Originally Posted by
maxandgeorgia
I am a new member--just read this thread from top to bottom. I love my '55 FW and am interested in a 301. My questions for which I didn't find answers in the thread: what is the difference in the long arm and short? How much difference in size? Any difference in unit design? Advantage of the long arm over the other when quilting and FMQ? Thanks for helping out a newbie here. ~G
There are more short beds available as these were the only machines made to go into tables and the two-tone is availbable ONLY in short bed. So, the longbeds are rarer, and thus more collectable and usually more expensive. They aren't any different than the short beds in function or design. I have FMQ on both and pieced on both and I couldn't really tell the difference. Though the long bed may provide some additional support for some folks.