a stroke of luck? serger/overlock advice needed.

at le Goodwill yesterday, i picked up a nice old all-metal Juki Baby Lock serger. It was in the original box, with original styrofoam packing, all parts seem to be there, has the manual, it runs, and my Ma & sister, who know how to use sergers (i don't) are going to come over this week to help me determine if it runs properly. If it does, what are it's potential applications for gear-making? what can i do better with this machine than with my regular machine? My sister was really excited that i got it, but i'm still kind of ignorant about what it's potential uses are.

Wow, that is awesome. <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif" alt="" /> We also just acquired a serger from my mother in law. It is a cheap Singer that she never used because she didn't know how. My mom has taught my wife how to use it, and she uses it on making dresses for my two girls. It makes the edges pretty or something. I am not quite sure what all it is capable of. I am sure Pennys can tell you. <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />

Tarbubble...

Sergers are really really useful for clothing, especially on stretchy fabrics. They finish seams nicely and keep fabrics from raveling. You can either serge around each cut piece of fabric and then sew per your normal routine, or you can seam using the serger and get a nicely finished edge. There's no real advantage in using a serger if you do lapped seams or are using fabrics that don't ravel (silnylon) or fabrics you'd melt the edges of (nylon). I used to do french seams all the time, and buying a serger saved me lots of time. I hope it is in good running order for you... they are nice to have on hand. Especially great for stitching up kids clothes really quickly!

MNS

oooh, active wear. Get your self some powerdry, the shelbykaava base layer pattern, a couple of hours and you will find the magic of a serger....

sergers are fabulous for knits, lycras, fleece, base layesr, edge finishing....

total capabilites will depend on what combination of seams your sergers does (2/3/4/5, coverstitch) So get the Singer book on sergers and active wear, that will tell you everything you need to know.

excellent, thank you everybody. today my mom & sis will help me figure out if it does what it's supposed to (i have 7 days to return it if it doesn't work). Pennys, i will keep my eyes peeled for that book.

oh well, it was all a bust - the machine tangles on any speed higher than "super slow." it's getting returned to le Goodwill today. thank you all, nonetheless!

are you sure you had it threaded correctly? Sergers are notorious for having to be "just exactly right" in the threading or you get exactly that... a few stitches and then it break/rats nest or similar.

Also, if the needle is even slightly bent, or there is a nick in the plate, those will all lead to tangles yet are easy to fix. But sometimes it is just better to buy new or "good used" and not try to reclaim someone else's frustration.

It might be worth taking to a service tech and spending the $35-$75 to have it checked out. I'd hate to see you let go of a good metal machine. I had to have my old Dial-n-Sew serviced before it would behave.

Tango

nope, it's returned. with Goodwill, you have seven days to bring it back; that's it. I disassembled and reassembled the tension/threading assemblies, tightened up the spring wires, tried slack tension all the way up to tight tension - no success. Ran fine on sloooow speeds, tangled as soon as i sped it up, every time. My mother has a serger and i can use it whenever i want, but i didn't want to gamble with the $40 i'd already spent on the machine, so it went back today. c'est la vie!