When is a FW not worth the money
06-29-2013, 07:01 AM
#11
Super Member
Join Date: Aug 2009
Location: Ky. USA
Posts: 2,829
I agree talk them way down, then You can get the DVD "those fantastic featherweights" by David R McCallum, he shows very clearly how to take care of and fix most problems on the machines, just watching the DVD got me so excited, Hay I can do this! Best DVD I ever bought!! he has a book too will get that next.
06-29-2013, 07:09 AM
#12
Super Member
Join Date: Feb 2010
Location: Pittsburg, Kansas
Posts: 1,691
If you decide on it and have it serviced--yourself or a tech., and it gets to running perfectly, bet you will enjoy it. I love mine. I bought it about 9 yrs. ago, and paid $500. That sounds like a lot, but at the time, there weren't very many floating around. They come and go, like everything else. Wouldn't trade mine for anything. Mariah
06-30-2013, 04:53 AM
#13
Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Nov 2012
Location: Farm in rural Iowa
Posts: 4
Thanks for all the good advice. I'm going to make an offer and see if they will accept that. If not.....I will just keep searching. My husband is really good at fixing....so between the 2 of us I'm hoping we can make her purrrr.
07-04-2013, 04:59 AM
#16
Senior Member
Join Date: May 2013
Posts: 670
Dear Group; I read with interest this thread. I decided to copy and paste here some of what I wrote on another forum, and as advice to a friend who was looking for a Featherweight.
I do have a Featherweight, and love it very much. That said, I am amazed at what seems to be a FeatherWeightMania concerning prices. I mean -no- offense to anyone who paid a lot for their FW and is happy with that. We are all different and we all have our own measure of what is worth it and what is not. Following is just some food for thought. Some of it applied to a particular sale my friend was looking at, but it can all, I think, be useful for those buying a FW.
------------------------------------
You are smart to ask advice as to what to look for! Essentially a FW is not a FW is not a FW; some are in rather rough shape. Just because something is a FW does not mean it carries value; value is in its working order, or the time spent on it, etc. For example, (this next bit is my opinion only!) a FW sitting on a shelf may or may not be in great condition, and may or may not be "worth" much. However, a pristine FW which has just come off, say, Featherweight Champion Graham F's workbench and has been expertly tended to and brought up to code both cosmetically and functionally, -does- necessarily have value, as a real person has spent real time and real expertise bringing it up to snuff. I would hazard to say, for example, that much of the price of a GF FW is likely his time and expertise; not the piece of machine which is the FW. So, the price tag on a professionally refurbished machine (caveat, caveat: from a reputable expert!!!) does not necessarily belong on any machine just because it is a "FW".
In my opinion, many people pay much too much for FWs without considering the particular machine's value/shortcomings/why they want a FW.
Do you want a lightweight machine? You could get a Janome Jem for $200, 12 pounds, 15 year warranty, 9 stitches, etc etc etc. But it will smell like plastic and sound like an electric staple gun. Hmmm.
Do you want a solid single stitcher? You can get a solid-as-a-tank old single stitcher for $30, which will sew every bit as beautiful a single stitch as a FW. But it will weigh 40 pounds, so you won't be taking it to quilting luncheons, guaranteed ;-) Hmmm again.
So, if you know that want a FW: Do you want it to collect and sit on a shelf and remain pristine cosmetically and not be used? Or do you want a functional FW to use? Either one is a fine way to be, or some combination of both; but you will have different paramaters and criteria depending, so do know what your purpose is. Now, all that said:
-Know what you are buying; you must feel good about your purchase, not pressured.
-If you do not/cannot know enough and are willing to take a chance, then ensure that you are prepared psychologically and financially for the gamble of your purchase being a lemon. If the money which you gamble is entirely lost, will you be sad? It might be GREAT (as my FW is!) and it might be a lemon, as some of my other stitchers have been. As long as you are at peace with that gamble, then that is fine.
-Case; if no original case, it -instantly- loses almost "Collector's" value, for most people who deal in collecting Featherweights will not even consider one without a case. If you like the machine and it works and you want it as a functioning machine but it has no case, consider something like $X, tops. (I am deleting the money part in case that is not kosher to talk about here.)
-If case is present but if condition of case is battered, use that as a bargaining chip to go down to $X.
-Buttonholer is useless, but maybe you consider it cute to have; use that as a bargaining chip with other flaws; ie compromised cosmetics elsewhere, so maybe $X for machine plus buttonholer.
