I recently bought one of these, an 18023, on Craigslist, and after replacing the tension and the bobbin case I'm getting pretty stitches, but as you expressed in your original message, I have a little uncertainty about it. I wonder if you are feeling more confident almost a year later. I have the manual and every attachment, 30 disks, the whole alphabet (no numbers), all the feet that came with it and possibly a few extras. I get stumped on some very basic things that nobody else has mentioned. The manual has a picture of a needle and says to use needles exactly this size. [This might really be a problem for people with photocopied manuals, but I have the original.] I have quite a stash of needles and found only one package with two needles left in it that exact length, and they are #9 quilting needles. There is no information on the brand, type or source of these needles other than "Made in Japan". I don't have any idea where I got them, probably years ago! How exact is that picture in the manual? Does this machine really not work right with more common needles that are just a hair longer? I don't know whether I'm paranoid or really hearing a tick-tick sound in there that shouldn't be happening. It's very quiet. Also, with some of the disks it runs only backwards. Is that because of something I'm doing, or a problem with the machine? I love the chainstitch capability, and this is the only machine I have that can do that. I have a Bernina 830 Record and my mother's Elna Super that are from about the same period, late 1960's and early '70's, and it seems to me that sewing machines have gone downhill a lot since that time. My nice recent Singer does great at the moment, but there's virtually no chance it will still work 40 years from now.