Hi there!! I'm considering purchasing a used Bernina 850 machine. Does anyone know anything about this machine? - If it's comparable or not to the Bernina 950. They look similar. I'm guessing that the 850 is just an older model. Any help with this would be greatly appreciated!! Thanks, Darby Paxton
Yes it is Bernina's industrial version. The 850 was earlier model the 950 later and current.
Hey Ron, what were the differences in the 850 models? My friend has one, and when I was looking there were a few concerns, I'm vagely remembering one version lets you barely tap the pedle and get a single stitch and one did not, and one has a motor that is always on like an industrial and one is only on when you use the foot pedal. Like I said these are vague memories.
I have a 950 and if my hubby wasn't handy I'd hate it. The new ones have this honking big clear piece of @%#@#$ in front of the foot. They say it is to prevent needles from flying into your eyes. Well that may be but you can't see to sew. You can't flip it out of the way either. Hubby removed it. The place I bought it would not remove it for safety reasons. I would not have bought it except hubby said that he could get it off. It also had a big piece of wire that is hooked to the foot "to keep your fingers out, because these machines sew so fast and we might get hurt" what a bunch of hooey. Industrial machines have been around for eons. You have to be careful with a home model too.
There is still one thing that I don't like about this machine, and that is that the knee presser lifter doesn't always go back into place so the tension isn't always engaging. Hubby is looking into this too and thinks he has found it. I had no choice but to get this machine way far from home, because the local dealer "doesn't do industrials". wouldn't even talk to me about it.
Other than the above I like the 950 machine.
Sandy
Yes the 800 series machines went through several minor changes, mostly in the electronic controls. The industrial version is the one with the large table and motor always running. As for the 950 foot lifter, I noticed the same thing on a customers. Seams it stays up and you have to tap it to get it to lower. A real pain me thinks for experience industrial sewers. Liability will not even let me tell you to take off those safety items but I rarely see one with them left on. When I worked as an on site mechanic for a clothing manufacturer we had to run and pass out safety glasses and put on needle guards every so often when OSHA came snooping around. They were all neatly back in the drawers by days end. Now having witnessed a girl with a needle stuck in her eye I would recommend safety glasses even for home machine use. It may be a pain and offend the vain but not near as much as loosing an eye.
OOOH was she ok?
Do you have an idea why this gets caught? Hubby has looked and he doesn't find it. I'm going to look again.
Corasande scrawled in bright red lipstick:
all my knee lift machines are like this, I don't think it's a mistake. You can move the knee lift two ways. One is you press against it to take some pressure off the foot for turning a corner or something like that, the other is to use it in lieu of the hand lever, to hold it in an up position, for when you are done and want to pull something out, clip the threads and be done with it. When it's held up, you should just be able to tap it with your knee to lower it.
I don't think it's a pain at all.. the way mine are set up you get a feel for how much pressure each move needs, and it's automatic, I don't even think about it, and I certainly can't live without it.
Penny S
Well then yours doesn't get stuck. Mine does and it does not engage the tension. If yours made thread nests as much as mine does, you would be mad.
Sandy E
Corasande scrawled in bright red lipstick:
on my industrial knee lifts, you can adjust it a bit by moving the knee pad up and down on the bar. I found this made a real difference for me on how easy it was to use. On a domestic Bernina, you can rebend the bar if you need too.
Penny S
There is something that sticks internally on my machine. The knee lift goes back to position but there is a fraction of an inch tiny tiny movement inside the machine that is not always happening. We can't find it. I can hear when it does click, and when it doesn't, but you really really have to listen. So listening isn't practical when you are sewing. The noise is very faint, and the motor noise actually masks it. You can hear it best when the machine is turned off.
It isn't the knee lift itself, it is internal and we will find it. Sandy
In my am blearyness, I checked and i am wrong about the bernina. If the foot is up manually you can whack the knee lift to lower it, or you can hold the foot up with the knee lift, but you CAN'T lock it up like I thought. . I'm too out of it to check the industrails right now.
Corasande scrawled in bright red lipstick:
if you need a bernina mechanic, I was treated over the top by the service folks at
PennynS
I have one of each. I prefer the 850. Smoother running, faster ( that might be the configuration of belt to moter) i think the is a difference in drives. Both machines bought new by me from same place. Grandpa of current owner of store did his own thing setting them up.
First thing I did with my 950 was to remove all the safety crap that just gets in your way. I bought my 850 in 1976. Thought I had worn it out when I bought my 950 in about 2003. Turned out it was timing that was off. After tune up at no charge it runs better than the 950.
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