Singer 404?
 

I may have a chance to buy a 404 for about the price of a coffee.

Does anyone have anything to say about that machine, as in, will it be worth my time tinkering on it? It looks CLEAN and PRISTINE but needs stitch adjustment. I am sure I can handle it; I am just wondering if it is a wise use of my life minutes. Comments on this model as compared with other Singers would be much appreciated!

-Cecilia

The 404 is a good machine. Well worth the price of coffee.

YES! One time I bought 12 of them. 2 were for parts and I got the rest to work - very under rated and under valued. I think they are great little machines - very simple to use and maintain. Schools had them back in the days when people learned to sew. :thumbup:
http://www.quiltingboard.com/vintage...e-t206688.html

When you say little, are they actually little? Or did you just mean in the casual sense of "great little machine..."?

p.s. It's not so much about the price of the coffee, as it is my time - the thing is, is it worth my bother, you know? We get to a point when we have --insert number of machines here-- where time becomes more valuable than coffee munney.

Its the same size as any other machine - it is fairly light weight. I like them better than the 301 because it is easier to do the bobbin area - using it and cleaning it...

Not my favorite series because of the drop in bobbin and its inability to FMQ. If I'm going to have space issues, I need my straight stitch only machines to do what I need and that's FMQ as well as stitch a straight line. If I have a SS that can't do both it usually goes out the door. I've sold several of this model. For sure it's worth a cup of coffee. But to keep? For me, no.

For me I LOVE the drop in bobbin but I DON'T love the 301 or FW bobbin. The 404 bobbins can interchange with other machines that use the class 66 bobbin, too - saves a lot of thread and time. That bobbin holds more thread. Have you tried to cover the bobbin plate with the button holer cover thingy when you FM? I'm thinking one of my industrial machines had a drop in bobbin - never gave a problem at high speed.

What kind of coffee are we talking about? McCafe or Starbucks?

I loved it for piecing because it is straight stitch only, but as Candace says, it isn't much for FMQ. It will use a slant walking foot for straight line quilting if that is your thing. It is a full size machine with very little that can go wrong. If you are okay with the horizontal class 66 bobbin set up, get it. It is a pretty quiet machine

If you don't have a slant machine it will be nice for you to try one. I really like the slant needle/shank. Very easy to see the work. But I don't FMQ (yet, anyway). If you're feeling very stingy with your "life minutes", and you want a ZZ slant machine, you could wait until you find a 403 or 401 or 500 or 503, but it might be decades before you find one for 10 cents a pound. And the 404 will be easier to service because it doesn't have zz or a cam stack. I like the drop-in bobbin, too. If you're used to vertical shank machines with side loading bobbins the 404 is like another world. Why not explore?