Originally Posted by
KenmoreRulesAll
Is speed a meaningful measurement to you?
I don't go by a number but by how fast it feels. European machines like the Bernina 830 and Necchi supernova have fast/slow switches, which is pretty useful. My Bernina 642-1 doesn't have a speed switch so it's hard to control for slow work (for which I use the nice slow 320K2).
My fastest machine by far is the 96K41. Great thing about industrials is that as you say you can change the diameter of the pulley (or even attach a faster motor) to change the speed. It's rated at 3,500 or 4,000 SPM which is plenty fast enough for me. Faster is directly proportional to probability of 16x231 through a finger (my mother did this and insists it wasn't a pleasant experience).