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Renting a sewing machine from the library

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Re: Renting a sewing machine from the library

#181

Post by mauvehaus »

xattt wrote: post #56
ElijahLynn wrote: post #11

My local library which is part of the Washington county Library system (next to Portland). It's where Hillsboro is, which is where Intel's manufacturing is, also called Silicon Forest, has a Library Of Things! I've checked out a KitchenAid stand mixer, synthesizer, guitar, stud finder, drum machine, ukulele, air quality detector, and many more things. They also have a sewing machine and a. Vitamix. It's amazing! I lo…

Libraries of Things are a thing now. The items that are most useful are those that lend things that you use from once a year to every couple of years. My local library (PEI Library Service) has a telescope, radon detector, a basic (and I mean basic) toolkit, some gardening tools among other things. The collection has a couple of surprises, but mostly underwhelming. I did request something more practical, like a bicyc…

I can hardly think of a worse thing than a bleed kit to lend out from a library. They're full of small parts to lose, and they'll never be clean once you use them. And you don't want people mixing up the DOT and mineral oil bleed kits.

I have worked in a bike shop as a mechanic, and we periodically ended up misplacing the various adapters. This is in a place where everybody using the kit is getting paid to do the job and has been trained. The librarians would go nuts just replacing O-rings and adapters that people had lost.

If you need one for your specific bike, you're probably as well off just buying the one you need from e.g. bleedzone.com [0]. Most of them are around or under $25, and if it's your kit, you always know who the last idiot to use it was :-)

[0] I haven't bought from them, but probably will when I need one. The shop I worked in has sadly closed.

Re: Renting a sewing machine from the library

#182

Post by asveikau »

eudamoniac wrote: post #167
TurdF3rguson wrote: post #70

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You will encounter homeless people in libraries, because it's one of the few public spaces that won't kick them out. Your reaction to that shouldn't be to hate and avoid libraries though. It should be to appreciate them more.

I hate and avoid homeless people. They're often in the library. Therefore... I've had this idea for a business kicking around for awhile, basically a private library with membership fees. It would have all the accomodations you wish a library would have but that it can't have due to being public commons, like free coffee, private reading rooms, locker storage, and of course no vagrants.

[flagged]

Re: Renting a sewing machine from the library

#183

Post by mauvehaus »

OliverGuy wrote: post #119
lostlogin wrote: post #113

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> a bicycle disc brake flushing kit With the right gear, the job is still horrible. SRAM brakes give me an unlimited number of maintenance chores.

To be fair SRAM are particularly a pain to bleed. Shimano, Magura etc are much easier

Yeah, the SRAM ones require two syringes and seven hands to bleed. And DOT fluid is great at removing paint if you spill it. I haven't done any Magura ones, but the Shimano ones were clearly engineered to be maintained by someone who isn't an octopus.

I recently learned that if you live in a place where Citroën LHM is readily available, it's a less-expensive and compatible substitute for Shimano mineral oil brake fluid. Conversely, if you're in a place where LHM isn't available for love or money, you can substitute Shimano mineral brake oil instead of going on a wild goose chase of the Citroën product.

Re: Renting a sewing machine from the library

#185

Post by happyPersonR »

ElijahLynn wrote: post #11

My local library which is part of the Washington county Library system (next to Portland). It's where Hillsboro is, which is where Intel's manufacturing is, also called Silicon Forest, has a Library Of Things! I've checked out a KitchenAid stand mixer, synthesizer, guitar, stud finder, drum machine, ukulele, air quality detector, and many more things. They also have a sewing machine and a. Vitamix. It's amazing! I lo…

Do they have a fusion splicer ? I know it might seem random… but I feel like might come in clutch in the future

Re: Renting a sewing machine from the library

#186

Post by mauvehaus »

delichon wrote: post #3

I'd argue that sewing machines are among the most complex, high skill items found in a typical home, above the laptop and car. I find it very hard to keep mine operational. I struggle with it a lot more than I sew with it. They require fine motor skills and scads of parts and supplies. If you plan to rent them, plan for a repair staff or frequent replacements. Compared to a book, a sewing machine is a space ship, and…

Virtually every user-serviceable problem can be solved by one of the following:

Reading the fine manual and making sure the machine is threaded correctly.

