jtapp, I'm thinking the needle on the 500. Put it away and sew on a another machine until you go to town, and just fun, pick up some Singer needles. My 301 will not FMQ without breaking the thread with a Schmetz needle. I am not a fan of Singer needles, but she is. I am FMQ right now. I'd like to put in a Schmetz needle just to see what happens, but I'm not going to. The machine is being perfect and rayon thread isn't fun to take it because it breaks too easily. The 500 is one of the machines I'd like to have so I'm interested in what you find out.
Laura59, I don't know if the FW has the same type of paint as the 301, but I had to clean my tan 301 with Oxyclean. The machine was even colored, but yellowish and didn't feel clean. It was layered with that grungy yellow-tan coating that heavy smokers leave behind. It's very clean now and the small part I waxed looks good. I didn't wax it all yet because there are few more things I want to do with it first.