Thread: Help Picking a Machine

Got a Budget? Maybe explain the features that attract you to your two top choices fir a better comparison.

Old Singers are not the same as new Singers ....Singer Co sold off the brand name years ago. Quality is less.

sandy

Avoid a new Singer like the plague. They are made so cheap! We get them in the shop with the timing off, right out of the box. I've heard that people like their Brother embroidery machines. I personally prefer a metal oscillating hook over anything with a plastic bobbin and bobbin case. The plastic starts jamming if you try to sew heavy fabrics. And the needle bar in these plastic machines, has forward/backward wiggle, so you can't really set a proper needle/hook distance (timing setting). You might find something used, with more metal, that's in your price range.

I have to disagree quiltedsunshine my plastic bobbin case in my brother has sewed through 10 layers of denim flawlessly without jamming so I don't think that a plastic bobbin has anything to do with the quality of sewing

When you've serviced over 500 machines, then you can say, yes, I know that the plastic bobbin case machines don't have as good stitch quality as the ones with metal bobbin cases. It's not just the bobbin case, it takes into consideration all of the other plastic parts in the machine, and the tolerance level of the factory that the machine was built in. If the needle bar has forward/backward wiggle, then you can't control the needle/hook distance, which is an important timing setting. Stuff like that makes a difference. Probably doesn't make much sense to anyone else -- but I'm a sewing machine mechanic and it's what I look at every day at work.

Originally Posted by Dolphyngyrl

I have to disagree quiltedsunshine my plastic bobbin case in my brother has sewed through 10 layers of denim flawlessly without jamming so I don't think that a plastic bobbin has anything to do with the quality of sewing

All of my machines since 1972 use plastic bobbins, top load. Never had an issue. I found that "experience" interesting. Sounds like a maintenance or threading issue.

Sandy