What's a good and affordable sewing machine to do some light modifications/work with tactical nylon like 1000D and 500D webbing?  

I bought a Singer HD 4411 sewing machine from Amazon.  I have been sewing new bar stool covers using upholstery thread and thick fake leather vinyl.  It hammers through 4 layers with no problems.

My previous household grade Brother machine would not touch this stuff and was very frustrating.

I haven't done any webbing yet, but this handles thick nylon boat cover material equally well.

Here is a before and after, the OEM seat cushions were quite lacking:

I also have a Singer HD. It will punch through 1000d nylon and webbing for the most part. It started to struggle when the layers stacked up too thick.

Expect a shorter lifespan on the machine if you're running it hard on thick or stiff fabrics. I also break a lot more needles than I was expecting.

Also buy good thread. You can get giant spools of mil-spec thread for nylon for fairly cheap on ebay.

I recently obliterated a Janome HD 3000.
Before that I’ve smoked Singers, Brothers, and another Janome home machine.
Amazingly, the one that lasted the longest was an old White machine from the 80s.

The common theme here is: a home machine will not last too long once you get deep into the hobby. If you’re just looking for an addition here, a fix there, sure they can handle it.
If you’re going into full custom pieces from scratch, you may want to look into commercial/industrial machines ($1000 and up)

I’m in the same boat. I haven’t had much luck with finding solution and I have opted to do a lot of my small mods by hand. Takes a long time but it works well. Is 1000D and 500D the nylon that is used on 1” webbing for gear like slings, buckle attachments and other stuff like that? I’ve bought multiple batches of nylon off Amazon and none of it matches the feel that I have on something like my trex sling

You can find used light and medium duty industrial machines in good condition on sites like craigslist.

Figure around $350 - 400 for a Singer 31-15, complete with motor and table.

This Singer 241, for example, is offered at $130 with table, motor, and light:

This, industrial machines pop up on FB marketplace and eBay.

This is sorta like saying what rifle do I need?  There are many different machines, most any of them will get the job done.  If you can find a good used industrial, and are half-way handy, you're in business.  If not, then I'd recommend a nice Juki 8700H.  Some will say you need a walking foot here, and while they're not wrong, in that most commercial outfits will use them, for the home dude (or dudette) I think this machine fits the bill nicely.  Good used industrials are 1-400 bucks; new around 800.  Then there's Sailrite, that lots of guys swear by.  Honestly I've seen so much good work by such an assortment of machines that I no longer say, OY you have to have this, or that.  

But after a few years doing this stuff, I'd say there are some things to look for.  You need a minimum of a #18 needle and no. 69 nylon bonded thread.  If your machine won't do this, life will be harder.  You need at least 3/8" presser foot height; the more the better.  When you sew those thick build-ups, you'll release top tension without enough lift.  An in-bed machine with an external (servo) motor is optimum set up, IMHO.  You need power to push through this crap.  

And a comfortable chair.

Chinese leather sewing machine?

What about these Chinese hand crank machines?

A home sewing machine, a selection of shirt patterns, and some lighter fabric are an excellent combination to learn sewing fundamentals.

If you want to stack the deck in your favor and have some expectation of success, while not hobbling your learning curve with a less than optimal machine; get a compound feed, single needle, vertical bobbin, flat bed feed sewing machine.

Concern yourself not with name brand.  Juki, Brother, Consew, Durkopp Adler, and others all make an industrial walking foot compound feed machine.  Probability is high that the right machine is in a metropolis near you for well under $1,000.

A DDL-8700 is a wonderful industrial machine for high speed light apparel production.  It's awful for bags or pouches.

The same crowd that pushes DDL-8700s, HBARs, and 10x12 plates will incorrectly suggest that a DNU-1181 is a compound feed machine.  It's not compound feed.  It is scuff feed.  It will produce a substandard result.

A Juki 1541 has a horizontal bobbin which is more prone to needle deflection and skipped stitches.

A Brother LS-2, a Juki LU-563 (maaaaaybe a 562), a Consew 255 (206 just doesn't have the chompy chomp sometimes necessary to maintain stitch length over humps and it has the less desirable horizontal bobbin), an Adler X67, Juki 22XX and 28XX are all excellent machines for the application.

Without on the fly double tension and without instant high step foot activation, inconsistent stitch length and thread tension will result when approaching any buildup of layers.

There's no substitute for a proper industrial, compound feed, single needle, vertical bobbin, flat bed sewing machine for stitching gear.  It's seductive to think there's this, "one weird trick," of a lesser sewing machine that will stitch gear correctly.  It won't.  It is akin to buying a Home Depot 110v wire feed welder and and trying to successfully weld 1/2" copper plate.

They're a pain to set up and get running correctly. But there's Facebook pages where people swear by them.

If I were in the market, I'd look for a used Juki industrial model. I say Juji because I've run them in the past but any industrial machine should do well for webbing.

Keep an eye out for a machine called SAILRITE.  They are small heavy duty machines, not any bigger than a home sewing machine, built to mount in boat cabins.  Ive done my own duffels, MOLLE plate carriers, mag pouches, slings, etc. using heavy nylon thread, 1000d cordura, and mil spec webbing and velcro. I picked mine up used for about $250 but that was about 20 years ago. Still might be a good option.

Best thing is a walking foot machine with a large foot capacity and takes #69 thread. Nylon webbing and fabrics are slippery. You can do stuff with a standard machine but it’s much more difficult to get good results.

I got this used for 175.

Heavy duty brother

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