I understand the hestiation to buy an industrial, mostly because of the size! I would love a Singer 7-31 but only if I had a dedicated room and end up using it regularly. If you have room for an extra machine in a table or cabinet and industrial is not a bad idea, they do not come portable in cases though.
Most of the vintage domestic machines stitch through two or three layers of soft leather, hard shoe sole leather is different. The odd projects with leather are acceptable for a domestic machine, and if it's not too thick it's whithin what most capable machines do, new or vintage. You know when a machine is working too hard, it should generally stitch easy and effortlessly with out any signs of struggle. Most machines needs to be eased and coached over the highest bumps and joints in the seam. Soft garment leather is no problem, leather for bags and purses can be fine. Dog collars and belts can be within reach too, but if you do a lot of this, people tend to end up with cobbler machines. If you plan to sew harnesses and saddles you need the larger industrial dimensions. Vintage machines are generally very capable machines, but should be treated nicely.
Last edited by Mickey2; 02-11-2019 at 09:32 AM.