Thanks Rev!
I did notice that the tape sellers made mention of how it was important to wipe the needle clean with Goof Off or the like.
I will be carful and try to keep the needle clean or the tape will go into the black hole that is the junk drawer.
Awesome! Looking forward to pics and video!Originally Posted by rockroot=:-(
Psalm 46:10
Would a machine like this handle straps and or heavier materials like would be use to make a back pack? I keep eyeing these every time I walk through walmart...
They will work.... up to a point. As a personal statement I do not recommend them as high use or heavy use machines. So it depends on what you want to do and accomplish. Check the warranty period on them. Typically the workings are warranted for only 5 years. The frame may be warranted for 25 years but that's like saying the automobile engine block (not the seals or the head) is warranted for 25 years. What's gonna happen to the frame? Not much.
Compare that to one of the older machines available for often the same cost or less which are still going strong after 40 - 60 years with just simple periodic maintenance. The critical components, the gears and electronics in the super cheap machines are not meant for the long haul. If anything goes bad on them the cost of repair, if possible at all, will exceed the cost of buying another one. So it depends on what you want.
For heavy use such as ballistic nylon, leather reinforcements and the like I would suggest an older metal geared workhorse. Ask around your female friends/relatives of a certain age. There may be a good machine lurking in the closet, attic of basement. Check my "guidelines" post in my sig. Others seem to have found it helpful.
I may be slow... But I sure am gimpy.
"Bless you child, when you set out to thread a needle don't hold the thread still and fetch the needle up to it; hold the needle still and poke the thread at it; that's the way a woman most always does, but a man always does t'other way."
Mrs. Loftus to Huck Finn
We Don't Sew... We Make Gear! video series
Important thread injector guidelines especially for Newbies
Bobbin Tension - A Personal Viewpoint
If you start looking at machines for more money you end up realizing that the ones with a ton of stitch options cost more. Moreover, the really expensive ones are all about people who use them every day etc.
I was tempted to buy one from craigslist but I figured the extra $30-$50 I would spend on a new one would include the owners and operating manual, allow me to get the manufacturers warranty and I would know what I was getting was well maintained from the start.
As with every piece of equipment I have ever gotten in the past I ultimately will upgrade. As for now I am thinking of just adding some Mossy Green Vinyl tape to it and maybe painting the rest in a tough guy thread injector kind of way :-)
Congrats on the new machine. My best friend's wife just gave me her portable machine, and I started reparing my old stuff sacks and such. The learning curve isn't quite as steep as I thought, and I've been getting a little better with each pass. luckily it isn't rocket science, and it doesn't have to be absolutely perfect (okay it does, but that's mostly me). I don't know about you, but I can't practice a thing like this on scraps that I'm just going to throw away. I have to be working on something real to feel like it matters. If you're like that, start with something easy, with straight lines.
From now on, I'm going to call it thread welding.
I'd love to own a surger (especially if it came with someone to thread it for me).
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