-Finish of machine: If it is pockmarked etc, then consider again if you want it as a collector or as a user. Either way, the price should not be high if it is a compromised finish.
Decide this: Do you consider yourself a user or a collector? If there are cosmetic flaws, but if all those cosmetic things (which matter more to a collector than a a user) do not bother you as a user, then be frank with him that this machine has little to no collector value, and therefore you'd be willing to pay him a user-price, not a collector price. For example, $X. If he is a Sheister, he will know this and be trying to sell it as a cash grab. If he is a good guy who just doesn't know better, then he will be reasonable and consider this.
Now; about function:
-Plug in, disengage the flywheel, run the motor slowly from nothing, see if the motor starts smoothly and cleanly, and if it runs without needing a manual boost from the flywheel. It should run slowly if you want it to, and should ramp up gently as you tell it to with the pedal. If it groans and creaks, that means maintenance, and knock $50 or more of the price if you even want to deal with it.
-Bring thread and a handkerchief. Make sure it sews. Make sure you know how to thread it, which is thread RIGHT to LEFT into the needle, even though that may look backwards to many of us. Make sure needle is in with flat spot to the left.
-Make sure bobbin and bobbin case (which holds bobbin in machine) are present.
-Check for rust. Visual inspection outside, plus open the bottom of the machine. There is a lone screw which is hand-openable, on the bottom of the machine, which removes a platform which grants access to the underside of the machine. Look in here for happy metal or sad metal. Also open the side plate, and look at those gears and moving parts for happy metal or sad metal.
(Bring a screwdriver for the side plate opening)
If there is a -tiny- amount of surface rust which looks as though it could be emery-clothed away from some of the parts, that is fine. However, if there is any appreciable rust, walk away, or offer him $20 for it as a bedside lamp.
-See that bulb works; if not, it may be the bulb, but it may be the wiring. Bring a new bulb to try, or just know that you may need to re-wire. Rewiring is not a big deal, but all these things add up. Or, subtract down ;-)
And remember; Singer made about 2 million of these things. So if this one looks like too much hassle, do not take it; there will be others.
I hope this helps! If anyone else has anything to add, please do! I would love to know what other look for, in case I am missing something.
-Cecilia
I do have a Featherweight, and love it very much. That said, I am amazed at what seems to be a FeatherWeightMania concerning prices. I mean -no- offense to anyone who paid a lot for their FW and is happy with that. We are all different and we all have our own measure of what is worth it and what is not. Following is just some food for thought. Some of it applied to a particular sale my friend was looking at, but it can all, I think, be useful for those buying a FW.
------------------------------------
You are smart to ask advice as to what to look for! Essentially a FW is not a FW is not a FW; some are in rather rough shape. Just because something is a FW does not mean it carries value; value is in its working order, or the time spent on it, etc. For example, (this next bit is my opinion only!) a FW sitting on a shelf may or may not be in great condition, and may or may not be "worth" much. However, a pristine FW which has just come off, say, Featherweight Champion Graham F's workbench and has been expertly tended to and brought up to code both cosmetically and functionally, -does- necessarily have value, as a real person has spent real time and real expertise bringing it up to snuff. I would hazard to say, for example, that much of the price of a GF FW is likely his time and expertise; not the piece of machine which is the FW. So, the price tag on a professionally refurbished machine (caveat, caveat: from a reputable expert!!!) does not necessarily belong on any machine just because it is a "FW".
In my opinion, many people pay much too much for FWs without considering the particular machine's value/shortcomings/why they want a FW.
Do you want a lightweight machine? You could get a Janome Jem for $200, 12 pounds, 15 year warranty, 9 stitches, etc etc etc. But it will smell like plastic and sound like an electric staple gun. Hmmm.
Do you want a solid single stitcher? You can get a solid-as-a-tank old single stitcher for $30, which will sew every bit as beautiful a single stitch as a FW. But it will weigh 40 pounds, so you won't be taking it to quilting luncheons, guaranteed ;-) Hmmm again.
So, if you know that want a FW: Do you want it to collect and sit on a shelf and remain pristine cosmetically and not be used? Or do you want a functional FW to use? Either one is a fine way to be, or some combination of both; but you will have different paramaters and criteria depending, so do know what your purpose is. Now, all that said:
-Know what you are buying; you must feel good about your purchase, not pressured.
