Thread: Anybody own an (old) Viking Designer 1 Machine?

I was just gifted with this machine from a very dear friend who is downsizing. I was able to download a free manual online, but I can't find the other book that came with the machine which pictures all the embroidery designs included. (My friend only had one copy of the books and she has two of the same machine, the other one is going to her grand-daughter, so I couldn't take either the manual or the design book).

I'm researching now to figure out how I can get more of the 3.5" floppy embroidery discs. Looks like some places (like All Brands) still have some in stock, and I found an inexpensive external floppy drive on Amazon I might check out also. I don't know if there's an "Amazing Box" or some other device that will make these discs still? Looking into that, but would appreciate any advice.

Seems like a really nice machine so I'm looking forward to "playing"!!

Congratulations on your "new" machine. I think you'll really like it. Sounds just like mine (not up dated). Let me see if I can find any info to copy for you.

eBay currently has a Designer 1 User Manual for $18.00 (new cond) + s/h. This is what I go to whenever I have questions/problems and it's very helpful.

Ask your friend if you can copy the manual. That would be an easy solution.

Thanks PaperPrincess... what you said is exactly what I read online, about the disc being formatted properly.

Thanks to all other who replied too. I was able to download the user manual for free online from Viking, I'm still looking for the book with all the embroidery designs pictured in it. Can't seem to find that one on eBay but I will keep trying.

You don't actually need a large supply of floppy discs. You can store all your designs on a USB stick, or on your computer if you don't have a ton. Back them up on an external drive, CD's, the cloud, etc. Then just transfer a few designs to a floppy that you want to stitch (you will have 4 menus and can put several designs, I think 20 or more, on each menu). Just reformat and save others when you are ready to do others. I would NOT store all the designs of floppies, just because they don't hold much, you have to have some sort of system to file and find them. I keep all designs on a 64g USB and transfer as needed. I have 4d so I can see them, sort, rename, copy, paste, delete and transfer to floppy disc from Organizer. Don't even need the dongle for those operations. Editing can be done with the dongle. It is a wonderful machine, I have that and a DIamond.

I had my machine upgraded to the USB stick. I threw out all my floppies years ago. USB makes things so much easier. I have now given the machine to my daughter she is just learning and is really enjoying it. Could you borrow the book and scan it to your computer? I am not sure which book you want to copy.
Have you joined the yahoo group.....lots of good stuff there.