Renting a longarm
 

I have friends who have asked to rent my longarm and I am thinking about it. Has anyone done this? If so what did you charge? What problems did you have and what rules did you set for it.
Thanks for any info you can give

There's been other discussions on this. Some of the thoughts that I remember are 1) are you ready to stand over her and help her while she quilts? 2) there's a liability issue --- what if she breaks something? What if she gets hurt??? 3) do you REALLY want someone on your expensive machine?? (I don't!!!).....I'm sure others will help you with other thoughts.

Every place that I investigated renting a LA made you take a class to learn how to use it. Some charge for the class, others didn't. You also have to be around to help when they get their quilt on and working on it. The charge for the class (multiple students) was 1/2 the rate of renting. Rent was $50 for a Nolting and $100 for the Gammill per day. Good luck on your adventure!

Because I tend to be such a klutz, I wouldn't even dare rent an expensive machine ! I've heard others talk about it but I really don't have enough confidence in myself to try it.

A place by us charges 50 for the day to rent but you need to take a class first on how to use it and that is 75 dollars

The rates I've heard about have been $10/hour and up, with a certain minimum such as 5 hours and a required class, which costs more since it requires longarm time plus an instructor. There is a liability issue, but you could ask your insurance company about that. The real question is whether you want to rent your machine.

I don't have a longarm but if I did I don't think I would rent it. I am very protective of my machines and I would not want to pay for a repair if the renter did something that required a repair. I would think long and hard on this one.

I would think long about the issues that can arise with a rental of your machine. The people who want to rent typically have no clue as to the ins and outs of longarming, and would require you to be on hand for the issues that will come up. Think about your learning curve going all the way back to the loading process.
Requiring them to have a learning session first is a good idea , but not everyone remembers everything...
One shop near me thought they would rent out time.... after 2 weeks they quickly rescinded their offer/plans. All it took was one customer causing big $$$ for a repair and they were done with it. The addional cost of being out of commission to do their own work only added to the reason they stopped.

The LQS here charges $125 for the lesson on how to use the machine. They provide all the thread. Then it is $50 per hour. If you do it, make sure you charge enough to cover repairs if necessary.

I am blessed to have a friend who has patiently taught me to use her machine. She rents it out to me by the hour, will help me with set up and then she's off. I've been lucky. I've had a few minor issues that I've been able to work out by myself. I think I worry far more about it than she does; therefore, I am VERY careful. All that being said, she used to rent to a few others but after repairs has elected to not do that anymore.

These were my first thoughts as well.

I rent time on a long arm. I had to take a class to learn how to use it--I forgot almost everything by the time I had a quilt ready to quilt. The class cost was $100.00 plus a set of zippers to use to load the quilt. The charge is $20.00 an hour and I use pentagrams. I'm not nearly good enough to even meander yet. It usually takes 3-4 hours, and I love it. The owner is right there to help the whole time, I have to sign a contract each time, and they supply one needle. If I break the needle, I have to buy more. Don't know how much that costs. The cost is about the same as having someone else do the quilting, and now I can say I did it myself. If I owned a machine, I wouldn't rent it--the repairs are hard to get and your machine is out of commission while you wait for repairs.
Sue

IMO your first step is to talk with your home owners insurance agent. You need to determine how much liability is on you. Also, you need to make sure that the cost of your machine is also covered by your insurance. Most policies have a cap on the cost for replacing items. I have an additional rider on my policy to cover my machines.
When I was in the plans for opening a store, this is an issue I had to research because I was considering renting longarm and domestic machines at my business. Now my research is for the state of Missouri so you will want to research for your state. Also, some of my information is from an attorney.

Per the attorney; If a rentee does damage your machine don't even think you can get the rentee to pay for the repairs. That comes down to way too much they said/I said and most judges will rule in favor of the rentee because it is "implied" the owner is willing to cover the damages.
Per the insurance agent; If the rentee becomes injured while renting the machine, the owner is liable for any and all medical expenses incurred by that injury. I know you say it is your friends wanting to rent the machine BUT when it comes to an injury, experience is speaking here, friendship will quickly come to an end. Injuries can be: needle breaking and flying into an eye (yep this does happen), sewing thru a finger (done this twice myself), falling while running the machine (tripping over one's feet comes to mind), getting an electric shock from the machine (I've not had this happen but have heard of it happening), and this list can be forever endless. As my agent said to me, "Even if you think something will never happen is just the time it WILL happen." There are certain things you can do for protection of others but you really can't cover them all.

