I'm looking to buy a featherweight as well, now that all you ladies have convinced me that it is a great piecing machine. If the machine I am getting doesn't have the graduated plate letting you know where the 1/4" mark is, where do you line up your fabric to get a 1/4" seam? Is the straight stitch foot what you all use for piecing?
I'm getting my featherweight from a guy who restores them and I'm looking to buy a 1941 model with the scrollplate and chrome wheel. The smell of the featherweights and their boxes really gets to my allergies so I thought I would treat myself to a refurbished one repainted with Dupont automotive paint and urethane. It is all re-decaled and the re-chromed. He takes the entire machine apart and makes sure everything is working, makes adjustments, updates the electrical if needed (like in the foot pedal). He even renovated the box and it looks like new. No smells.
Some say you shouldn't do that to a machine, but I am attracted to bright shiny objects. In fact her name will be Twinkle. I am putting it on layaway for now, but I think the price is good considering all the work he put into it to restore it.