How Can an Industrial Portable Sewing Machine Benefit You ?

Tuffsew here, your heavy duty sewing machine manufacturer. Is portability something that is important to you with your next sewing machine purchase? 

Do you need a machine that is more powerful (for sewing thicker/coarser materials) than a regular household sewing machine? If yes, our TuffSew Straight Stitch Industrial Portable Sewing Machine may be right for you!

Why is this sewing machine a great choice for your next heavy duty sewing project? Well, here is the TOP 5 Reasons:

5) Portability!

Our TuffSew Straight Stitch machine comes equipped with a motor that is built onto the back of the machine. Regular industrial sewing machines (ones that cannot be moved very easily) need to be used in a sewing machine table with an under mount motor. Our TuffSew industrial portable sewing machine has an advantage here if you need to take the machine on your boat, to your workshop, on the road, etc. Just make sure you can lift approximately 35 pounds 🙂

4) Built-In Walking Foot Mechanism! 

Our TuffSew Straight Stitch is designed with a built-in walking foot mechanism. This is very different that most walking foot attachments that only snap-on regular household sewing machines. This built-in walking foot mechanism will evenly feed your material as it grabs (with its traction like grip) the top of your material. This built in walking foot works in conjunction with the feed dogs which pull the bottom piece of the material through the sewing process.

3) Cleated Positraction Belts!

The TuffSew Straight Stitch has an upgraded belt system. Our belts are cleated, which eliminate slippage. The pulley that our belt sits in is geared, which eliminates slippage even further. It is very important to use this type of belt system when sewing heavy duty fabrics like leather, canvas, and vinyl. Other sewing machines use belts and pulley systems without gears or cleats. This creates slippage and doesn’t allow you to sew heavy duty fabrics. Here is a video for you to learn more about this upgraded belt system:

 

2) Thicker Needle Capability Designed for Heavy Fabric!

You can put up to size 23 needle into this industrial portable sewing machine. Size 23 needle looks like a thick nail – it’s super heavy duty. Regular household sewing machines only allow you to use up to needle size 19. You cannot properly penetrate heavy fabric with a size 19 standard needle. Scroll to minute 2:15 on the below video to learn more about why using thicker needles is important when sewing heavy duty fabrics.

1) Larger Thread Capability!

If you are using an improved walking foot, improved belt system, and thicker needles….doesn’t it make sense that you should be able to use heavier duty thread? The TuffSew Straight Stitch can use up to size 69 nylon bonded thread. This thread is much thicker and heavier for all your HD sewing needs.

If you have any questions about the TuffSew industrial portable sewing machine, please email us at [email protected]. We also consult on applications, so feel free to let us know about your upcoming project.
-The TuffSew Team-

How to Maintain Your Portable Walking Foot Straight Stitch Sewing Machine by TuffSew

So you just purchased a walking foot sewing machine, maybe even our TuffSew Straight Stitch. Congratulations!!  If you did in fact order our TuffSew Straight Stitch, you will notice that your machine will be all stitched in, ready to go upon arrival. 

The tension is set, the needle is placed, and a sample material has been sewn already. So you crank out all your initial sewing projects- but now might be wondering “how do I maintain this machine now?”

The first item we’d like to discuss is oiling the machine. This TuffSew Straight Stitch machine is a portable walking foot sewing machine. It does not sit in a bed of oil like full sized industrial sewing machines do. 

Therefore the Straight Stitch needs to be manually oiled every month. Just like in the YouTube video below, simply tilt the machine on its back (careful it’s heavy) and oil all the moving joints. You can use the oiling tube that came with the machine. As you turn the hand wheel you can see all of these moving joints-simple as that.

Tension is another issue we combat. You’ll see the circular tension knob on the machine with numbers on it. Before we shipped your new TuffSew machine out to you-we calibrated the machine and set the tension to 5. 

Always make sure you have the tension set to 5. If you are deciding to sew light-weight materials on our Straight Stitch machine-feel free to lower the tension a little bit. However, when you are done sewing the light weight materials make sure and reset the tension knob to 5.

We also get a lot of questions on needle insertion. So you want to change the needle or take it out-no problem. Simply loosen the black set screw on the side needle mechanism 1/2 turn. Then you can drop the needle down and take it out. Make sure when you replace the needle that you notice there are 2 sides to our needles. 

One side has a long 1” groove on the side of the needle. The other side of the needle has a little scarf on it. When you put the needle in the machine you ALWAYS want to make sure the long 1” groove is facing the left side of the machine.

 You can feel the groove with your fingernail. Remember if you put the needle in backwards-the machine won’t sew L.

If you have any further questions on maintaining your sewing machine, feel free to email us at [email protected]

If you are still on the fence about ordering a TuffSew Straight Stitch, see our TuffSew Reviews page.