It would be cheaper to buy a good used machine when you get there than to ship one.

I think that video was on TV here in Australia a couple of months ago!
Mike

Oh, Mike, I know it is a very old video... it is kind of funny though...

Buying a new, or new to you machine at your destination is one option. But then you'd have an unknown machine, perhaps with unknown troubles. And you might not be able to find one like you want.
Were it me, I'd take extreme care in packing my familiar machine and supplies and ship it. That way I'd know the machine and wouldn't need to learn a new machine in an unfamiliar location.

JMHO

Joe

Here is a file from wefixit, a sewing machine repair site, by msldesignprint about packing machines. I advise you to send it Fed EX. I've seen what UPS does to machines! Some semi-professionals will pack the cover in another box.

my method of packing


This method is suitable for all tabletop machines built like the old Singers etc. That is to say, any machine on a wooden or plastic base, with a separate box top.



First I cut a piece of styrofoam, (I don’t know the name in the States, it is a dense lightweight Polystyrene that is used in the building trade as insulation. It is usually available in smallish sheets from builders suppliers, and is dirt-cheap), the same size as the base of the machine. Stand the machine on it, minus the box top. Then I wrap the base of the machine and the Styrofoam with wrapping film. I use industrial strength, but good quality food strength will do just as well, you just need more of it. This stops the possibility of the machine coming adrift from it’s base, and probably damaging not only the box top but the machine itself. Assuming that there are accessories in the side compartment in older machines or where ever they are, I cover them with soft pliable foam to stop them rattling.

The using the same film, I wrap the machine head with several layers until the hand wheel is locked and immovable. In the case of older machines with wooden tops, I insert empty plastic soft drinks bottles with their tops firmly on, each side of the machine head, tucking the neck under the wrapping film to secure them, and then replace the box top. (I have WEFIXIT to thank for this one). It might seem as if there isn’t room for the bottles, but if you persevere, working gently, you will compress the bottles enough to allow the box top to fit and lock. Having done so, you will find that the machine and box are as good as one, and there will no longer be a rattle. Possibly not so important for internal shipping, but it certainly is for overseas.

I now take a sheet of the pliable foam large enough to cover the whole thing, sides, and ends. I use 2” wide self-adhesive parcel tape to secure it to itself so that it becomes the same shape as the box top. I have been unable to obtain the right size boxes; they are all too large, too small or not strong enough. So I use what we call printers A4 boxes, open them up and then join them together to suit so that the whole machine is covered. The most important thing that must be done, whatever carton is used, is that it MUST fit the inside packing really tightly, so that there can be no movement at all. I hold it all together with the 2” parcel tape. Then the final wrapping is back to the film, and the whole package is covered in several layers, with the final layer enclosing the sheet with the name and address of the recipient on the top of the box, in the hope that it will be shipped that way up. I do this last bit as additional security, and I like to think that even were it to be dropped into a pond, and was retrieved, no harm would have come to the machine. The same applies of course if it were left out in the rain for any length of time.

This procedure takes me about 20 to 30 minutes, not much out of a lifetime to ensure that you give good service.

You might be able to ship it, packed as above, with Greyhound bus lines. They do take those kinds of things for about half the price another carrier charges. Can you get to a Greyhound terminal on both ends of your trip?

I would not take it on a plane if it were mine unless it can go under a seat. Even so, Bonnie Hunters Featherweight could go under the seat in front of her but someone in that seat had his stuff there and the stewardess did not enforce her right to use the space. The stewardess insisted she check it and the airline broke it and her computer. I don't know which airline it was. I wouldn't trust United, though.

Awesome. Havn't seen that one before. I'd like to see a UPS, USPS, or Fed Ex video / song.

Jon

If you write one and perform it you might go viral on Utube... well, if it is a good video

How's this for a start (and probable end):

The UPS man left the package by the step
My poor little Singer got broke at the neck

It's hilarious! Took me days to get the song out of my head :-)