How to Use an Industrial Sewing Machine

Powerful industrial sewing machines can sew through heavy material other machines cannot touch, but they can be dangerous if you do not follow the rules and listen to safety precautions.

Consew 225 Industrial Sewing Machine

Driven by a powerful 1/2 to 3/4 horse motor, the needle on an industrial sewing machine can slam down with a hammer-like force up to 5,000 times per minute. 

High-speed powerful impacts mean operators need to be careful when sewing or maintaining the machines in order to prevent injury. 

Wearing personal protective equipment, or PPE, and paying attention to the rules for safely operating these high-speed sewing machines can help keep you injury-free.

Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) for Industrial Sewing Machine Operators

Industrial sewing machine operators should wear two main types of personal protective gear:

• Eye protection
• Hearing protection

Safe Operation of Industrial Sewing Machines

Some rules for operating an industrial sewing machine include:

• Do not leave the power on when the machine is not in use.
• Do not let small children or animals play around the machine when the power is on.
• Watch where you are sewing and do not sew your fingers.
• Do not remove safety features from the machine.
• If the machine does not have finger guards, see about getting them installed.

Safety Tips for Industrial Sewing Machine Operators

As an industrial sewing machine operator, you have the responsibility to keep yourself safe. 

If you do not wear the necessary protective gear, you are the one who will feel the pain when something goes wrong. 

If you work for someone else and they do not provide eye or hearing protection, you should either ask them for the needed PPE, or pick it up yourself as soon as possible.

Potential for Injury

If you leave the power on when working on the machine, or you let your fingers get under a moving needle assembly, you will be the one hurt, so shut the power off. 

Watch ahead when you are sewing and slow down before you hit thick seams or material. 

Keep yourself and others safe by turning the machine off at the switch or unplugging it when it is not in use.

Pick up the e-book, How to Start an Upholstery Shop (Insider Secrets for Upholsterers) to learn more about safely operating an industrial machine and many other industry insider's tips on starting an upholstery business.

How to Clean and Oil an Industrial Sewing Machine

If you have an industrial sewing machine (I'm using my Consew 225 as an example,) you have a "work-horse" of a sewing machine. If you don't maintain it, though, it won't perform as well as it should.

How to Maintain an Industrial Sewing Machine

By: Laure Justice

Consew 225 Industrial Sewing Machine

Brush Cleaning

One way to clean lint from the inner workings of your industrial sewing machine is to gently flick them away with a small paint brush. 

Pay special attention to the bobbin case, making sure all signs of lint and bits of  thread are gone.

Air Pressure Cleaning

While a brush will work, an air compressor nozzle or can of compressed air, like you use on a computer, are the best ways to clean your Consew  sewing machine, or any industrial.

 Just direct the air flow at the bobbin case and blow debris  away from the sewing machine's moving parts. 

Open the machine's upper cases,   too, and clean around all moving parts.

Oiling the Industrial Sewing Machine

(Consew 225 Example) Oil your Consew each time you start it up, and oil the bobbin case with  every other bobbin change to get the most out of your machine. 

Frequent  oiling is a must for the 225 model Consew, because the machine is capable of  making 1,000 stitches per minute, and that's a lot of friction if the machine  is not well-oiled.

Markings

Most of the spots you need to oil are marked with red paint, but you  also need to add 2 or three drops of oil to the outer edge of the bobbin case, to the knuckle-shaped spot on the front of the machine's case, and to the moving places on the back of the machine. 

You should also see two silver circles with little metal ball-bearings in the centers. 

Press the tip of the oil can's nozzle on the metal balls and push down, then squirt a drop of oil in each of them.