What is the difference between a coverlock and an overlock?

Technological progress does not stand still, and the modern market of devices for sewing is able to provide the buyer with a huge range of equipment. Even professionals in their field are not always able to choose from all this diversity. For the treatment of elastic fabrics, there are 2 types of devices: overlock and coverlock. Despite similar names, there are some differences in these mechanisms. In order to figure out the difference between a modern overlock and its fellow counterpart, you need to take a closer look at their functionality.

The main purpose

Overlock - the name comes from the English term overlock. The mechanism is a device, the main function of which can be called professional overcasting of cuts on both woven cloth and other textile materials, including non-woven. With its help, pruning of excess matter is carried out in the manufacture of clothing items and other sewing work.

Coverlock - this name also derives from english coverlock. This is a sewing machine with special features used in professional work and the manufacture of complex textiles. The device has all the basic functions of an overlock, and it can also easily make flat, or, to put it simply, flat seams, during the processing of knitted fabric.

Device design

The first opportunity to excel for machines was the appearance. Upon careful consideration of the overlock, you may notice its lack special sleeve. He has almost completely eliminated a special narrow platform, called among professionals a hose console. This simplification is connected with the features of the operations performed on this machine.

Overlok is used to lay out already prepared pieces of matter, they are pre-cut for convenience of work, so the hose arm of the machine is quite small.

Another thing koverlok - his hose console reaches a considerable size.The fact is that this device is mainly used by professionals who perform complex sewing work. For some operations, this device is absolutely necessary, therefore the coverlock is completed with a wide sleeve.

Coverlock PFAFF Coverlock 3.0

Different devices and number of loopers. This is the part through which the designers managed to get rid of the winding bobbin for threads. Overlock is equipped with two loopers. Overlock also has at its disposal three such details, two of which perform overlok functions.

Overlok can manipulate two, three and even five threads simultaneously. During sewing, you can choose the mode you need for a particular case. Coverlock, in turn, is controlled immediately with ten threads. You can customize their number using a special toggle switch.

Functionality

As mentioned above, the overlock is indispensable for processing and cutting the edges of matter when performing sewing work. It is especially convenient to use this device when working with loose materials, not having a dense structure. Tailors among themselves call them loose, it is always difficult to process them, but thanks to the special scheme of work, overlock copes with this.

At the same time, several threads of the device firmly hold the fabric section and overlap it very tightly, not allowing the product to “crumble”. It is enough just to let the matter pass through the overlock in order to properly stitch the details, to wipe the cut tightly and reliably, to remove the excess matter.

As for the coverlock, it can also perform the described operations well, and even more. The device successfully reproduces all the basic functions of the overlock and the spreading mechanism, designed to work with the knitted fabric. Koverlok impeccably performs processing of the lower part of the segment, as well as product neck.

Knit neck processing

Cons of coverball

It can be said that the coverlock is two devices in one, but at the same time it has significant enough disadvantages that should be considered when choosing.

1. Price on this type of sewing machine is much higher. The cost will depend on the company of the manufacturer, the seller and the functions included in it. For example, a single carpetlock can cost you much more than an overlock and a rasposhivochnaya machine combined.
2. In order to fully utilize all the useful features of the unit, you will have to hone the skills of high-speed switching between the modes of the cover band.It's easier to say about this than to do: even experienced tailors spend a lot of time getting used to this pace of work. The need for constant switching, say, during the processing of knitted fabric, makes the carpetlock too complicated in the eyes of people. Quite a few tailors are disliked because of this, preferring to work on the usual overlocks and rasposhivalny machines, despite the fact that these two units together require significantly more free space for work and storage.
   
   

   Switch from wide to roller joint on the Minerva M 5000 CL

3. For many workers, the downside can be carpet weight, much higher than the same in overlock. It can include in its basic equipment a huge number of modern devices and devices that facilitate the hard work of a seamstress: an extra table, a touch panel for switching settings, and so on. But do not praise this advantage, because additional options complicate the internal system, and hence the setting of the unit.

Conclusion

Choosing an overlock or a carpetlock is worth starting from personal preferences, tasks, budget.A lot of functions, but the high price, or limited functionality, but an acceptable cost - to decide the buyer. It is difficult to say which device is better, since none of them have clear advantages providing a leadership position.