Hello there,
Does anyone have recent experience with Queensland Sewing Machines's Sakura Stitch Sailmate? QSM used to sell Sailrite but not for quite a number of years. The Reliable Barracuda was sold in its place for 1-2 years but it appears it wasn't the best. Anyone bought the Sailmate and have any feedback on it? Thanks very much.
Bought my Sailrite from QSMs about 10 years ago. It has been a great little machine and done heaps of work and not even had a service.
Thanks. I wish they were still selling the Sailrites. Hold onto your machine :-) they are like gold now.
I bought a Sailmate from the Qld shop, had it for about a year, some of the parts looked like cheap chinese crap, had to muck around with it a bit, but having said that, it has been sewing fine, made all new cushions, and different covers, and have repaired some sails,
you have to keep oiling it all the time , which is the same for other machines , for my use its fine , not for pro use
Select to expand quoteralasa41 said..
I bought a Sailmate from the Qld shop, had it for about a year, some of the parts looked like cheap chinese crap, had to muck around with it a bit, but having said that, it has been sewing fine, made all new cushions, and different covers, and have repaired some sails,
you have to keep oiling it all the time , which is the same for other machines , for my use its fine , not for pro use
thats my experience too. Its definitely not as robust the original thing and its hard to keep it in adjustment, especially to sew thick material.
Select to expand quoteralasa41 said..
I bought a Sailmate from the Qld shop, had it for about a year, some of the parts looked like cheap chinese crap, had to muck around with it a bit, but having said that, it has been sewing fine, made all new cushions, and different covers, and have repaired some sails,
you have to keep oiling it all the time , which is the same for other machines , for my use its fine , not for pro use
Thanks for your response. Have you had issues with timing and/or tension? Can I ask how recently you bought it?
Select to expand quoteAndrew68 said..ralasa41 said..
I bought a Sailmate from the Qld shop, had it for about a year, some of the parts looked like cheap chinese crap, had to muck around with it a bit, but having said that, it has been sewing fine, made all new cushions, and different covers, and have repaired some sails,
you have to keep oiling it all the time , which is the same for other machines , for my use its fine , not for pro use
thats my experience too. Its definitely not as robust the original thing and its hard to keep it in adjustment, especially to sew thick material.
Has it been a timing issue or a tension issue (or a bit of both?) Thanks for your response. Can I ask how recently you bought it? I was only looking at hobby sewing on vinyl for bag/wallets. Topstitching only, so not needing an industrial. I can do most of everything else on my domestic.
Select to expand quoteSailmate60 said..Andrew68 said..ralasa41 said..
I bought a Sailmate from the Qld shop, had it for about a year, some of the parts looked like cheap chinese crap, had to muck around with it a bit, but having said that, it has been sewing fine, made all new cushions, and different covers, and have repaired some sails,
you have to keep oiling it all the time , which is the same for other machines , for my use its fine , not for pro use
thats my experience too. Its definitely not as robust the original thing and its hard to keep it in adjustment, especially to sew thick material.
Has it been a timing issue or a tension issue (or a bit of both?) Thanks for your response. Can I ask how recently you bought it? I was only looking at hobby sewing on vinyl for bag/wallets. Topstitching only, so not needing an industrial. I can do most of everything else on my domestic.
Its really fickle to get the tension right for thicker material, I'm talking about, say 8 layers of heavy Dacron that just fits under the foot. For lighter duties its fine. The advice is that they good for sails on yachts up to about 36 foot and I think thats about the limit.
Bought brand new from QSM.
A
I wouldn't be tasking the machine anywhere near that. I would be doing maybe 4-6 layers (thin vinyl, interfacing) as topstitching. V69 thread mostly but maybe 92? Good to hear from the voices of experience. I appreciate your time. :-) Tension I can fiddle with but timing is not something I want to muck with.
your timing probably wont need redoing much, unless you accidently crash it onto some hardwear, or that the machine vibrates itself to the point where a drive component or screw falls out. I've had both happen.
When you know what to time it not bad, but still a pain to get spot on.
