Electronic foot controlers and vintage free arm machines
 

When the subject of overheating foot controllers comes up many of us suggest the old carbon pile or resistor wire controller be replaced with a new electronic one. That way there is a much better control of machine speed, and the controller doesn't get hot.

So .... yesterday I go to Sew-Classic to buy an electronic controller to replace the jerky toggle switch aftermarket one on my wife's 401A and ... you guessed it .... out of stock. Nuts, I guess we told too many folks about them.


My wife does alterations on clothing. Right now she's got 30 pair of pants to shorten the legs on. She wants to use this type of stitch: ___/\___/\___/\___/\___ . I don't remember what it's called. She also needs / wants a free arm type machine. We have a few but all of them have plastic gears and innards.
The best of the bunch is the Bernina 930. The rest are Singers, the newest from around 1990 ish.
Now my question is, can some one(s) suggest an older free arm machine with this stitch built in or available as a cam that is both all metal inside, and affordable?

Joe

The older Kenmores are great! Any of them with the built in cams will have the "blind hem" stitch. Get one with an oscillating hook system that loads in the front or side. Avoid the ones with drop-in bobbins.

Annette,

I've got a really nice Kenmore but their isn't a "blind hem" stitch on the built in cams. And the only one I can find on the replaceable cams is a stretch stitch.
I suppose I could be missing something. I'll check the manual again.

However it's also a flat bed.

I just dug out the 4622A and it's blind hem looks weird. Not to mention it's having top tension problems. Phooey!

Joe

And, depending on the type of material in the slacks, use a "jean" needle so it will go thru the seams better. I also use a "leather" needle. Some are much better then others.

Regarding the machine being a free-arm, I find it easier to do the hems flat-bed & stitch inside the leg instead of wrapped around that free-arm. But, with your wife doing that much sewing, she knows what she wants. Jennie at Sew Classic talks about hems using flat-bed versus free-arm on her website. One machine that comes to mind right away is a Kenmore 148.15600. You can read a review of the 1560 at Stitchnerd or Stitch Nerd. All metal gears, 1 Amp, free-arm, front loading, oscillating hook, low shank foot, etc. The worst part of finding free-arm machines in thrift stores is that the removeable bed is often missing.

My wife says they are mostly gaberdine or a polyester knit. I'll tell her about the needles.

Joe

Realistically, Bernina 530, 630, 730, 830 are all free arm machines and all have built-in blind stitch. I do believe they all have nylon cam stacks, but these machines are pretty tough. My 730 would chew through your jeans in seconds.
Pfaff 330 and 360 are older free arms that have (from memory) steel cams and would also easily do the job. I mention them after the Berninas only because they're so much rarer.
Rarer still are Singer 320K2 and 431Gs. They do everything easily with stitches built in.

http://www.quiltingboard.com/members...24-497546.html << more photos

This is my "CITATION". made by Brother and also sold as Wizard and Mademoiselle, but possibly with different features. The Citation has a built in hemstitch and is a free arm with large(ish) extension table. I'm not so impressed with the quality of the straight stitch but the zz and hemstitch look good. It is fast, all metal, I believe, made in Taiwan.
Hemstitch is on the dial.

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Joe, the cams for the Singer 328 have a blind stitch cam. I got one with my machine new, it's a number 3 flat cam for the Singer 328K -- and i know I've read that you have a 328K! Although it's definitely not a free-arm machine, it does a great job!

Jeanette

Joe,

My wife does those types of alterations on her Singer 401A.

CD in Oklahoma