Replacing the needle.

Adjusting the tension, starting with getting the bobbin tension grossly correct, then balancing it with the top tension. Removing the accumulated lint from the bobbin driver and feed dogs.

Lubricating the machine.

If none of those work, have it serviced. If the service person tells you the machine is crap, go to a thrift shop and buy a Singer 66, 99, 15 or equivalent Japanese clone for $25-$100. For a little more money, you can get a 201. A Featherweight is a joy to use and takes up no space in storage, but is much costlier than any of the above options.

Don't buy a slant shank machine (400 or 500 series); that was an evolutionary dead-end. If you absolutely need a machine that zigzags, ask the service person what they recommend.

[0] This is applicable to Singer class 15 machines and their clones, but the general principles apply to any lockstitch machine:

https://ismacs.net/singer_sewing_machine_company/manuals/ha-...

If you have a transverse shuttle (you almost certainly don't) or a vibrating shuttle (you probably don't), you may need to look up information specific to your machine.

Re: Renting a sewing machine from the library

#187

Post by daveoc64 »

jvvw wrote: post #153

It's a bit weird to see the BBC reporting on this happening in Finland, when plenty of 'Libraries of Things' exist in the UK! I think they tend to be run as community efforts rather than by public libraries. though.

The BBC Future website is not aimed at users in the UK, and features content produced by the BBC's commercial arm.

Users in the UK can read it without ads, but it's not generally promoted or linked to by bbc.co.uk

Re: Renting a sewing machine from the library

#188

Post by treis »

TurdF3rguson wrote: post #70
hsuduebc2 wrote: post #66

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sure, that's exactly what you want in library. I understand it's tough for them but some of the homeless people are not people you enjoy you want to be around. I don't understand this need to spread this sentiment.

You will encounter homeless people in libraries, because it's one of the few public spaces that won't kick them out. Your reaction to that shouldn't be to hate and avoid libraries though. It should be to appreciate them more.

I would but mine smells really bad because of the homeless :(

Re: Renting a sewing machine from the library

#189

Post by simondanerd »

petcat wrote: post #150
steinwinde wrote: post #136

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Please critisize the harassment, not libraries for providing shelter to homeless people. A well managed library has a degree of supervision that allows the visitor to do something about harassment. This level of control is also important for homeless people, who are subject to harassment more than most. A reasonably well run library is also no place to consume alcohol or drugs in plain sight. In these respects librar…

> A well managed library has a degree of supervision that allows the visitor to do something about harassment. Library staff in my city are instructed not to do anything themselves about homeless. If there's a problem then they just call the police, who are equipped to handle it. Same as the city bus drivers are not going to enforce paying fares or making sure no riders are causing problems. They just pull over and c…

Do we live in the same town? That's been my experience exactly, many experiences have required walking briskly before a simple question becomes more than a yes or no answer and explaining why I don't have $20 or a meal on me. The times I do try to buy them a meal I've been lead to the most expensive restaurant nearby (be threw away my meal I got him at Subway).

Re: Renting a sewing machine from the library

#190

Post by cuvinny »

random__duck wrote: post #57
cuvinny wrote: post #33

My library has something similar. Sewing and embroidering machines, 3D printers and even a CNC machine. Most are free to use as long as you bring the material, the only one that I can remember having a cost is the laser cutter but even then it was under 10 bucks an hour. They have a bunch of other things like being able to check out a pass the the state parks and some museum passes. This is the Charleston County libr…

That sounds so cool, are they building an entire fablab in there?

Yea, they built a new library near me a couple years ago and have a full makers space in a separate large room. I guess "check out" is the wrong term as you can't take the machines home. You just go there and use them or have the trained librarian operate the machine.
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