Janome 1600P(-QC) – Anyone using/used it?

[r m]

http://www.janome.com.au/sewing_machine_features.php?mi=fee&muid=&cid=comp&mid=1600p-qc&gid=

After a bit of consideration of the markup on the local market and what’s available locally (big factor), the 1600P is looking quite good.

I’d like to sew packs, shelters, quilts, so it’s a wide array of materials – from cuben to sil-nylon to xpac vx42 to 500d cordora, the hardest jobs would be sewing straps onto things.
It’ll also get used for random house jobs like hemming cloths, sewing pillow cases, sofa covers.

It only does one type of stitch but I think I’ll be able to live, takes a DB needle (might be that I end up with the HL version – depends what the shops have in stock), but seems to be the more heavy duty end of home machines. To be realistic it’s probably not going to get a huge amount of use – maybe a few full days a year.

Anyone have experience with this type of machine? What have you had success sewing, or had issues sewing?

[Jerry Adams]

I have a different Janome – 4014 – that’s worked pretty good

Sometimes you can rotate by hand to do the heaviest stuff

[Jeffrey Wong]

I don’t think my local Janome dealer carries these.  If they do, I’ll go in and try it out.  They’re more likely to stock the “fancier” units for people who think they’ll actually use fancy stitches. It has features (knee lift, needle up/down, needle threader, thread cutter) that I would seriously consider as major time savers in any machine whether it’s a first or tenth machine.

AT 38 lb, this machine likely won’t hop up and down like my entry level Viking does at speed.

If you ever sew stretch fabrics, as I do occasionally (buffs, balaclavas), this machine likely won’t.

[Anonymous]

I bought a “Speedy Stitch” to do those extra hard stitches, but my fairly low cost machine can handle most other things. Using the Speedy Stitch allows you to use interesting materials like 80 lb test Spectra fishing line. Ironically, the fishing line is about the same thickness as the waxed, heavy duty polyester thread that comes with the “kit” (but probably with a tensile strength about 20X the polyester thread and greater abrasion resistance).

(word on the I-net back alley ways is that you can get a very similar product as the Speedy Stitch at Harbor Freight for much cheaper.  I can neither confirm, nor deny that.  And despite the name, it’s not particularly speedy, though to some extent, that’s dependent on the person wielding it).

[r m]

I do love my speedy stitcher, I did consider the notion of sewing a pack by hand with it! Maybe I’ll end up just using it for the thickest sections if I end up with a machine that can’t hack multiple layers of webbing.

I have the girlfriends entry level singer at the moment, it did well enough sewing a lightweight bivy. The janome 1600P is literally 10x the price here, so I’m thinking very carefully about it!

[Author]

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