have the 206RB-4 . . .

It is an awesome machine. I think it will sew a sheet of plywood !!!

I did the cockpit upholstery for my boat (see my thread in the marine section - '33 Foot Boat' )

@TedP , that is what I like to hear!