I'm working with Talented and Gifted children, so they are very curious and resourceful. They try to fix everything. While we were working on our wheelchair quilts, 2 of them, (one male and one female) totally screwed up the bobbin area of my Elgin. It took a while for me to figure it out. But, I will show them how it works and why it was messed up.
I really enjoy engaging with the children, trying to get them to think and to trust their brains. So, if they screw up a 401, I'll figure it out and then share how it happened with the children. Mechanical objects are logical and easy to understand. I think it develops their brains. I love that element of volunteering with the TAG program of my local school district.
However, having 4 totally different machines is too hard to deal with. I really need to standardize. The 500 series is very similar to the 400 series. I'm guessing that I can sell them on the idea that the machines are pretty much the same.
Bkay