I have my mom's old Nelco and it's a workhorse, sturdy old gal. When I need to sew jeans or anything else heavy I use it, my fancy new expensive one won't stitch heavy items without jamming. Lead paint on a sewing machine? Really? I'm not concerned, my guess is that many of us chewed a bit of lead paint off our cribs, pencils and a lot of other things. I'm still here and kicking and have no plans to munch down on my sewing machines, I'll have some chocolate if I need a snack.