Singer 400 vs. 500 - Opinion needed
I have a 401 and a 503. I liked the 503 fairly well and used it for quite a while. It is a well worn machine that was donated to a church sewing project and then returned to it's previous owner when the project closed. I bought it from him. It sews pretty well, except that it doesn't sew straight. (It's covered in the adjuster's manual, I just haven't fixed it.) It didn't require any work to get it going, so I just oiled it and went straight to sewing.
The 401 was crusty with old dried up oil and took quite a bit of cleaning (and tutoring from helpful folks) to get it functioning fully. It sews very well.
Somehow, I think the 401 is a better machine. However, they are pretty much the same machine. I've seen some 500s for some great prices lately. All the 401s and 403s are still $150.00+.
I wanted to replace all the machines that I take when I volunteer at school with 401's or 403's. One reason is that they would all operate the same. (The ones I'm using now are all different. Some thread front to back, some left to right and some right to left, etc.) The other is that I know the 401 well and am able to quickly fix any problems (they're aren't many).
Hypothetically, the 400 and 500 are about the same, so the kids wouldn't get mixed up. Do you think the 500 is as sturdy as the 400?
bkay