Originally Posted by
leatheflea
I own one, if its half the price its worth it. the only thing I dont like about this machine is that it is slower than I like to sew. When doing free motion I like to move a little faster than this machine allows. It only does 700 stitches a minute. My domestic does more than that. Debbie the moderator of the yahoo group has put few videos on you tube. Contrary to what others may think it isn't a stretch machine, its a singer, not sure which one but I do remember reading on the yahoo group that its not stretched. The frame that you are getting with that machine often has issues with the track cracking and you have to order a new one from the grace company. If I had it to do over again I'd save my money and buy a better machine and frame.
I have been to the Bailey's factory (which is actually a shop attached to their home) and given the tour of how they make the machine by both father and son. It is in fact a stretch machine. They explained they use a basic Janome head (I saw a crate full of these) which they split and then re-manufactured to the desired length. They do a lot of welding and bolting so the end result is very stable. However This is also why it is no faster than a domestic machine (because it is made from a domestic machine) and why they cannot make the machine opening any higher than it is, and also why it uses class 15 bobbins -- they use the exact same 'base' machine for all three models. (They post on their web site BHQ does not contain any parts made by Singer.) A true long arm uses size L or M bobbins, both of which hold much more thread than the class 15, has an opening of 8" or higher and goes a lot faster. I considered the Bailey until I tried it and saw how slow it went. However for the price it can't be beat, but I see a lot of them being resold on ebay and craigslist probably by folks looking to upgrade.