Kitsie

There is a very good price at Harbor Freight right now for a Central Machinery laser pointer. It can be velcroed onto the side of your machine above the needle and makes a straight laser line out from the needle. (their picture shows it attached to the front of a table saw)

Has anyone used one of these and how did you like it?

yngldy

I bought one but could not get it to work that way because of the way my machine is made. It angles back towards the needle, not straight down like most machines so the laser won't point the way I want. Because of the slant, I sew with my face tilted closer to the machine to see the needle, and was afraid what the light could do to my eyesight. I have seen it set up with a machine that is straight in front and it works great.

Kitsie

Thanks for your response! It has me considering of something I hadn't thought of. The upper part of my machine is pretty flat but it also slopes in towards the needle. I'm thinking I can rig a shim like a carver eraser. At the price its worth a try. Do your think the upper, flatter section would be too high? (My machine is tilted forwards)

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GEMRM

I put one on my Janome 1600 (on a frame) to use to follow pantographs and it worked great. I no longer have that set up as I upgraded.
I do have a spare laser light in my work drawer that I could mount on the front of my sewing machine, but I'm not sure I need it.
I think if your light is like the one I had, you can adjust the angle by loosening the screw at the pivot point, positioning it where you want it and then tightening the screw to hold it there.

Peckish

Ok Kitsie, can you 'splain this to me? I understand using a laser pointer to follow pantos. What do you use a straight-line laser for?

Kitsie

Cuz the older I get the less I'm able to follow a straight line!! Really, though, I paper piece a lot, probably more than I need to and even using a pencil line I tend to stray a little, especially at the end of the seam. I have lines taped on my machine bed, one that lines up with the needle and one that is 1.4" away to line up, but this laser would show the line all the way on top of the fabric (hard to understand, I know, but for $6.oo this is worth a try.) Here it is mounted on a saw.

http://www.harborfreight.com/laser-marker-93242.html

And my taped bed, I just follow the bottom corner or mark up the taped line:
Point to point
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at 1/4"
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feline fanatic

Peckish, Here is a blog to explain how you would use it. Scroll down about half way down the page

http://thesewingloftblog.com/nonconv..._a5y_p=5453821

Kitsie

Thanks for that, feline!! It will fit very well on my machine.

Peckish

Okay now that is seriously cool!! And I think there's one in my garage somewhere!

CanoePam

Wowser for the hint on the laser. Husband knew just what it was so I intend on picking one up soon. I tried to use the tape, but there is a small adjustability built in to my machine table. I kept having to readjust the machine which was a pain. The laser is attached to the machine, so it should be much more stable.

Pam