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Foot Pedal


ilesliemy

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Before I invest in George I need some input from users about the foot pedal. How responsive is it? Can you take just one stitch, just one stitch really slowly if you need to. How hard is it to press compared to your DSM? I presently free motion quilt on a Bernina 440 or a Janome 1600P and both allow me to be a speed demon or a slug depending on what I need.

Leslie

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George is great. There is a button on the front that allows you to take one stitch (actually a half stitch) at a time or to set him for needle down (or up). The foot pedal also allows great speed control. There also is a dial on the front for you to set higher or lower range so the machine speed is adjusted to your needs but you can still step on the pedal as firm as you want to.

Where are you located? are you close to a location to use/try George or is the internet site your only shopping option. If you are close to my area, you can come visit my George.

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Hi, I am in Austin, but I will be in Houston the end of October for quilt festival. I will check out the foot pedal. When George first came out and I tried it it did not have the foot pedal that would come with the machine and it required ALOT of pressure which I thought would be tiring over a long day. Now why they did not have the foot pedal that would come with the machine I don't know but I heard the rep telling people over and over.

Leslie

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That question was one of my main concerns before I bought George. I wanted it to respond in the same way my DSM does and I have not been disappointed. I can sew as slowly as I want to and I don't feel like the machine will take off before I can catch up with it. I have not noticed that it takes a lot of pressure, perhaps because I like being able to press as slowly as I want to on the foot pedal to start at the speed I want to start at. I haven't noticed my foot or ankle getting tired. My shoulders and back get tired before that happens .;)

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  • 2 years later...
  • 1 month later...

It appears this topic "died" a long time ago, but I've had George since this summer and we've had some good times and some...well...anyhoo, I digress.

When I press my foot pedal I get this abrupt chew-chew-chewoop many times at the beginning or end of my stitching as the needle pierces the quilt sandwich and the needle is moving up or down. I really have to concentrate on the pressure of my foot upon the pedal which distracts me from what's going on with the needle and my machine quilting.

Has anyone else had this problem? Is it something that eventually evens out with use? George is scaring me!

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Not sure why this thread is up top again but surprised to see my name above. Weird! I don't know anything about the spammer but I did not send a U2U as referenced above. If it's safe now, I'd like to respond to jrwsma's post regarding the George foot pedal. I'm not understanding the sound effects you're describing but it is very possible to get George started or stopped without multiple stitches. The foot pedal is less responsive than a DSM so it might feel necessary to give it lots of pressure when beginning a line of stitching. You'll get the hang of it after awhile but if you'd like to do a minor modification to your pedal (which I learned from Sharon Schamber) you can try this...get some weatherstripping and cut it into a couple of pieces about 4" long. You can peel off the paper and stick them to the backside of the base of your foot pedal stacked one on top of the other. You'll still be able to depress the pedal fully when you want to, but it for sewing more slowly, that bit of foam can assist your foot in keeping a steady, slower speed. Does this make sense to you?

Hope so. Nancy in Tucson

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Thanks for replying, Nancy. I guess I'm the one who resurrected this thread as my question was related to the foot pedal "chomping" noise (almost like a semi-auto weapon discharging -- quite dramatic). I appreciate that someone took the time to reply.

Laura in OH

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Hi Laura:

Only 5 posts for you so I'm assuming you are fairly new to the forum. Do you already own George? Did it make sense to you...what I said about applying weatherstripping to the foot pedal? When you're used to quilting on a DSM, George IS quite noisy (I wasn't sure if mine was noisier than normal until I sewed on a few other George machines). My husband suggested turning up the music louder but I've found that it's really important to listen to the machine as I work. There was a learning curve for me (big time) but now I'm so pleased with the machine that I've become a dealer.

We George owners are in the minority here in the forum but we are friendly and eager to share information. And lots of the posts from the others with 'stand up' machines are relevant and inspiring. Please keep posting as you gain experience with your machine, Laura. Nancy in Tucson

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  • 3 weeks later...

Thanks, again, nancy. My foot pedal is on carpet and doesn't seem to be moving or creeping. Once I get the machine going, it's noisy, but not weirdly so. The only unusual sound I get is the very loud Dump-Dump-Dump as the needle goes up and down and only at the beginning and end of a series of stitching. I'm sure it's something in my foot (not George's) and if I really concentrate on depressing and lifting my own foot I'm often successful -- but that requires me to take my concentration off my quilting, which I wish I didn't have to do.

Was just wondering whether any new owners (George came to my house in June) had this problem and whether it was a "stiffness" issue that eventually worked itself out; or whether mine was an unusual issue. It is so dramatic I was concerned about whether it was damaging something.

A friend of mine who also has George seems to remember (back in the day) that she had some concerns also. Her foot pedal now is free and easy (I actually went to her place to see whether I could replicate the noise with her pedal -- it didn't happen...so much less stiff.)

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