This article will try and focus on the Consew 206RBL-30 with a 30-inch long arm sewing machine and its functions. I would like to add that the information about this machine in the further text will be purely out of the personal experience and may sound subjective at times.
Be that as it may, general information about Consew 206RB will, of course, be included, and therefore anyone interested in buying this machine, either for home or industrial purposes, will find this text as a recommendation with explanations.
Without further ado, let’s take a look at the Consew sewing machine that comes with an assembled table and servo motor.
- This amazing 30-inch long arm can sew pretty much anything up to medium-heavy materials.
- The long arm is adequate to sew pants, sleeves, and other long objects.
- The servo motor works perfectly and I would choose it over any other.
- It is suitable for both industrial and home use (if you have enough space in your room).
- Incredibly easy to operate and maintain.
Why I bought it?
I’ve been sewing for almost 20 years now, and I learned my craft in an industrial area (we won’t name which company due to contractual reasons). After several years, enough was enough, and I was looking for my fortune elsewhere. Since it was almost impossible to find a decent job, the only logical thing was to start my own. And that’s when I flourished.
Since I’ve been working from home, I’ve been sewing, well, more than in a factory, but the salary is incomparable. I’ve even had help from other people because the amount of work was too high. Therefore, I had to buy several different machines and try them all out. Needless to say that I’ve been using all kinds of sewing machines in my life and I know exactly what I need.
As my work required bigger, faster, and stronger machines, I had to “splash the cash” on a big one. And that’s when the Consew industrial sewing machine came. I’m not quite sure whether it’s meant for industrial or home use, it looks industrial to me (I had similar machines at my first job), but I’ve been using it at home and it has done wonders!
The Consew 206 is everything I ever needed! It’s fast, powerful, big enough to do all kinds of work, easy to use, and, most importantly, of top quality! I will now go into details about the machine itself and explain why it has made my life much easier.
Why I love it
Time-saver
First of all, as I’ve said, this machine is for almost everything. The long arm is suitable for sewing long pieces of cloth without any problems. If I have to stitch a sleeve of a jacket or something similar, you just place the shirt on the table, start from top to the bottom, and in one quick line stitch the whole sleeve. It’s such a time-saver – the machine works at 1800 stitches per minute, which is incredibly fast, stitches are 10mm long, again, great, and with a 30″ workspace you can maneuver everything with ease.
Powerful
The motor is incredibly powerful and the single needle can go through materials such as leather, cloth, vinyl, synthetics, canvas, and other medium-heavy weight materials. The machine is so powerful that it can stitch furniture leather, car seat covers, bags, shoes, even tents, and such! I guess it IS an industrial machine after all, but it comes quite in handy for home repairs as well. You don’t have to pay for that furniture repair anymore, just do it on your own!
Efficiency
Speaking of the motor, I got my machine along with the table and a servo motor, and I simply love it! This motor is completely silent when you don’t stomp on the pedal! Also, more importantly, you can adjust the speed, in case you need to stitch something more delicate. The speed is not dependable on your foot press (it’s not a car gas pedal), you simply choose the speed and it remains fixed no matter what. The motor is quite light, and as far as I’ve seen, uses only 10% of the energy that regular clutch motors use!
Easy to use
One thing I found fascinating is that you can change parts, for example, a bobbin, without even having to clean up the table! You can change parts while you’re sewing! I mean, not while pressing the pedal and sewing, but if you happen to be doing something and need to change parts, just stop and change it, and continue with sewing! Amazing!
The arm has a centralized lubrication system and the oil reservoir can be controlled with a valve. Anything is changed easily, including the plate or foot. Speaking of parts, you also get extra parts for the machine, especially those standard attachments that every new sewing machine should possess.
Safe
The machine has good safety mechanisms that will prevent the machine from breaking (with normal use) and the person in charge of it from getting injured. The safety clutch will stop everything if some problem should occur and you can “unblock” the machine with a simple press of a button.
The whole Consew 206 machine is mechanical and as such works, well, like a well-oiled machine. It’s traditional in that sense (it has no touchscreens or computer compatibilities) but is equipped with numerous regulators and other features that facilitate the sewing process.
All in all, it’s safe, works great, has a fantastic motor, great speed, wide workspace, can do all kinds of stuff!
The price
So far, I think we would all agree that the performance is not an issue (if you have enough room space to put this thing in, of course), which leads us to the most debatable aspect of this machine – the price.
As this is a very powerful machine suitable for factory use, the price of $7,000 is more than reasonable, especially since I got the table with a servo motor with it as well! You can even find a used Consew 206RB for sale for less money, but I wanted a new one since it is my job.
In my opinion, if you need a machine for simple stitches, embroidery, and regular sewing, there are many modern and smaller machines for the same price range available. But if you want to do more than just clothes and stuff, this powerful beauty is your thing. For me, as a professional, this buy was a no-brainer. I’m more than happy with it!
Pros and cons
- As an industrial machine that can be used at home, It can do some “heavy lifting” with ease.
- This type of ease of use is something I wish every sewing machine had.
- A true time-saver when you consider the motor speed and workspace.
- The motor is of top quality
- It’s quite big.
- The price is not the best for home machines.
- Motor consumes a lot of energy
Value Editorial and Buying debates – FAQ
Where is the Consew sewing machine made?
Consew is a little-known brand, however, it has a long history operating since 1898. There is debate about the origin of this company – initially, its origin was linked to Korea, however, this is a company of Japanese origin, well known in Asia, and one of the most reputed brands in the world of heavy sewing and leather artisans. Consew offers us overlocks, one and two-needle machines, fleshing machines, straight machines, and a light line of domestic machines.