My tips are make sure you've threaded the bobbin tension correctly through the tension disks, with the foot up, and to ensure its lubed to buggery, particularly when the machine is new.
If its anything like my knockoff, the castings were not the best quality, but still a usefull bit of kit.
Coated V69 and V92 like dabond will be fine.
Thanks so much for taking the time to respond. I had watched the youtube video where someone ended up getting sailrite parts and refitted the shuttle driver (may have the name wrong) as the timing went out and as it was affixed with a pin rather than screws he couldn't get it right. The sailrite part however was much better. How long ago did you purchase the sailmate can I ask?
mine is just a Chinese knock off copy of the Sailrite, there were a few going around under different names.
It came from QLD somewhere, and I bought the powerwheel, larger flywheel which changes the gearing and lets you sew thicker.
If the walking foot stitch length could be longer, and a bigger bobbing capacity, I'd be happy.
Its about 8-10 years old now.
Select to expand quotecrustysailor said..
mine is just a Chinese knock off copy of the Sailrite, there were a few going around under different names.
It came from QLD somewhere, and I bought the powerwheel, larger flywheel which changes the gearing and lets you sew thicker.
If the walking foot stitch length could be longer, and a bigger bobbing capacity, I'd be happy.
Its about 8-10 years old now.
Thanks 
Select to expand quoteSailmate60 said..
I had watched the youtube video where someone ended up getting sailrite parts and refitted the shuttle driver (may have the name wrong) as the timing went out and as it was affixed with a pin rather than screws he couldn't get it right. The sailrite part however was much better. How long ago did you purchase the sailmate can I ask?
I bought my sailmate in 2022 and is almost identical to the copy in that video.
Select to expand quoteAndrew68 said..Sailmate60 said..
I had watched the youtube video where someone ended up getting sailrite parts and refitted the shuttle driver (may have the name wrong) as the timing went out and as it was affixed with a pin rather than screws he couldn't get it right. The sailrite part however was much better. How long ago did you purchase the sailmate can I ask?
I bought my sailmate in 2022 and is almost identical to the copy in that video.
Thanks. I think the video we both saw was SAILRITE VS CHEAP Sewing Machine (Full Comparison)? Sailing Life on Jupiter. Importing a Sailrite from US (assuming I got the LSZ) would be close to AUD $3000 (shipping, GST, knurled feet). I am unlikely to need zig zag but would want to get that function for resell value if I did import. If it turns out to have issues I am in a bit of trouble. And it's $3000.
I live in NQ, and I am not handy with sewing machines other than keeping them clean and oiled and not tasking them with anything greater than they can do. I do apparel sewing/quilting mostly but going more into bags/heavier work and some small parts of what I do is a bit much for my domestic. I don't have space for an industrial. I travel to Bne once or twice a year and QSM do offer a back to base warranty. We've only communicated by email so far but they seem super organised and helpful. I just don't want to get back to NQ and three months later find out one of the cheap parts have failed. I suppose that is what warranties are for.
Everyone has been so helpful sharing their experience. Without stretching the friendship, can I ask if you found QSM a good business to deal with? Do you remember whether they had it fully oiled when you bought it? Also, did you get the standard size or the 9 inch throat? If you had your time again would you get the different size? Thanks very much.
Select to expand quotecrustysailor said..
your timing probably wont need redoing much, unless you accidently crash it onto some hardwear, or that the machine vibrates itself to the point where a drive component or screw falls out. I've had both happen.
When you know what to time it not bad, but still a pain to get spot on.
My tips are make sure you've threaded the bobbin tension correctly through the tension disks, with the foot up, and to ensure its lubed to buggery, particularly when the machine is new.
If its anything like my knockoff, the castings were not the best quality, but still a usefull bit of kit.
Coated V69 and V92 like dabond will be fine.
Oh no! Did you give your machine a real workout on the regular? Thanks for the tips. My domestic machine only has about 7 oiling points, and the Sailmate/Clone has so many. Do you use sewing machine oil, or some other type of lubricant?
