Originally Posted by
JeannieK
We get parts from both Brother and Babylock at our shop. The Babylock's is made with high-end reinforced plastic and the inside molds are sanded down. The same can not be said of the Brother's. Hands down, i'd buy a Babylock over a Brother any day.
Interesting. As I stated earlier in this somewhat dusty thread, I own 2 different Brothers, one is a smaller, less expensive machine, the other a larger, heavier-duty, more expensive machine. The smaller Brother does have plastic parts. However, my "Big Brother" as I call it, has metal guts. One of the things that sold me on the Big Brother was how many quilters, both in my local community and in online forums, love this machine and consistently use the same word to describe it: workhorse.
I think most, if not all, sewing machine manufacturers produce several different models in order to meet demand in such a wide marketplace. They have to have products to sell to all skill and income levels, from what one salesman described to me as "disposable starters", to the quality-built, high-end machines for experienced sewists with who have more disposable income to invest. I wonder if you only see the less expensive, plastic Brother machines in your shop because the more expensive Brothers don't require repair as often as the high-end Baby Locks, and hence your opinion of Brother is that it's a shoddily built product across the board.