Grama Lehr

I am on the verge of buying a F.W. machine in Oregon, the problem is, I live in Southern California.
How should it be packaged? What is the best way to ship it?

HELP!!

Tartan

Bonnie Hunter over at www.quiltville.com has had some bad experiences with shipped machines. You could try emailing her for some pointers?

Candace

Wrap it so that it can be dropped from a significant height and not damaged. Seriously. I've had 3 bad experiences with mailed machines. And the common factor in all of them was terrible packaging. Bubble wrap the heck out of it. Make sure all attachments and foot control are similarly wrapped and not able to fly about the box. Make sure the machine is packaged tightly in the box and is stationary in the box. If you hear it move about, it's not safe.

It may be worth the cost to you, to have it professionally wrapped and shipped by a shipping store. It would be insured and if there's any damage you won't be out anything.

Grama Lehr

Thanks ladies! I was thinking that she could wrap the machine in bubble wrap. Wrap the foot in bubble wrap, same with the attachments. Then wrap that in bubble wrap, put in a box with peanuts, then put that box in another bigger box with more peanuts. So double box it.
Over kill??

SteveH

not overkill. I make medieval armor and have a LOT of experience with making things absorb impacts..

Double boxing is a KEY element, the other is restricting movement.

The idea double box is that the outer box takes all of the destructive impacts and the inner box hold the internal parts isolated from those shocks.

The most damage occurs when the inertia of a 25+ piece of iron starts moving and then stops suddenly, any slack or "wiggle room" will let that inertia build up and cause damage when it stops moving.

(Kinda like the old "when jumping off of a building it is not the fall that kills you ,it is the sudden stop at the end")

jlhmnj

Sounds Good. Instead of using peanuts I'd try for foam or strips of insulation board. Your first box can shift if only peanuts are used. I usually buy a pack of 6- 3/4"x 16" x 48" insulation board for $8 at Home Depot and cut to the thickness I need. I don't pack solid foam so newspaper or peanuts fill in the non support parts between box 1 and box 2. Lot's of good ways to pack but that's the general idea. Good Luck.

Jon

KalamaQuilts

TALK TO THE SELLER before you buy it. Doesn't matter what we say
Google "how to ship a sewing machine" and then TALK TO THE SELLER.
Some sellers are simply uninterested and think locked into its carrying case is enough protection.
It takes about an hour to safely pack a machine and not everyone is willing to do that and just charge straight postage.

Caroline S

I shipped a Featherweight to my Grandson's wife in December via Fedex. I used a LOT of quilt batting remnants to firmly enclose the machine in the case. I then packed it in another box with bubblewrap. At the Fedex store I had them pack the box into another box with more bubble wrap so the sewing machine would not have a chance to move. It arrived safely without damage. I don't trust the post office. To me it was worth the extra expense to ensure the sewing machine arrive without damage.

LuvQuiltin

I HIGHLY recommend this method. I've sent this link to many sellers to help ensure my precious machines make the trip safely.

http://www.april1930s.com/html/packandship.html

cabbagepatchkid

I've had two different FW shipped to me through eBay. One of them came with a broken bobbin winder and the other one (my white FW ) arrived with the spool pin snapped off!! On a FW, the spool pin is permanently attached to the little piece of metal that hold it so I had to find a replacement for it but could only find one for a black FW.

Both the bobbin winder and the spool pin doo-hicky are removable to prevent damage from shipping but most sellers wouldn't think to take them off.

ETA: Here is some good info on packing a FW.... http://www.sew2go.com/fwpacking.htm