Hi I have a chance to buy a chandler commercial sewing machine for 300.00 dollars. My question is it like a midarm sewing machine and does anybody know anything about this make Thank you in advance. Marilyn

Can you drop the feed dogs or cover them? What is the harp space (throat)? These are some of the questions I would have.

Is the presser foot fixed, or can you use a darning foot with it? Having that great space is good only if you can use it for free motion. Otherwise is not really necessary. Are you picking up locally? There are many scams with commercial or industrial machines. People tend to seek them for their speed.

Thanks those are great questions. Marilyn

Don't know that particular brand but the industrials are strong, fast machines for piecing. How about power, is it wired for 110, are you prepared to run 220 for it? Auto thread cutter? That one appears to be straight stitch only, the ones with zig zag usually have a screen or button panel, either fixed or an add-on. These machines sit in a pan of oil, that'll need to be drained before you move it. Hopefully it comes with lots of bobbins, there's usually a little metal washer thing that goes in the bobbin case too, elusive, make sure you have it. That's all I can think of right now, been a while since I had the pleasure (snicker) of doing commerical sewing.

Thank you everyone. I knew I could get great information from you. Now when I go to look at it I know what to ask and to look for. She did say that it is very fast and strong. I just wanted to check out some of my options for a machine I could actually quilt on. Marilyn

WOW, I tried googling it for you and it came up with all types of Chandler Industrials...you might want to try that and see if you can find the specific machine you are wanting to purchase because there seems to be a lot of different types. I am not familiar with this machine but wanted to try and help you research and learn all you could before your purchase.

If it won't FMQ it might be a good machine to have if you want to sew really heavy material like vinyl, leather or double fold seams on jeans.

I used one for a while when I did piece work for a lady. The one I used only did one speed, (fast), and only one stitch, a straight stitch. It would have sewn through leather, vinyl, ect, but I dont think I could have used it for quilting.
But the one in your picture is nice, so maybe on that one.

Thank you Quiltmaker I am going to check it out today. I got some great information from everyone. Marilyn