Do you have foot 72 and the Bernina ruler set?

[Wendy P.]

I took a class from a Bernina ambassador last week and she explained the risk of using a non-Bernina ruler foot very clearly. It is possible to seriously damage your machine if you lower the needle before you lower your presser foot (this is done using the buttons on the Bernina). I hope I am recalling correctly what she said but here goes - she indicated that some Bernina service providers are refusing to repair the damage caused by the needle bar striking the presser foot. It is severe and expensive to repair. hmy:

I used a Westalee happily on my Bernina 820 for several months without making this mistake. I was aware that I needed to lower the presser foot FIRST but I was not aware of the severity of the potential damage. In fact, a Bernina dealer sold me the Westalee foot (with precautions).

So - I am passing along what I recall and apologize if my memory is faulty. I suggest checking it out before you decide on purchasing the Westalee. (I have not named the instructor since I am quoting her without her permission and without notes of her precise words!)

Aside from the damage risk, I do find the Bernina foot superior to the Westalee. I can place 1/4 inch long arm style rulers on the back side of the Bernina foot (could not on the Westalee because of the lack of clearance). Also, as Renata pointed out - the markers are superior on the Bernina foot. I do all my free motion without changing the foot. (The low shank Westalee is better used with thinner rulers - per their website - and this may limit choice of rulers. As an aside Westalee makes some dynamite rulers!)

Happy quilting - Wendy

[Renata L.]

Agree with both Karen and Wendy about the advantages of the Bernina presser foot #72. In addition to the comments I previously made about the marks on the #72 that make ruler work even easier, I have to say that it also eases any concerns about the damage to the needle bar (an issue for the Westalee foot as well as the #96 foot that was designed specifically for the Q20 and Q24). My understanding of the repair issue is that, if damage were caused by the Westalee or #96 foot, Bernina would not service the damage under the warranty because those presser feet had recognized issues and Bernina warned against their use. Of course, if you never have a bad day and always lower your presser foot and then your needle, you won't have damage, but I was not willing to take that chance even though I was fortunate to win a Westalee presser foot a year before the #72 came out. I tried it a few times, but knowing myself, it was like playing Russian roulette, the day would come when inadvertently I would do the wrong thing, resulting in damage that would not be covered by Bernina, so I waited until the #72 foot came out.

As for the #72 being designed for the Q20/Q24, it was not. It was designed specifically for the domestic Bernina machines. When Janome came out with the ruler foot for domestic machines, many of us were hoping Bernina would do the same. I've just searched my records, and I had sent an email to Bernina USA back in 2013, asking them to consider a ruler foot for the domestic machine. The person who responded agreed to forward my request to the factory at that time and I received confirmation shortly afterwards that it had been sent. Westalee also came out with their ruler foot, I'm sure lots of Bernina lovers deluged Bernina with requests for a domestic machine ruler foot, I probably was not the only one. When the Q20/Q24 came out, it had the #96 ruler work foot available as an accessory for the Q20/Q24. Since those machines are designed to accept many other Bernina feet, it was widely assumed that if the darning foot from the domestic machine could be used on the Bernina longarm machine, then why couldn't the #96 foot be used on a domestic machine? It could not because the chances of hitting the needle bar if the presser foot was not lowered first when starting the machine was too great, so Bernina could not sanction its use without liability, hence the warning that if damage resulted from using the #96 or any other ruler foot not designed for the Bernina, resulting damage would not be covered under warranty. At the beginning of 2016, there still was no official release date for the domestic ruler foot, but it was widely known that it had been in testing. At Bernina University 2016, in New Orleans, the #72 foot for the domestic machine made its debut and the rest is history. Many of us are very happy owners of the #72 ruler foot for the domestic machine.

[Rob H.]

Renata

That is interesting read. I was not familiar with the #96 foot

However I have friends with the Q series and one loaned me their #72 because mine was on backorder

They told me their Q series machines taken all the standard accessories. Even use the same Needles

So it was a very interesting. Going to have to ask about this as I do not understand the foot that would damage a machine. So very unlike Bernina.

[Renata L.]

Renata

That is interesting read. I was not familiar with the #96 foot

However I have friends with the Q series and one loaned me their #72 because mine was on backorder

They told me their Q series machines taken all the standard accessories. Even use the same Needles

So it was a very interesting. Going to have to ask about this as I do not understand the foot that would damage a machine. So very unlike Bernina.

Hi Nusiax (J-R?),
Your friends are exactly correct about the #72: the Q series machines do take standard feet that belong to the domestic machines as well as needles. However, the converse is not true. In other words, the #96 presser foot was never designed for domestic machines. It came out exclusively as an accessory for the Q series machines. The #72 was subsequently created in response to the fact that #96 foot could not work on the domestic machine without some serious potential problems. Since the #72 is designed for domestic machines and the Q series machines take all the standard accessories, it stands to reason that the #72 foot works on the Q series machines.

There was a lot of discussion on the Forum about this topic for a long time, but I just did a search and it looks like all those discussions disappeared when the website crashed several weeks ago. I hope that your friends can explain in greater detail why the #96 foot for the Q Series machines would damage a domestic machine, which in turn, resulted in the creation of the #72 for domestic machines. Bernina, by the way, has a very good e-book about ruler work. You can find it at https://www.bernina.com/en-US/Experience-en-US/Quilting/Quilting-ebooks/Just-Quilt-It-Ruler-Work-For-Quilters/Just-Quilt-It-Ruler-Work-Basics.pdf. Hope this helps.