Macybaby

I love it too - It's a reason I just had to buy a Singe Genie - just because of how the machine is part of the case.

Rodney

I've seen one or two of the Genies pass by on shopgoodwill and have been intrigued with them because of the case. I'm not sure why, but I don't think I've seen more than one or two mentions of them here. Maybe people don't quite think they're vintage enough yet. The Riccar is borderline to me, certainly newer than what I normally go for. The Riccar is starting to get into the electronic machine group with the push button speed control and it looks like it has needle up and down too. I haven't had the top off yet to see if the stitch selector is electronic or a cam stack yet.
Rodney

Rodney

I was talking with Joe on his "Weird Machine" thread and drifted off-topic so I decided to switch back here.
Here's where we left off.
Quoted from Joe:
"Rodney,

That sounds like a weird machine. Three speeds controlled by buttons. So you have to push a button to make it sew then push the button to stop it? I can see having a tortoise and hare switch like my wife's Bernina 930 and our T&S but they also have foot controllers.

Your machine would be extremely awkward to use I imagine.

Joe "

That's exactly what it is. It has 3 buttons for speed control. One arrow for slow up to 3 arrows for fast, a reverse button and 2 stop buttons. One stop button is needle up, the other needle down.
I know there's plenty of new machines with push button controls and people seem to like them but I've never used a push button machine before. It just seems awkward to me to have to take your hand off the work to hit a stop button before you go too far. That's why I'm seriously thinking about rounding up a small on/off/on switch and a 2 conductor connector to wire in a foot switch while still keeping the push buttons operational if someone prefers. The only reason I even hesitate is because I'd have to cut or drill an extra hole or two in the machine to do it. It may make more sense to wire the foot control in between the motor and the three speed switches. That would give 3 variable speed ranges like the Bernina and T&S machines, plus I wouldn't have to mount a switch.
I think it should have came from the factory with variable speed. Maybe RICCAR thought it was more important to market the modern technology instead of staying with conventional methods.
While I'm not necessarily against new things I do believe conventional is conventional for good reasons.
Rodney

Msnappy

interesting machine.