Originally Posted by
Mickey2
I have test sewed the new 700 Bernina series, and I know it's way advanced in the computerized part. I never looked under thee hood though. I suspect there is no cams in these new ones, every stitch pattern is computerized. The movents of the swing needle and feed dogs are controlled by motherboard, chips and fancy software? I have seen the internals of the low priced models they somtimes sell at outlet you would not think of as sewing machine oriented. I felt a bit disapointed, even though it wasn't computerised it had an electronic board of buttons for the stiches and functions. Every mechanical part in there was on the light side, not a screw, sort of clipped together. I did recoginse the part as the general way of things. The machine had suction cup feet under to make it stay in place when sewing. The old Supermatic I mentioned comes of as a sturdy machine in comparison, at the time the Supermatics was new, they were the new flimsy things, at least compared to the cast iron models
No cams, you're right. Most of the higher end machines at least use pulse motors that are controlled by one of the boards. I can't recall the last time I opened a sub-$800 machine but I don't think it had anything even bordering on a mechanical cam either. On the one hand, there are fewer mechanical parts to freeze up. On the other hand, a good zap through a power bar or an unprotected outlet and who knows what sort of calamity ensues. All 2 of my electronic machines are on UPS' for a reason.
That Supermatic was still made in a time when quality mattered. A few years later is when it started going down the tubes. It's at least mostly metal. It's lighter because of the aluminum body. I had an 80s Singer 290C as my first machine when I was 10 (I asked for a bicycle....). Heavy metal body, a Poop-ton of plastic inside. I think they were trying to convince people that there was still quality inside.
Originally Posted by
Mickey2
That's very impressive. I'm just the average amateur who thinks it is both fun and intersting. I need a sewing machine for repairs and the odd project. When winter comes it's nice to have something to do indoors, I'm not the type who builds miniature cars or airplanes.
That's how I started. When I got my featherweight, I thought I busted her taking the tensioner apart and was scared of over oiling her. Look what a few years can do! I have about 23 machines here, including a long arm and I service high end machines for people! This from a gal who couldn't sew 5 years ago. My neighbor has also been bitten by the sewing machine bug. He does other things in the summer and tinkers on machines in the winter. It's a good indoor hobby and as "antiques" go, a relatively cheap hobby.