Hi all,
I am looking at replacing my rubbish, cheap singer overlocker. I have thought about buying a commercial, table and all which I have space for moreover I want an overlocker too and the Brother does that as well. I have space for separate machines but, of course this is more money, so my question is: would this Brother (https://www.brothersewingshop.co.uk/sewing-machines/overlock-coverstitch-machines/brother-4234d-overlocker-sewing-machine-brother) be a good sibling to my B755? I am quite a fan of Brother technology, I have never really had a bad product from them.
tom
Surely this is a domestic overlocker? It looks a bit like mine (for which I wrongly paid €280 >:( ). The production ones are much more pricey and look different.
Have I got the wrong end of the stick here?
the only bad I read about it was the noise.
But.......... be used as either an overlock or coverstitch .. (it is in the text of the ad) I do not think it can do a coverstitch.
lg posaune
Is a coverstitch the sort of thing you get on t-shirt hems? With two lines of stitching on the outside and a sort of flat serge stitch on the other side?
Tom,
I have learnt this much about domestic overlockers, if they try to do too much or are electronic, they tend not to do things all that well. My best is an old Bernina 800dl which is still an impeccable machine. I own a very big Elna that does many other things but its a big clunky thing that I don't like all that much. A 5 thread machine is only really used in low cost production so I would tend to go for a strong 4 thread machine that has manual thread tensions and importantly differential feed. Avoid anything electronic.
On my old Bernina I use #75 thread for the two needles and #120 for the two loopers, a lighter machine will have trouble with the heavier needle thread. If you can get a strong 4 thread machine, if you have a reason for a 3 thread variation you can just remove either needle to get either a wide or narrow overlock.
Is there a reason to use a 4-thread stitch just for overlocking? It seems to me that the 4-thread is for when you want to do the main seam and overlock the edge at the same time, but I hardly ever do that and I'm sure many others don't.
I almost exclusively have my overlocker set up with three threads. I tend only to use it for finishing edges of trouser panels and pieces of other garments before starting on them. Also, after fitting, e.g. trousers some of the inlay usually comes off and it just gets trimmed off with a 3-thread overlock stitch.
Previous to the machine I have now (which is domestic) I had this old grey metal 3-thread thing - Köhler or something like that, it was East German anyway - and it always did a great job.
Is a 4-thread stitch really necessary?
If you have a close look at a 4 thread safety overlocked seam, you will see that the inner needle thread secures the two looper threads so it is a lot stronger. Unless you are worried about thread cost which is trivial, a 4 thread safety stitch overlock is both more stable and harder to break.
The overlocked edges are not under tension though, they're merely there to stop ravelling. A 3-thread finish is stable enough; it is the inner needle used for that setup.
:( I'm worried about my old eyes. I have to thread TWO needles.
lg
posaune
I have new vari-focal spectacles.
Quote from: posaune on June 07, 2016, 02:33:04 AM
:( I'm worried about my old eyes. I have to thread TWO needles.
lg
posaune
You don't
have to, surely?
I would check out a Juki 654DE Serger Sewing Machine 3/4 Thread, or something in that family of overlockers. I used to have one but sold it when I got my industrial overlocker. It was pretty smooth and easy to use.
Thanks jeffery I will have a look at those.
;D
Its not the needle threads you have to worry about, I have yet to see an overlocker that was any joy to thread the bottom looper. Best addressed with two pairs of long tweezers and a lot of patience. I wear a jewelers headband and use a bright light to do stuff like this.
I just chicken out and tie the new threads to the old and pull them through. ;)
Quote from: hutch-- on June 07, 2016, 06:25:38 AM
;D
Its not the needle threads you have to worry about, I have yet to see an overlocker that was any joy to thread the bottom looper. Best addressed with two pairs of long tweezers and a lot of patience. I wear a jewelers headband and use a bright light to do stuff like this.
Have you never seen one with an air threading system? Are they unknown down under?
Baby Lock domestic machines have had air threading for some time, e.g. Baby Lock Evolution. And some Juki machines have it as well (Juki MO-1000), although this one looks to me like a Baby Lock clone. (That goes to show that you can't assume the machine is different when the brand name is different.)
Here are some examples:
Juki MO-1000
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DXgUj0Oa7tc
Baby Lock Evolution
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BqqxskiLFk4
Interesting technology and it would certainly take the misery out of threading an overlocker for most people. I would be very wary of auto tensioning and would have to have a very good look at the quality of the results. The noise of the Baby Lock would drive me nuts, the Elna I have is a noisy monster where the Bernina whirs but it is generally a stronger machine. They both have a wide right hand side gap which looks like machines that do a 2 or 3 thread coverstitch.
Most industrials like a Yamato Baby Lock or similar 5 threaders need to be threaded manually but sad to say I could not get one up the stairs. You can buy them for peanuts these days on the second hand market, less than I paid for the Elna that I rarely every use.
That's a neat threading system. Generally though I'm against too much ease in things. It's the route to having populations who don't know how to do stuff. It's definitely why more and more people can't cook, change a plug, fix small appliances. On the other hand I accept that there are those who just need guaranteed usage from their tools and don't have time for fixing problems.
In particular I don't like how its getting harder to fix things yourself on modern cars.
I am throwing my new Juki MO 623 in the garbage tomorrow because nobody wanted it. I have an industrial MO-6814S JUKI.
I will take a picture, when I trash it in the dumpster. You want everything for free, not even giving me 150$.
You are so stingy and poor! Tailoring is not for poor people anymore!
DZ, the machine market is a fickle thing.