You gotta love our vintage ladies. Yesterday at my quilting group, my friend's machine quit. It was a Singer low end model (WalMart)that she totes around to classes and less than a year old. So she let me take it apart. The whole inside was plastic and I felt bad for her but the main gear was stripped. Since it costs more for a service call than she paid for the machine, it's going in the trash where it belongs. I harvested all the screws and "removeables" from it and then gave her my 1970's White Jeans Machine that was my backup machine. Since then though, I've brought home a Elna Supramatic and a Featherweight, so I really don't need three backup machines. My 80 yr old quilting buddy is thrilled. And now I know for sure that vintage is best!