reliability of Berninas

The later 930's did have the needle up/down feature. Mine does. I just tap the foot controller and it goes. I think the 1008 is really just an updated 930. The style nearly the same even. Several show up at guild classes and folks seem as happy as John is with his. The one thing my

The current 1008 does not have the needle up/down as a feature. I have that feature on the janome 1600 and it is more useful when I am quilting the sandwich of fabric on the quilt. I have the Aurora 430 which does have that feature, but I use that machine for clothing construction and rarely use that feature. I guess it all comes down to what I am doing with what machine, and that is probably true for other folks.

John

I use the up/down on my Lily a lot, but I've never missed it on the Bernina... I use both equally for clothing and quilts and bags and all sorts. It's great when I have it, but I don't fret if I don't.

Yes...mine is the earlier version 930. There was a discussion on the Something 30s Bernina Yahoo group once about getting the older version adjusted to do needle u/d. One gal had the earlier Bernina 930 and had a Bernina tech adjust it so that it would drop the needle when finished sewing.. Well, before I ( always the procrastinator ) could get mine to a Bernina tech my gd accidentally broke it. I think that this fall I'm going to inquire about that as I would love that one feature.

This is part of the email that she sent me: I contacted my service tech to see if I could take it to him for cleaning/adjustments etc. I asked him about the needle stop down. He said...first of all do not try to do it yourself. When the hand wheel has been removed if it is put back on opposite than it should be the needle will stop down. He told me something about electric eye and circuit breaker but if you tell your tech the above he should know what you mean. I hope this helps you and I want to know if you get it done.

After rereading this I think that perhaps when mine was repaired last year ( after gd incident ) that the hand wheel must have been put on opposite as mine always stops in the down position now. Apparently it is either up or down and not something you can choose...oh well,, I still love that machine !!!

Mary

Bernina...I

accidentally

On Aug 28, 5:45=A0am, Martha wrote: ...

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Martha,

I think that one can have difficulties with any brand of machine.

Some others have extolled the qualities of Janome machines, but I've had trouble with two of them, which were purchased ~6 months apart. My Janome MC6500P was trouble free until it just went out of warrenty. They could not fix it at the local shop, so I had to send it into Janome. They sent it back with one thing fixed, but with something related broken, so I had to send it in to them again (long turn arounds each time + shipping costs). I got rid of that machine afterwards. I still have my other Janome, a MC10001. I had so much trouble with the tension on the 10001 right from the start. It was in the shop numerous times, and into Janome three times. Sometimes it would sew beautifully; at others it would only create huge thread nests. Janome eventually replaced the head, but I was essentially without the machine for over 6-months. I would have sold that one too, but I would not have been able to get my investment out of it. The 11000 came out and the price 10001 machines plummeted. The only problem I've had with the new head was my own fault (I still can't believe I did that!!!).

The machine I use most now is a small Bernina Activa 240. I use it for most of my sewing and would not part with it even if I got a bigger Bernina. Unlike John, I've had no problems with my Activa. I do think that the solid feet sew better than the snap on ones. For someone like me, who is not an excellent seamstress, this makes a difference. I've thought of purchasing a bigger Bernina, but I & my DH had an encounter at my local Bernina shop with one of the sales ladies, which put me off.

Bev in TX