Then in addition to all of this, you can still have several problems; you have a quilt you need to get done as a gift and someone else is using the machine, someone is working on a quilt and you have an emergency come up, and once again this list can become endless.

IMO, if you really want to keep the friendships, DON'T RENT YOUR MACHINE. That is just a disaster looking for a place to happen.

If I would ever be lucky enough to be able to afford to buy such a wonderful machine, I wouldn't let anyone even touch it!!

One of my LGS makes you first take a lesson if you've never used a LA - cost $50. Then once you've learned how to use one it's $20 an hour. I would sit down with them and be very honest in telling them what you would expect from them (liability if they break something, how much help they could expect from you, cost of supplies - thread, needles, etc. Get the tough questions and answers out of the way BEFORE they come up.

I rented a LA with a friend at the LQS, we were only doing small quilts. They charged for a short class on how to load and how to thread the machine. It takes time to load. We were very careful. If I had a LAQ I would nt let anyone use it. They are expensive and what happens if it breaks?

Thanks to everyone for your thoughtful advice. There is alot to think about.

i've been doing this for years- i start people out with a (certification class) where they learn the machine- threading, oiling, cleaning, winding bobbins---checking tension---all that- then we load up a practice quilt for them to quilt- the class takes 4 hours (usually) and when they are done they can then rent time for $20 an hour to come in and quilt their own quilts- i do not stand over them while they do this= i help them load and make sure they get going ok-then i usually go to my sewing room to sew- i am available if they have a problem (seldom happens) most of the people who have come in and done this have taken the class- come back and quilted one or two quilts then they seem to decide they would rather pay me to quilt their quilts instead and they go back to just dropping off quilts.. it is always fun to give someone the opportunity to try-

There is a place near me that rents their's for $40 for 5 hours. They teach you how to use it before you start. It is really nice for me since my hand sewing skills are not good. It would take me forever to hand quilt one.

Thanks Sadiemae. You are right. My spelling leaves a lot to be desired. I would never make it on Wheel of Fortune!!
Sue

This makes a ton of sense. I don't have one, but if I did, I would not consider renting it. I don't even want anyone else using my old Viking!

one that i have heard of locally charges 20 an hour to use it and its a 4 hour class to learn how to use it i'm not sure of that price

the LQS that closed down used to rent time on the longarm. it was 100 for the class and then 15 an hour for the rental.

i would never rent time on my machine. i have too much money invested and its a critical piece of equipment in my business and i don't want someone to break it.

most likely they would fight me on paying for the repairs and i don't want the down time of having to repair the machine because of some one else.

I cannot see myself letting anyone use my LA machine....that is, if i had one...

I would be leery on letting someone use my machine. I look at it this way, if they don't have the money to fix it, I have to. I don't want to have to deal with the problems if something gets damaged.

not a chance, timing, tension, putting a hole in their quilt because not used to moving and stitching, losing my hundreds of dollars in accessories or just not putting them away...tidying up after them...

I had to take a class from the Gammill longarm dealer. It was $100.00 plus the cost of batting for the quilt I brought for the lesson. It took me all day (9-6) with an hour and a half for lunch and we did a custom quilt pattern. It was definitely
worth the money. She told me I could rent a machine for 12.00 an hour. I was lucky as a fellow quilter in my home
town offered me the same deal. (The longarm dealer was 2 hrs from me). It took me 15 hours to do my quilt at my
friend's. She was there the whole time and we worked together in putting the quilt on the longarm. I picked a simple
edge to edge design for this quilt. I was very satisfied. I've reserved her machine next Monday and Tuesday for another
quilt. I like being involved in every aspect of the quilt. I have only been piecing and quilting for 18 months but I feel
renting time on the longarm makes the quilt seem more my creation.