All good shoppers should carefully compare similar items before making a purchase. Even when user comments concerning the Ultrafeed (on the web, in magazine articles and at club gatherings) are almost uniformly positive, it is still comforting to have concrete evidence. That is the purpose of this piece. Sailrite Ultrafeed machines outperform every other machine in their class and many that cost two and three times as much as they do. Why?

A True Walking Foot Machine versus — a walking foot attachment

Any machine that is intended to excel in sewing heavy fabrics must have superlative feeding ability. The heavy and often slippery material must be firmly gripped by the feed dogs in the machine in order to keep stitches straight and evenly spaced. Such stitches not only look good but they are generally more durable and stronger than stitches of varied length. As you might expect, the "Ultrafeeds" excel in this ability (hence the use of that name). The walking foot is the primary means to that end. It pulls fabric through the machine from the top and the bottom. Both feet are powered—up and down and front to back and the "inner foot" is raised when the outer foot is moving so there is never any part of the machine that merely slips over the top of the seam like a sled (without snow) — a True "Walking Foot". But what sets the Ultrafeed's walking foot apart from others? First, and most important, the walking foot that can be purchased as an attachment for home machines is driven up and down by the needle bar. It pivots front to back so the friction of the sled is eliminated, but there is no additional pulling force provided. (Sailrite used to offer these attachments for machines other than the Ultrafeed but has discontinued them because they were so flimsy that they tended to fail very quickly when used with heavy fabric.) On some of the better home machines, like Pfaff and Bernina, the walking foot is driven front to back and up and down but the moving part of the upper foot is relatively very small and located behind the needle where it has little stabilizing influence over the fabric. This later characteristic tends to result in many broken needles as a consequence of the needle being bent by fabric movement after penetration.

What About the Ultrafeed Clones

There are some clones of the Ultrafeed that appear to have the same type of walking foot. But looks can be deceiving. The Sailrite Ultrafeed out-feeds these machines because of a specially designed and patented presser foot assembly (patent #6499415, claims 5, 6, 7,8, 9). The three parts (two upper feet and one lower "dog") that make up this assembly are designed with a subtle curvature in their mating surfaces that keeps constant pressure on the fabric at the point of the needle’s penetration. This minimizes the up and down movement of the fabric and reduces the likelihood of skipped stitches. In addition, the teeth in the feet are better designed and machined than those on competing machines. The Ultrafeed zigzag machine also has a wider foot assembly than any of its imitators which increases its pulling power. The needle bar stroke on the Sailrite Ultrafeed is also longer than that of any clone. This patented feature (patent #6499415, claims 14, 15) practically eliminates skipped stitches. The longer stroke of the needle creates a larger loop on the underside of the fabric which facilitates stitch creation by the shuttle mechanism even in 5/16-inch thick fabric assemblies.

Anyone who uses a sewing machine knows the importance of accurate and consistent upper thread tension control. The Ultrafeeds are superlative in this respect for the following reasons:

	1) The Ultrafeeds' upper tension knob is not limited to a single revolution as it is on many machines. As a consequence, a much longer upper tension spring can be used to control tension on the upper thread. Turning the knob 1/3rd turn is equivalent to 1/8th turn on any other machine. Thus, the machine is not so sensitive to proper adjustment nor does it require constant attention when moving from a few thicknesses of material to many.
	2) The patented shuttle driver on the Ultrafeed (patent #6499415, claims 16, 23) does not utilize a spring at one end to fill the gap between the driver and the shuttle itself. This spring is necessary on the Ultrafeed clones to permit the thread to slip over the bobbin cage that sits inside the shuttle and form an interlocking stitch. Unfortunately the spring creates a variable and unpredictable pressure on the thread that causes inconsistency in stitch tension. The Ultrafeed's shuttle driver is breakthrough technology that makes the elimination of the spring possible. Without that spring every stitch formed by the Ultrafeed tends to be just like every other—very consistent.

Thread jams and broken needles are extremely infrequent when using a Sailrite Ultrafeed.

