How old does a machine have to be to be vintage

[Other option might be to see if a local trade school or factory might be willing to donate or sell their used machines on the cheap.]

Haven't read all replies but this one made me think -also ask some of the schools(middle or high schools) in your area- your town or neighboring ones if their Home Ec classes have machines they have replaced that they would sell-it they have replaced some perhaps they would have some to sell. As well as LQS for trade ins, or the trade schools.

The BL9 Machine I am considering. The project has been put on hold for this year so now I have more time to research. We are a newer, small church that is outgrowing it's space so don't want to have machines donated that need to be stored. Don't want older donated machines as it is time consuming when they have problems. I want identical machines. I want to buy them so they can be stored at my house and if program ends some day, I can do what I want with them. I will be watching the Black Friday ads!

I agree with you on this.

Good luck with your project.

You have lots of good answers.
I bought the $50 Janome 124 to take on the airplane. Weighs only 5 pounds. I refuse to use it. If I had to use this as my first machine, I would never learn to love sewing. It would be good only in emergencies if I had no other machine available. I wish I hadn't bought it. I would ask for donations as some have suggested. Some are just happy to be rid of an old machine even if they work fine.

Ask for donations of machines. I have several I got for $5-$10. at flea markets & yard sales.

A Senior is old enough that if interested in the program, will find a machine to use from someone. if they don't have one or can't buy one. If you buy the machines I would buy all the same and I would buy from Walmart. I saw Janomes at Walmart last week.

Actually, that's a good point. I misread & thought it was for Senior High (9-12). A 17 or 18 year old can get a job or do odd jobs around the neighborhood. And then hunt around for a good deal on a machine. They could put an ad in the church bulletin or ask in the church office if someone has a machine they could buy that doesn't need servicing; or if they want to buy a new Brother machine at Wal-Mart, they could do that. 15-20 hours of work should cover the cost so unless these teens are helping cover the cost of their parents' bills or are expected to care for siblings when not in school, it should be do-able.

That said, I understand that the church might just really want this to be a ministry to the kids & not want to ask that of them. If possible, I think it would be best if students who need a machine appeal to the church for donations so the machine is theirs (and then there's no need for you to store or service it); I agree with the poster that said it's important that the families have some money invested in the machine -- even $10-20 -- so they don't look at it as a disposable item (that money can go to a Service & Repair Fund for the ministry). I also think it would be nice if the recipients sent little progress reports to their donor about their quilt. That will help encourage people to donate in future years & to spread the word about the program. Students who fall in love with sewing/quilting could keep their machine at the end of class. Students who don't could donate the machine back to the ministry for next year's students (who would follow the same process by contributing to the Service & Repair Fund and writing to the graduated Senior who donated back to the program). Back when I didn't as sew much, I could go 2 years between servicing on my mostly metal Singer Genie. When asking people for donations, be sure to also ask for money for servicing the machines you keep. A great time to do that is at the end of the class by having the students share their projects with the church/donors & talk about what the class meant to them; and, of course, you can ask again when the next class is starting.

Good luck! It sounds like a really wonderful ministry! We had something like that which is mostly adults by us & they rotate the machines around between churches (who share the cost of the machines). Honestly, though, I don't recommend that because moving the machines from church to church is an ordeal. I get why they did it that way -- because that way the machines aren't sitting in closets unused for 9 months a year at each church, and because it is more cost effective to share the machines -- but it just seems like there had to be a better option than that. Still, I guess if it came down to it, finding one or more partners to buy & share the machines with might be an option.