The Sewing Machine Master Guide : From Basic to Expert by Clif review
Excellent guide to sewing machine basics, general machine service & repair information covering a broad variety of machines, great for collectors too!
If you are looking for a good general reference manual about sewing machine buying, with repair & service information, this is an excellent source for that kind of information. It covers home, or domestic sewing machines, as well as some industrial machines.
Of course, no manual can have the specifics on every single sewing machine, there simply wouldn't be room in one book, except perhaps an electronic book, to store all of that information. For computerized, or specialized information on very complicated machines, or for information on special features which are proprietary, you would still require a technical manual for that specific machine, but for the majority of mechanical sewing machines, but you can figure out the basic operations of stitch formation, timing, feeding system, specialty stitch selectors & controls, motor & electrical systems, with this manual, & a little ingenuity & mechanical aptitude.
I have not seen the electronic version of this manual, only the printed manual, & I have heard that other people say the electronic one is missing photos, so if you need the photos, the printed manual would be your best bet, assuming they were correct, & their electronic reader wasn't malfunctioning!
There is an enormous market for used mechanical sewing machines, with social media driving a group of serious sewing machine collectors, some of whom are actually starting their own museums, often owning 40 or more machines, hoping to save vintage mechanical sewing machines from being recycled back into basic metals, or being otherwise wasted or destroyed, as waste, particularly in landfills. As collectors learn of models with special features, particularly the heavier duty mechanical machines, the demand for those models increases, as do prices.
Many serious sewing machine collectors enjoy servicing, maintaining, & even repairing, or completely making over mechanical sewing machines, even stripping them down to bare metal, & repainting them, as is popular among many Singer Featherweight 221 & 222 fans. This manual could be of help to most of these collectors, particularly if they collect more than one model of sewing machine.
Some special features of specific models, is not included in this manual, so you would need to acquire the technical service manual for specific machines, if you need detailed information about those features unique to that company, or their special models. For example, it states that class 15 bobbin system sewing machines, with the side facing bobbin system, cannot sew with twin needles. However, the vintage Necchi Supernovas, Mira, Nora, & other Necchi models, were designed to use twin needles, one in front of the other, instead of the typical side by side needles, but a special throat plate, special presser foot (with two zigzag openings, one in front of the other, with a thin wire of metal between them) are required for this special feature. At this time, these are the only sewing machines that I am aware of, which do offer this special feature, so it would be nice if this were added at some time, to future editions.
One item I would like to see added to this manual, is the information in the section about sergers mentions that all sergers have tension knobs which must be adjusted, to set the serger for each stitch, but there are now various brands & models which have done away with tension control knobs on sergers, such as the Babylock Imagine, Evolve, Evolution & Ovation. A simple switch, or one control knob can be set to whichever stitch, without requiring individual thread settings to be dialed in, making these brand & models of sergers immensely easier to master! They are expensive, but to those who enjoy sewing, who can afford it, the time & frustration saved, can add up to many more successful sewing projects, in much shorter time of sewing!
I will try to add more as I have more time, but I do highly recommend "The Sewing Machine Master Guide from Basics to Expert", by Clifford L. Blodget, to anyone interested in either fixing up & selling, or collecting vintage sewing machines. It has so much very good information, which isn't broadly available, except in this manual, or in online sewing machine collector groups.
Of course, no manual can have the specifics on every single sewing machine, there simply wouldn't be room in one book, except perhaps an electronic book, to store all of that information. For computerized, or specialized information on very complicated machines, or for information on special features which are proprietary, you would still require a technical manual for that specific machine, but for the majority of mechanical sewing machines, but you can figure out the basic operations of stitch formation, timing, feeding system, specialty stitch selectors & controls, motor & electrical systems, with this manual, & a little ingenuity & mechanical aptitude.
I have not seen the electronic version of this manual, only the printed manual, & I have heard that other people say the electronic one is missing photos, so if you need the photos, the printed manual would be your best bet, assuming they were correct, & their electronic reader wasn't malfunctioning!
There is an enormous market for used mechanical sewing machines, with social media driving a group of serious sewing machine collectors, some of whom are actually starting their own museums, often owning 40 or more machines, hoping to save vintage mechanical sewing machines from being recycled back into basic metals, or being otherwise wasted or destroyed, as waste, particularly in landfills. As collectors learn of models with special features, particularly the heavier duty mechanical machines, the demand for those models increases, as do prices.
Many serious sewing machine collectors enjoy servicing, maintaining, & even repairing, or completely making over mechanical sewing machines, even stripping them down to bare metal, & repainting them, as is popular among many Singer Featherweight 221 & 222 fans. This manual could be of help to most of these collectors, particularly if they collect more than one model of sewing machine.
Some special features of specific models, is not included in this manual, so you would need to acquire the technical service manual for specific machines, if you need detailed information about those features unique to that company, or their special models. For example, it states that class 15 bobbin system sewing machines, with the side facing bobbin system, cannot sew with twin needles. However, the vintage Necchi Supernovas, Mira, Nora, & other Necchi models, were designed to use twin needles, one in front of the other, instead of the typical side by side needles, but a special throat plate, special presser foot (with two zigzag openings, one in front of the other, with a thin wire of metal between them) are required for this special feature. At this time, these are the only sewing machines that I am aware of, which do offer this special feature, so it would be nice if this were added at some time, to future editions.
One item I would like to see added to this manual, is the information in the section about sergers mentions that all sergers have tension knobs which must be adjusted, to set the serger for each stitch, but there are now various brands & models which have done away with tension control knobs on sergers, such as the Babylock Imagine, Evolve, Evolution & Ovation. A simple switch, or one control knob can be set to whichever stitch, without requiring individual thread settings to be dialed in, making these brand & models of sergers immensely easier to master! They are expensive, but to those who enjoy sewing, who can afford it, the time & frustration saved, can add up to many more successful sewing projects, in much shorter time of sewing!
I will try to add more as I have more time, but I do highly recommend "The Sewing Machine Master Guide from Basics to Expert", by Clifford L. Blodget, to anyone interested in either fixing up & selling, or collecting vintage sewing machines. It has so much very good information, which isn't broadly available, except in this manual, or in online sewing machine collector groups.