1) The Ultrafeed's patented shuttle driver which eliminates the need for a spring also eliminates thread jams. About one out of ten times when starting a row of stitches on other machines the thread will jam under the fabric. There is nothing an operator can do about this tendency — the lower thread is simply getting caught up by the spring in a random fashion. Without that spring, this never happens on an Ultrafeed. 2) Broken needles are a consequence of the needle being deflected in its course on its downward movement, usually as a result of fabric movement after the needle penetrates the surface. The Ultrafeed walking foot helps counter this problem as described previously. But the Ultrafeed also features a completely new patented shuttle hook design (patent #6499415, claims 17, 18) that helps deflect any potential bending of the needle. This practically eliminates broken needles.

Ultrafeed Options—add Versatility, Convenience, Safety

All of the points above pertain to the Ultrafeeds' ability to handle heavy fabrics. It is important to realize that these same characteristics, although not critical, are helpful with other, normal, sewing tasks. Indeed, the Ultrafeeds excel in versatility which makes them especially useful for almost any sewing task. Note the following features:

	1) The Ultrafeeds have a tunnel to facilitate welting built right into the inner and outer parts of the standard upper walking foot. It is not necessary to make any changes to the setup of the machine to handle piping projects like a pro.
	2) The ability to shift the needle position from left, right, to center creates a "poor man's zipper foot". This same feature also makes the tunnel described above much more versatile since the needle's position can be optimally located to accommodate welting of various diameters. Special welting feet are sometimes available for other machines but there must be a separate one purchased for each welting diameter.

3) There are many unique options available for the Ultrafeeds. Sailrite is much more than just a sewing machine company. It is committed to making sail and canvas work possible for everyone. With this in mind many options have been developed that are just not available anywhere else:

A) First among these options is the "Monster II Balance Wheel". Over 12 years in development (many of you will remember the "Gold" wheel, the "Monster" wheel and several other unnamed versions), this seven pound wheel with a diameter on the belt track twice that of the standard wheel greatly increases the power of the machines at slow speeds. It is possible to crawl through eight or nine layers of a heavy canvas like Sunbrella® with absolute control. This same wheel can be fitted with a handle to make it possible to operate the machine by hand without electricity. It is important to note that this hand operation is not just for emergencies —hand cranking is actually easy and fun even in eight or nine layers of canvas as many of you will have experienced at boat show demonstrations.
B) Sailrite has also developed an optional "instrument quality case" complete with foam padding which makes it possible to safely transport the machine wherever it is needed. This vinyl covered wooden case is made for us by a company well known for its musical instrument cases. There is simply no better protection possible.

C) Sailrite offers two optional lights that can be quickly installed above the needle and feed assembly.

D) For those who want to sew delicate fabrics or fine leather, Sailrite makes available a special "outer-upper presser foot" with somewhat dulled teeth to protect the surface of the fabric (we call it our "leather foot"). E) Carbon pile rheostats get hot when used to keep machines running slowly. To counter this problem, Sailrite offers a new optional solid state foot pedal. This pedal also has the side benefit of slightly better slow speed control (an increased range of speeds — more amperage is available at slow speed).

Finally, it should be noted that Ultrafeeds come with standard features that are not available on any other machines in their class:

1) A GFCI is standard equipment on all Ultrafeeds. This device senses any short in the electrical system and immediately cuts power to the machine. It is absolutely necessary when using the machine around the water but it also provides added safety in more normal environments.

2) Sailrite instructions are written with the intention that our customers will not only use the machines but maintain them as well. Any machine will require adjustment over time. Selling a machine without clear and complete instructions is unforgivable. Each machine package includes an excellent "Guidebook" with detail that cannot be found anywhere else. This detail includes complete timing instructions as well as the normal usage tips. Also included with each machine are two CD Roms with over two hours of video that moves from elementary setup tasks all the way to sophisticated maintenance procedures. On top of all this Sailrite makes available a free tech support hotline. This is a direct link to the technicians who work eight hours a day creating these machines. The vast majority of questions are answered quickly and effectively in this manner.

3) Ultrafeeds sold directly by Sailrite are warranted for 30 days "money back". The standard usage warranty continues for a full two years. The two year warranty can be converted to a four year warranty by purchasing S.E.W. (Sailrite Extended Warranty). There is no better warranty coverage in the business! We support our machines in part because a machine that runs well is likely to encourage the purchase of fabric and supplies and we know that many of these purchases will likely be from Sailrite.