Consew offers us really powerful machines of great resistance, which are intended for the heaviest tasks of sewing. With this company, we can acquire specialized machines for saddlery, leatherwork, and even for the manufacture of sailing sails for boats.
Are Consew sewing machines good?
From the beginning, Consew focused on heavy-duty machines, however today it also offers us a line of light industrial-type machines, with models such as the 8700, 20u, and even the odd model for domestic use. Unlike their heavier models, light industrial machines are not made in Japan nor are they manufactured by Consew, they are simply manufactured and assembled in China, and then signed by Consew, so there is an obvious difference in quality between heavy-duty machines that are manufactured in Japan.
While Consew’s stitching is not as fine and elegant as those offered by Pfaff, it is a fairly robust machine that creates tight seams and rarely goes out of gauge, making this brand a great competitor to Pfaff in the heavyweight market, and an excellent option for entrepreneurs who require robust and reliable machines.
Advantages
- Quality – its quality is comparable to that of any other leading brand in the market such as Adler, Pfaff, Durkop, Singer, etc. Being a Japanese brand, precision is one of its outstanding characteristics, so in addition to being durable, it is rarely misaligned.
- Long-lasting – its mechanisms, and all its moving parts as well as its casing, are extremely robust, made of non-plastic metals, its screws are made of very high-quality steel, which makes its products a fearsome rival even for giants of the heavy sewing industry like Adler.
- They have technical services in more than 80 countries.
- All its models are still distributed today and have spare parts manufactured and distributed by Consew itself.
Disadvantages
- The price – like all quality brands, this is its great disadvantage. Consew prices can go pretty high, also those of its spare parts.
- Technical service – although they have an authorized technical service in most of the world, it is not available in all cities. A mechanic who is not well trained in the particular operation of Consew-produced machines could make it work partially, but it could also cause irreversible damage to a rather complex and expensive mechanism.
- Although its spare parts are manufactured and distributed by Consew itself, they are scarce due to their high prices, however, with a sufficient budget, we can always repair a Consew.
Although heavy and extra heavy machines are highly recommended, the same is not the case with machines intended for the light industry. Consew focuses on producing high-performance machines for heavy-duty and extra heavy-duty, but lines dedicated to light sewing such as Simple straight lines, domestic, and semi-industrial machines type 20U, are produced in China, not by Consew. Consew signs and distributes these models, although they have better quality since the quality control process is stricter, they present design and durability problems, similar to those of any other generic brand, such as Zoje and Yamata.
Consew is a good brand; in fact, the Consew machines of heavy and extra heavy type have advantages over also recommended brands such as Juki, Refrey, Rimoldi, among others. Their price is not at all accessible in the international market, however, it is fair due to the quality they offer us.
How do you use a Consew 206?
Consew 206RB is the flagship model of the company – robust, powerful, fast, and reliable, there is nothing more representative than this model as the flagship of Consew.
It works pretty much like any sewing machine. If you buy one, you will get a full instruction manual and I would advise you to go through it to operate it properly. You can experiment a bit and find out for yourself as well (which I don’t recommend if you are new to this). Or you can simply find some tutorials that are available on the internet.
Which sewing machines can sew leather?
The best machines for sewing leather are medium-heavy duty machines.
You can also use standard sewing machines, you do not have to invest in a special sewing machine. For example, you can use a Brother or a Simple Singer. Of course, keep in mind some of these issues when sewing leather by machine:
- Get special leather needles (size 11-16). Leather needles have larger eyes for threading polyester thread, they are thicker and firmer. If the leather is synthetic, a numbering needle between 100 and 120 (European nomenclature) will suffice.
- Do not pin the leather, because you will pierce the material and therefore spoil the work.
- Use synthetic threads to sew leather with the sewing machine, no cotton thread as you run the risk of breaking the needle and the leather.
- If the leather is very stiff, add a little powder and massage it to loosen it.
- Before starting to sew, mark the pattern or design that you are going to make to avoid making a mistake.
- Use a specific foot: there is a Teflon foot that is perfect for sewing leather.
To be able to join pieces, you will have to knot the thread, unlike the stitching used in the manufacture of many garments because if you go through the hole several times, it will weaken and look strange:
- Prepare the garment you want to sew (massage it before).
- Wipe off the powder and then wipe off any powder that may be left in the sewing machine to avoid staining other fabrics or even clogging the machine.
- Stitch in a row, without stopping, and move the leather while paying attention to the stitch. If the needle breaks, you will need to replace it with a larger one. The same goes for the thread, if it breaks, change it for a thicker one.
- Once finished, you can add a coating on leather clothing if you think it will be more comfortable to avoid the harshness of certain leather fabrics. You can do that for your garments both hand-sewn and machine-sewn.
What can you make with your sewing machine?
- Leather Clothes,
- Wallets,
- Handbags,
- Purses,
Are there exclusive machines for leather?
Yes, the truth is that heavy-duty machines are used to sew thicker leather. Depending on the type of leather you are going to sew, you can choose between a conventional or a special one.
Final words
I don’t know if there is anything more to say about this machine. I tried to put it down as simply as possible for all of those who may not understand much about sewing. It would be needless to go through the whole list of all the attachments and stuff like that, and I think that personal experience beats the general information only.
That being said, I love this machine as it can do all of the heavy liftings that I need. If you need that as well, the Consew 206RBL-30 is your choice.
