Manalto

People whose judgment I respect have raved about the Berninas, specifically the 730, 830 and 930 (The 930 qualifies as vintage, right?). I've never used one (aside from my 117, pictured below) but would like to have the experience. Which, in your opinion, is the best of the three? I've heard there were issues with the foot controller on the 830; are there any other weaknesses that have revealed themselves - and any workarounds? They must be good - prices for the 930 are through the roof, high for the 830 and the 730 has held its value well. I'm not looking for a bargain, but can be patient enough to find a good machine at market value. Are there any other Bernina models I should consider?


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Sewnoma

I don't know anything about Berninas, but I really like your 117! I haven't ever seen one like it. It looks kind of petite, is it a 3/4 size machine? I love the green paint on it, very nice looking machine.

ManiacQuilter2

I have never seen this Bernina before. She is gorgeous. I have a Bernina 1020 and a 1530. Very happy with both. The 1020 was my workhorse when I was quilting for other people. Now I enjoy doing most of my quilting on my 1530.

SewExtremeSeams

Can't tell you about the others but I have had my 830 Record since it was new in 1974-75. It is a great machine. The only reason I have "other" machines now is because I got hooked on vintage sewing machine via QuiltingBoard (always nice to blame it on someone else). My 830 FMQ easily and does every other thing I have ever asked it to including sewing layers of denim.

J Miller

Manalto,

I'm not a Bernina connoisseur or x-spurt, but I can tell you a bit about my wife's 930 Record. She inherited it from my cousin when she died back in 2000. My cousin had bought the machine new in the 80s and to my knowledge never had it serviced.
My wife used it from about 2004 or so till 2013 when I cleaned and lubed it. It was so packed with lint and debris under the needle plate area I do not know how it was still functioning. All the other machines I've seen that were that packed with debris quit sewing. That Bernina didn't seem to care.

They are also very strong sewing machines. My wife made a denim / fleece circle quilt with hers and the machine never missed a stitch. That quilt weighs a ton and has places with multiple layers of denim and fleece. That machine stitched right over it like it was only two layers thick. She didn't baby it either. Here's a pic of the circle quilt:
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They are very reliable. I'd say that more failures are caused by operator error, than machine defects.

They do have some plastic gears, but although that is a negative in my opinion they don't fail that often. And they are still available and can be replaced. Forum member Candace is quite good at Bernina servicing.

Because I have limited experience with Bernina's I'd suggest a 930 Record with all it's attachments and accessories. Be sure to get the owners manual as well. They can be downloaded from the Bernina site, but the OEM one is so nice to have. You'll pay a bit more for a complete ensemble, but in my opinion it's well worth it.

Joe

Manalto

On the contrary, it's a moose! I think what's misleading is how plump the machine is, making it look smaller in scale. But no, it's a big, hulking thing. I was immediately seduced by the color and solidity of this machine with its "sextant" zigzag control and had to have it. It was a display in a sew-vac store that's been around since the 1950s and every time I went in there, it became a joke that I'd try to buy it. Finally one day they sold it to me.

Mickey2

I hope to get a Bernina 117 or 114 and will jump at the first chance I get. They are much heavier and more solidly built than the later domestic models.

I can recommend any of the 500, 600, 700 and 800 series, even though they are lighter built compared to pre war models, they are sturdy capable machines and not really light weight. There are various versions of them, the Records have more stitch patterns, up to 20 besides straight stitch and zigzag (I think the 530 has 12), most of them have the buttonholer. Not all of the earlier "non-records''' have it. They all have satin stitch fine tuning, it can be an advantage if you make use of the extra stitch patterns or buttonholes. The major advantage would be the free arm, it makes it easier on some type of stitching, though it has a lot to to with habit. All these models take the old style Bernina feet, up to the 900 series I think.

I have stayed away from the machines with electronic boards only because I don't know how to repair them, and I know it can be a hassle to get replacement parts. I haven't seen all the sub models in these series, but I have seen all the Records and a few of the others, and they all seem to be versions of the same theme; all with a motor at the back, the top lifts up, lots of red dots on the oil points and system with two motor belts running the mechanism. It was already established in the 125. As the decades progress you can see more features added, not so much stitch patterns as turn knobs in stead of levers. Some machines have knee lever speed control. The 730 have pedal control and knee lever presser foot lifter; I don't think any models in the 600 series have it. The 500 series have a knob type top stitch tensioner in front in the usual place, some in the 600 series do too, but the 630 record and 700 series seem to all have top tension on top of the machine (a groove where the thread goes). It's not until the 900 series you get the stretch stitch Elna had since the 50s, though it's a much quieter computerised machine.

They are quiet, smooth running and very problem free machines, not as quiet as a Singer 201 though, but they run much faster at top speed. There have been heating issues with at least one of the foot controller models, as far as I know they have been in for repairs or replacements. I'm not sure there are good repacements for the electronic foot controler of the 830, the solution would be repair or second hand.

Manalto

Thanks, Mickey. This is really helpful. I haven't even looked at the 500 and 600 series Berninas, which I will do. I, too, would like to avoid circuit boards and for the same reason. Although they don't have a reputation for failure (yet) I'll pass on plastic gears. The only zigzag stitches I use are regular and blind stitch; on the rare occasions that a decorative stitch is needed, the old 401 is at the ready, wearing a top hat. So, that feature is wasted on me. Power is nice for navigating heavy fabrics, but I'm in no hurry, so I don't need speed. How nice that I need to look a little further into the past, and I'm sure I'll do better price-wise as a result.

Mickey2

I don't think the 125 had any plastic gears, but there are one or two plastic gears in these models. They were early to introduce the plastc gear too, not just the free arm zigzag. I'm not quite sure on the 500 series, I shall have to look into it. I'm thinking along these lines too, I like the all metal machines, but even so the 730 has been a favorite for the way it behaves, and these machines are very much the same even if the 830 is much later these models aren't that far from each other. There are unfortunately a few 930s and 1130s with failing circiut boards or whatever goes wrong with the electronic parts. Sometimes it can be repaired, it often can, but it costs quite a bit and parts are difficult to find since they aren't made anymore. The factor of all metal gears is why I so want one of those early zigzaggers, some of them are almost as smooth as Singer 201. There is an early Husqvarna zigzag that looks nice and there is the Pfaff 130, but I have my eye on the Bernina.

Candace

If you won't accept the nylon gears then you don't want a 500 series of Bernina and newer. So, you would be really limited to a early machine like a 125 type that is at most a zig zag machine. I have about 15 vintage Berninas and they are the most used and most loved machines out of my 40 or so vintage machines. My 301s and 15s come next.