I started a thread recently regarding the Bernina 830 I had received from my SIL. It was definitely broken! The handwheel was completely seized up. I got a lot of good info from my friends here on the board (thanks especially to Candace - who figured it out without seeing the machine!). Here's the problem:
You will note a crack on the left side of this gear. I couldn't find it myself - ended up taking it to my OSMG, who replaced it then cleaned and tuned up the machine. Cost was $135, which makes me wonder if it's a good idea to buy older machines with nylon gears! Granted, it sews
exceptionally well, but still - what if it happens again? Seems to me there were at least 2 more of these in there.
It was worthwhile for me to have someone else fix this machine, since it was free anyway. But, there are a lot of people like me on the board, who think it's fun to collect a machine or 3 and try to fix them, but are out of our depth in this kind of situation.
Do you experienced fixers recommend that newbies get the older, less complex machines to start with? Or do we jump right in? So far of the four older machines I've gone through, I got one to work well (Featherweight), took two into the shop, and have one in the garage that still needs some puzzling out.
A couple of those machines may have to go, but I'm keeping the Featherweight forever, 'cause
I fixed it!
Cheers!