-If you do not/cannot know enough and are willing to take a chance, then ensure that you are prepared psychologically and financially for the gamble of your purchase being a lemon. If the money which you gamble is entirely lost, will you be sad? It might be GREAT (as my FW is!) and it might be a lemon, as some of my other stitchers have been. As long as you are at peace with that gamble, then that is fine.
-Case; if no original case, it -instantly- loses almost "Collector's" value, for most people who deal in collecting Featherweights will not even consider one without a case. If you like the machine and it works and you want it as a functioning machine but it has no case, consider something like $X, tops. (I am deleting the money part in case that is not kosher to talk about here.)
-If case is present but if condition of case is battered, use that as a bargaining chip to go down to $X.
-Buttonholer is useless, but maybe you consider it cute to have; use that as a bargaining chip with other flaws; ie compromised cosmetics elsewhere, so maybe $X for machine plus buttonholer.
-Finish of machine: If it is pockmarked etc, then consider again if you want it as a collector or as a user. Either way, the price should not be high if it is a compromised finish.
Decide this: Do you consider yourself a user or a collector? If there are cosmetic flaws, but if all those cosmetic things (which matter more to a collector than a a user) do not bother you as a user, then be frank with him that this machine has little to no collector value, and therefore you'd be willing to pay him a user-price, not a collector price. For example, $X. If he is a Sheister, he will know this and be trying to sell it as a cash grab. If he is a good guy who just doesn't know better, then he will be reasonable and consider this.
Now; about function:
-Plug in, disengage the flywheel, run the motor slowly from nothing, see if the motor starts smoothly and cleanly, and if it runs without needing a manual boost from the flywheel. It should run slowly if you want it to, and should ramp up gently as you tell it to with the pedal. If it groans and creaks, that means maintenance, and knock $50 or more of the price if you even want to deal with it.
-Bring thread and a handkerchief. Make sure it sews. Make sure you know how to thread it, which is thread RIGHT to LEFT into the needle, even though that may look backwards to many of us. Make sure needle is in with flat spot to the left.
-Make sure bobbin and bobbin case (which holds bobbin in machine) are present.
-Check for rust. Visual inspection outside, plus open the bottom of the machine. There is a lone screw which is hand-openable, on the bottom of the machine, which removes a platform which grants access to the underside of the machine. Look in here for happy metal or sad metal. Also open the side plate, and look at those gears and moving parts for happy metal or sad metal.
(Bring a screwdriver for the side plate opening)
If there is a -tiny- amount of surface rust which looks as though it could be emery-clothed away from some of the parts, that is fine. However, if there is any appreciable rust, walk away, or offer him $20 for it as a bedside lamp.
-See that bulb works; if not, it may be the bulb, but it may be the wiring. Bring a new bulb to try, or just know that you may need to re-wire. Rewiring is not a big deal, but all these things add up. Or, subtract down ;-)
And remember; Singer made about 2 million of these things. So if this one looks like too much hassle, do not take it; there will be others.
I hope this helps! If anyone else has anything to add, please do! I would love to know what other look for, in case I am missing something.
-Cecilia
07-04-2013, 05:05 AM
#17
Senior Member
Join Date: May 2013
Posts: 670
Also, just my opinion - $200 is far too much for that machine. I would offer $50, showing them that it does not actually work and citing that you would be taking on a real maintenance project. Make sure they know you are not just being a grabber and low-balling unreasonably. Tell them there are 2 million more out there. Remember: Cute, but not rare. Don't let the little FW's Pound-Puppy-Appeal reel you in. ;-)
Prices only go nutty high if people pay it. Don't pay it, don't add to the mania, and prices will come down to something sensible.
If you do get it, for whatever price (which is totally your choice, your call!) then know that there are plenty of helpful folk here who will assist you in getting it up to snuff, if you are handy and ready to tinker. Just check for rust! Rust = Run Away. Other than rust, most things are quite easily tinkerable.
:-)
Prices only go nutty high if people pay it. Don't pay it, don't add to the mania, and prices will come down to something sensible.
If you do get it, for whatever price (which is totally your choice, your call!) then know that there are plenty of helpful folk here who will assist you in getting it up to snuff, if you are handy and ready to tinker. Just check for rust! Rust = Run Away. Other than rust, most things are quite easily tinkerable.
:-)
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