How do I love thee? (Juki TL-2010Q)

Let me count the ways!  I’ve been unfaithful!  I bought a new sewing machine! And it’s NOT a Bernina!

Okay before anyone panics, Bernina is still my machine of choice for my personal use.  I adore my Bernina’s!  However, for some time I have been wanting a basic machine for my business.  Something dedicated to just piecing.  Something inexpensive, easy to maintain, without all that fancy computerized stuff.

Heck I’ve wanted a machine like that just for my own use!  Last year I thought I’d found it when I bought my fully restored, vintage Singer 201-2.  And indeed, that machine pieces like a dream.  I was as happy as could be with it until the first time I needed to oil it… and I’ve never sewn on it since.  There’s something like forty eight spots to oil!  Seriously?  My machines need oiling every day, they work hard.  Who has that kind of time?

I looked at the Juki TL-98Q.  Such great reviews on it!  But no speed control, poor lighting… and I was pretty sure no matter what the reviews said, a machine that cost less than $1000 couldn’t be very good.  

I came so close to purchasing another Bernina 430 (I had a 440 previously).  It’s a terrific machine, and I’ve always regretted selling mine.  Didn’t really want to spend that much though.

Then I thought about a Bernina 1008.  Mechanical, easy to maintain, rock solid… but it has nothing on it that I wanted… no adjustable presser foot pressure, no needle up/down, no thread cutter.  And it’s around $1000 too!

Then I discovered the Juki TL-2010Q… which replaces the 98Q and just came out a week or two ago.  Some naughty web dealer let it leak before they were supposed to.  I called another web dealer who didn’t know about it yet.  In return, I was offered a deal too good to pass up.  And my oh my I am so glad I didn’t pass it up!

This machine is exactly… perfect. For me… but I’m going to share what might be considered a few negatives, along with the wonderful stuff.

First of all, I’m shallow.  A machine’s appearance is important to me.  I can’t stand working with a piece of equipment I find ugly.  This machine is very industrial looking, plain Jane, no sleek curves, no glamour, no shiny stuff… and I just love that about it!  I totally detest the way most machines on the market look today.  They’re kind of like cars.  Why’d they start sticking in all that tacky fake chrome in the interiors?  It makes me shudder!

I think my Bernina 630 is beautiful.  I find my 830 rather ummm… unnattractive.  I keep it covered when I’m not using it.  It’s blissful to sew on.  Not so much to look at.

The Juki has a nice, solid feel to it.  It’s heavy.  I think it weighs around 38lbs.  It’s mostly all metal.  The slide on table is plastic, no big deal, most of them are.  Only the side cover on the handwheel side and the piece next to it on the back are plastic, shown in the photo below.

You might notice in the first three photos that it has no free arm.  I would not want this for a general purpose machine, I use my free arm quite often.  I don’t care about this since this machine is going to be my piecing machine, period.

All the functions of the machine are right here.  That’s it folks!  It does a straight stitch only, and it does it beautifully!  The large round dial is your stitch length control knob.  Since I do my piecing with a stitch length of 2mm, I set it there and there it will remain forever!

Over to the far right is a blue lever, the speed control.  Pretty self explanatory with the hare and the turtle.  Between it and the foot control, I was delighted to find I have every bit as much control as I do with the wonderful Bernina foot control, I can stitch a single stitch at a time.

On the far left is the needle up/down control.  By default, the machine stops with the needle down all the time, which is exactly what I need it to do.  There’s no need to raise the needle to use the thread cutter, which is the button with the scissors on it next to it.  

The thread cutter sounds very scary.  But it works incredibly well!  Neither of my Bernina’s cut thread this nicely.  And last, the large handle type lever at the bottom is the reverse control.  I can’t imagine why it’s so huge, but there it is!

Oops… forgot about the feed dogs.  That’s the lever right below the reverse handle.  Handle.  Shouldn’t it be a button?

Threading the machine is just like threading my longarm.  There is a pre-tensioner, then the tension dial below it.  Very easy to thread, pretty standard setup here.  The machine has absolutely lovely tension!  I piece with Presencia 60wt 3 ply thread, and the stitches are gorgeous.

The dial up on the top of the machine controls your presser foot pressure.  I couldn’t have a machine without this feature, to me it’s crucial for accurate piecing.

When you adjust it, the changes are show in this little window.  As you can see, I have mine set almost as light as it will go.  When I have two layers of quilting cotton beneath the presser foot, they slide right under the foot without my needing to lift the presser foot.  Perfect!  The Juki feeds the fabric flawlessly.

Access to the bobbin is a little awkward. This is how the bobbin is accessed on my longarm, which is fine, because in that situation you have the end of the machine facing you, and it’s considered the front of the machine.  

When you’re sewing, this is the left side of the machine.  I can change the bobbin with no problem like this, however I can’t clean the hook area without moving the machine so the bobbin is facing me.

In the above picture, the plastic extension table is on.  There is an access door on it which lifts up to enable opening of the bobbin cover on the machine.  This looks hard to get to, but it isn’t really.  

Below the bobbin area, on the bottom of the machine, is a removable cover, which is fantastic for cleaning.  You can take a compressor and blow out the area without worrying about the lint going into the machine.

There are seven place to oil on the machine.  The hook of course, and then there are six holes (I assume there are wicks inside, I haven’t taken the cover off of the machine yet) that you put a few drops of oil in.  Four of them are on the top of the machine, two over the needle are and two between the bobbin winder (shown in the picture on the right) and the thread stand.

Speaking of the bobbin winder, it is superb!  At first I thought mine was broken, because when I put the bobbin on the winder and engaged the lever, nothing happened.  I’m spoiled, my Bernina’s have a separate motor. The Juki requires you to use the foot pedal to activate the motor.  However, it winds an even nicer bobbin than my Bernina 630 does.

I can’t piece without a screw in seam guide.  I have one for each of my machines.  But look at this one!  It’s so long!  It’s fabulous!

The things I don’t like about the machine are the fact that the stitch plate, the needle, and the presser feet all require using a screw driver to change.  That’s a major hassle, and would be unnacceptable to me if I were going to change any of them.  I’m not.  I doubt I’ll ever put a different presser foot on the machine, and of course the stitch plate isn’t a problem since it’s a straight stitch machine.

As for the needle, Jim said he’ll replace the screw with a thumb screw for me… problem solved.

The Juki has LED lighting, so it’s nice and bright.  It is not as bright as my Bernina’s, but it’s far better than the old type of lighting.

The motor purrs.  I love the way it sounds.  I’m fascinated by the fact that when you power on the machine, the only way you know it’s on is that the light comes on.  There is no screen display, no needle positioning itself, no movement of any kind and no noise whatsoever.  It’s just on!  Instantly!  Every single setting I use to piece quilts is set and ready to go, just like I left it. Presser foot pressure, stitch length, needle down.  The simplicity of it is so refreshing.

I did mention that the thread cutter will scare you though didn’t I?

I bought the machine from Les at Ed Raichert’s in Arizona.  Les was fantastic to work with!  My machine was shipped out the same day I ordered it.

I just knew that when this machine arrived, I would set it up, sew on it, and box it back up to return it.  Not a chance, this baby is a keeper!

Update on Wednesday, November 9, 2011 at 8:26AM by Created by CJ

Because so many people email me asking about this machine now that I’ve had it for awhile, I’ve done a follow up post here.

In a nutshell…. LOVE LOVE LOVE!