[danpat]

To add another anecdote to this thread, a few years ago, I picked up an old Consew 226R compound walking foot machine to do canvas work for a boat. That machine was a beast once I tuned it. Fast, powerful, smooth, quiet, and with a servo motor, had awesome slow and high speeds, would punch through anything. Its only real downside was the size, and it only did straight stitches. For canvas work, that was everything I needed.

I later picked up a Sailrite LSZ to do some zigzag work on sails. Compared to the Consew, the sailrite feels really clunky, even with the Sailrite servo motor upgrade. It's relatively rough and noisy compared to the Consew, and has less power. Main upsides are the size, and the zigzag stitch for sail work where you need some stretch.

I've ultimately kept the Sailrite because it's still pretty solid, and can be stored on the boat where I need it the most. If I was doing upholstery or canvas work in a permanent shop, I would've kept the Consew, hands down, it was a much more capable and pleasant machine.

The walking foot feature is very useful for heavy materials. I tried sewing light-weight materials on both of these machines and it was awful (bunching, tearing on the foot, can't use really fine needles, etc).