An Arm Long

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

amandasgramma

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.

CoyoteQuilts

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!

Honeynga

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.

hoppa

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

dunster

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.

gramarraine

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.

Lori S

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 after 2 weeks they quickly rescinded their offer/plans.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.

lfstamper

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.

katiemedarlin

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.