While old machines can be found cheap, there is a tuneup and repair cost to most of them. I personally own a number of machines, some which have been fixed, some not. The newest one is a 40 YO Bernina 830. All of them need some help when aquired. They have cost me from free to 400 bucks. All need at least a 150 dollars to make them sew well.
Ask at your church for donations of machines. Many many people have machines sitting around that have not been used in years. These will need a cla (Clean Lube and Adjust). Now ask down at the local sewing shop about deals on maintenance. It seems weird but many sewing shops are powerfully into religion. Don't know why but it seems that way here in the valley and in previous places I lived like Montana. Perhaps after explaining what you are trying to accomplish, you can get several sewing machine techs to donate a half day into your project. Of course, give them all the advertisement for doing this service in mentions in the church newsletter. Make sure your congregation is on board to support your project and the people who support your project. Perhaps a news item in the local section of the local paper. Lots of ways to get interest in a project to get young men to learn to quilt. BTW, how big do you plan on making these Around the Worlds? That pattern can get tedious if too large. Ask me how I know.
tim in san jose
Last edited by k_jupiter; 09-16-2015 at 01:53 PM.
Reason: speling