Longarm vs Shortarm

There's no absolute definition, but the most common one I've seen is 18" throat or larger is longarm, less than 18 but larger than 10 is midarm.

Ultimately, it's just a label anyways. :)

I've also heard it referred to as mid arm and short arm, but I think calling it a short arm does it a disservice. I've used one and you have a very good work space in front of you, it actually had me asking how do you actually use the full space of a long arm as with the needle furthest away from me I was leaning over almost as far as I was comfortable. Compare that to a short arm where you really don't have that much space to move and you have to plan carefully or really restrict your design choices.

Cheers Anne

Thanks Kathy. I've never seen it explained with the dimensions like this before. So that really helps. I've been looking at a website that makes groovy boards and styluses for a variety of different machines. They are listed for shortarm, midarm and longarm. It just got me to thinking about what makes the distinction between the machines and I haven't been able to find any really good information about it.

Hugs, Mika

I agree Anne, I think calling it a shortarm does it a great disservice. I had a Viking Mega Quilter, which I loved, but it was a short arm and had so much less throat space than my HQ16. It's wonderful for quilting 12" blocks which is more difficult on a shortarm. I just didn't know what made the distinction between them all.

Hugs, Mika