ECO-WORTHY Cobbler Sewing Machine Leather Sewing Machines Hand Stitching Machine for Repair Shoes/Upsolery/Zippers/Coats/Bags/Cloth/Belt/DIY Items

First things first, yes- when you get this it is going to be a mess so expect that. I'm not sure where they are stored when they get here from China but yeah they are oily and oily broken up styrofoam gets messy so have shop rag handy and a vacuum. However, with that out of the way this baby gets the job done. It's basic in design and rough around the edges but it works like a champ. It's simple mechanical operation makes it easy on fix if something were to go wrong with it but I'm telling you this sucker is heavy duty. With the hand crank you sew as fast as you want so you can stop/go/forward/reverse and not worry about jamming up anything. First off, anyone even looking to order this type of rough machine kinda has an idea about what kinds of things it can do. FYI...search YouTube "Chinese leather sewing machine" and low and behold there is your machine. Watch the videos, the guys really made setting this machine up a breeze. They even show how to do basic mods to it to make it run and look better. I sat down in front of the TV and watched Game of thrones all while wiping the machine down and giving it a nice wipe over cleaning with WD-40, then some 3in1 oil. It comes with 3 aluminum legs which will be ok for setting it up and cleaning but trust me- ditch those legs and mount it to a 2x4 then mount that to a table or bench and leave some room at the front of the machine so you can have room to stitch weird size objects like shoes and such. And make sure to leave room on the side so you can crank the drive wheel without it hitting anything. Once that is done you have just set yourself up with a nice little leather working station. The best thing about this was the price. It's a steal at about $130 USD shipped since larger leather sewing machines can be very very expensive. I read reviews about these machines and was hesitant to order because I thought it would take forever to ship to me. Welp, I got it TWO days later. Peeps, if you are on the fence like I was....order this thing. It really is a fun hobby now and you can pretty much stitch anything that will fit under the presser foot not to mention it is a great way to make some extra cash in your spare time by sewing and making things for everyone. FYI...this machine has gotten quite a bit of attention and the price seems to reflect that since it has had a price increase to about $220. Even at that price I would buy it again- it's that good. So take the time to set it up nice and clean and you wont have to do anything else but maybe maintain it with some nice oil to keep it humming along. I love mine and you will love yours too.

Like mentioned the packaging this machine comes in is terrible. I thought I broke my toe when I lifted the sewing part out and the flywheel fell out from it. All is well though.I can say right from the start, just plan on taking the bare machine outside and spraying it down with some break clean to get all the oil residue off that covers everything. I also took this opportunity to use a flap wheel on my grinder to clean up some nasty casting flash, smooth the sharp machined edges on the flywheel and round some of the cam lever arms a little better. Not a completely neccessary step but it made the machine nicer to use. The same could be done with a dremel or files and some more time. After that I wiped it off and cleaned up the shiny parts with some fine steel wool. Those steps made it look a whole lot better.The next step is setting the machine up for use. Plan on buying some leather needles. The one in the machine was broken from the start. Not a big deal, they are not to much and you should have spares anyway.I did wipe down the bobbin parts and smooth some sharp edges to make sure they moved smoothly. I am not sure how they sewed the leather scrapthat came with it because my machine needles depth was completely out. Fully extended it did not even go into the base. After adjusting that so it just touched my finger through the bottom of the machine and setting the tension it started sewing nicely. Adjusting the needle depth is easy with a flat head screwdriver. For some video help "mainely acres" has a great searchable video on how to set these machines up.After about an hour of two of cleaning and set up I was sewing away on leather and thick materials easily. Just to play I folded some finished scrap leather I had over 8 times, almost a half inch thick and it sewed it just fine. With some elbow grease this can be a great budget machine the average person can afford. Overall I am very happy I could get this diamond in the rough working great.

My opinions only. The main frame looks and feels like die cast aluminum (or pot metal), magnet not attracted. An 1800’s design would likely be cast iron. I bought it for a project with my eyes open thinking in terms of a functional copy of an old machine. Buyers reviews convinced me that it can be made operable/ functional. I will enjoy finding out for myself. Maybe it would help sort it out to think in terms of children’s toys or non functional replicas (decorations or movie props), or an unfinished machine (like a kit without instructions). Odd territory for me and best wishes if you decide to give it a whirl.