I have a "free" serger lurking in my sewing room right now I'm afraid to even open up. I've never used a serger at all, and this one has been given away twice because it "cannot" get good tension. It's a modern Singer and about 50% of the online reviewers have sent theirs back as lemons. I'm saving it for a day where I have a nice big well of patience, and so far haven't had one of those! I've gotten so far as to download the manual, but then I read it through and realized there are no less than 20 pages devoted just to threading the thing, and I lost my bravery.