[Chuck Burrows]

For doing holsters and sheaths yes you need a cylinder arm. Most leather shops have both - a cylinder arm and a flat bed is better for doing things like belts, chaps, etc. but a cylinder arm will do belts just fine although it's a bit harder to keep things flat and straight. Some guys I've known make a sort of flatbed out of plywood with a deep U notch to go around the cylinder arm.

All machines that use feed dogs and/or walking foots MAY cause marring - this will depend on the tension, which is usually adjustable, the quality of the leather, etc. Most walking foots can either be set out of the way or removed, but can be worth their weight in gold in my experince. Probably 90% of todays commercial leather goods are sewn on walking foot machines and I don't see a lot of marring so.....

My best advice at this point is to contact Ferdco (or whoever) and discuss your needs with them directly. I have talked with the folks at Ferdco in the past many times and they have always been very friendly/helpful and were never high pressure about sales.