Great post - I have an 830 Record in beautiful condition, and had another one that I sold to another sewing enthusiast. The 830 is absolutely my go-to machine when I travel, since it fits neatly into its red case, has a ton of accessories, and is great across a wide variety of sewing needs, from very fine silks and chiffons to sewing through multiple layers of denim and vinyl. I love how easily it threads up and how quiet and smooth it is. Both of the 830s I have had were frozen up from lack of use and needed alot of cleaning, oiling, heating, and mechanical manipulation before they got their groove back - but overall, very reliable machines with beautiful stitch quality, great ease of use, tons of available accessories, and decent portability. As you said, they need to be run often enough that the lubrication doesn't get a chance to stiffen,.
Modern machines have a problem with the computer. Once you start using the computer, if you leave them sitting around unused for long periods of time, those components have a tendency to fail. Manufacturers order spare boards before they launch the machine and they guess at how many they may require for a reasonable period of time, say, 10 years. Within a much shorter period of time, the components used on those boards will no longer be available, so in 10 years' time the manufacturer cannot order any more boards to suit that machine. So the modern machine won't seize up in the same way that the old one will, but it's still a paperweight when the board fails and spares are nowhere to be found. With a cheaper machine, the manufacturer may not order as many boards as they would for a more expensive machine. With cheap machines, it's cheaper to throw them away than repair them.
I bought a 700 series (I can't remember which one, but it was the free arm, not the flat bed) in the mid 90s as I was taking a class in freemotion embroidery, and my normal machine doesn't have the ability to drop the feed dogs.
The only problem I ever had with it was that the faster it goes, the longer the stitches. I finally got it fixed, and eventually donated it to my daughter.
I missed it so much that I recently bought a 1020, which came with all the original feet. I've nearly finished unpacking my sewing room, and I'm looking forward to seeing how she runs.
I have two great Berninas, 440QE and 880Plus but my still treasured machine from 1980 is a Pfaff 1222E that still runs perfectly. It is solid metal construction unlike the later Pfaffs. I did not have access to purchase a Bernina in 1980 but look at the "Records" and think that are similar to my Pfaff 1222E. Although I mainly use the Bernina due to having 1/4 inch feet I still run my Pfaff regularly.
Great post - I have an 830 Record in beautiful condition, and had another one that I sold to another sewing enthusiast. The 830 is absolutely my go-to machine when I travel, since it fits neatly into its red case, has a ton of accessories, and is great across a wide variety of sewing needs, from very fine silks and chiffons to sewing through multiple layers of denim and vinyl. I love how easily it threads up and how quiet and smooth it is. Both of the 830s I have had were frozen up from lack of use and needed alot of cleaning, oiling, heating, and mechanical manipulation before they got their groove back - but overall, very reliable machines with beautiful stitch quality, great ease of use, tons of available accessories, and decent portability. As you said, they need to be run often enough that the lubrication doesn't get a chance to stiffen,.
Modern machines have a problem with the computer. Once you start using the computer, if you leave them sitting around unused for long periods of time, those components have a tendency to fail. Manufacturers order spare boards before they launch the machine and they guess at how many they may require for a reasonable period of time, say, 10 years. Within a much shorter period of time, the components used on those boards will no longer be available, so in 10 years' time the manufacturer cannot order any more boards to suit that machine. So the modern machine won't seize up in the same way that the old one will, but it's still a paperweight when the board fails and spares are nowhere to be found. With a cheaper machine, the manufacturer may not order as many boards as they would for a more expensive machine. With cheap machines, it's cheaper to throw them away than repair them.
I bought a 700 series (I can't remember which one, but it was the free arm, not the flat bed) in the mid 90s as I was taking a class in freemotion embroidery, and my normal machine doesn't have the ability to drop the feed dogs.
The only problem I ever had with it was that the faster it goes, the longer the stitches. I finally got it fixed, and eventually donated it to my daughter.
I missed it so much that I recently bought a 1020, which came with all the original feet. I've nearly finished unpacking my sewing room, and I'm looking forward to seeing how she runs.
Thanks! I picked a Record 830 off the side of the road. I'm very impressed with her. She is one of my regular go to machines!
I have two great Berninas, 440QE and 880Plus but my still treasured machine from 1980 is a Pfaff 1222E that still runs perfectly. It is solid metal construction unlike the later Pfaffs. I did not have access to purchase a Bernina in 1980 but look at the "Records" and think that are similar to my Pfaff 1222E. Although I mainly use the Bernina due to having 1/4 inch feet I still run my Pfaff regularly.
By "freezing" do you mean the oil evaporated and perhaps left sticky residue?