Glad this topic was introduced. My Brother came with metal. It has such a great quality of stitch I wouldn't use anything else. Don't know if it would make a difference but its the old "if its not broke don't fix it". I have a Janome that uses plastic, the stitch quality is not anywhere near as nice. I had thought about seeing if they made metal ones, but after reading your comments, sounds as if I should stick with what came with it.