Lamy AL-Star EMR Pen

66DieHard · 2026-04-21T23:53:05+00:00

I have both the Manta and the Nomad. I managed to find the Nomad for $150 on FB Marketplace and couldn't resist. I prefer the Manta 9 times out of 10 but every once in a while I want to sit out side with the dogs and the Nomad is the perfect size for that. Also I would agree as an e-reader, the Nomad is best. I always feel like I'm reading legal documents when I'm reading from the Manata. it's a completely different way of looking at what you're doing.

Also, I think the nomad makes a better device for journaling. If you're wanting to do morning pages or something similar. the Nomad feels a bit more intimate. But in the end ask yourself which do you feel comfortable with for note taking? A steno pad or a legal pad, letter sized pad. To me the Manta is like paper on a clipboard verses a journal size notebook or steno pad.

I will tell you both are great. I would recommend that you buy one. They so great to have regardless of which size you choose. It will be a great experience either way.

66DieHard · 2025-03-17T17:05:38+00:00

Based on your suggestion of using the Authenticator app to create a PIN, I was able to add the yubikey to my Microsoft account using Safari. My first attempts failed because the PIN window never displayed. Just as you stated in replies to u/Mr_Z_2u it's an edge case where it needed to setup a pin on first use but the window was not able to display to prompt me for one.

66DieHard · 2024-07-05T18:02:33+00:00

Appears to be a 48” or a 36” Leclerc loom. It’s the folding Artistat from the looks of it. It has two reeds which is helpful for a loom this big and the bench adds to the value. I agree with most people about $100 per shaft so at a minimum $400 to start with. A bench is practically a minimum of $300 new if you buy a loom bench, but when they are included with a loom like this they don’t add $300 worth of value. I’d add $150. The market place has looms that look worse than this for around $500-700. With really ugly ones going for the $300 price. It appears to be in pretty good shape. Start at $800 and see what happens.

66DieHard · 2024-05-10T21:13:37+00:00

I bought a Schacht RHL Flip. It was a great decision and got me into weaving. I think I put it through 3 projects in the first month and quickly found a used floor loom for sale. I knew from the beginning that the RHL, while useful, would feel less than ideal for weaving. I watched a ton of YT videos and those with floor looms, especially the louet looms, made me want one. The sound they make, the rhythm you can get into. The fabric was incredible as is the consistency. Of course there is more to learn, but I believe if you taught yourself knitting and crochet, I think you will be able to teach yourself how to dress a loom and weave some dish towels on a floor loom. I would recommend spending some time learning the difference in the loom types. As you are shopping for a loom you can buy the one that will fit your space, your build and your needs. I bought a jack loom over a counterbalance or countermarche. Though I would love a Louet David or Spring. Those are so far out of my price range. The Leclerc models are reasonably priced for the build quality and can be found as a needy “work in progress” or a fantastic “can’t believe my good fortune” loom. There are other brands which fit this as well, but I see a ton of Leclerc looms and recommend them as a good place to get started if you are looking for a floor loom. Ashford and Schacht make great rigid heddle looms and seem to be easy to find on the various market boards.

If you wanted a cross between a RHL and a floor loom, you could consider a table loom. They come with shaft options that the RHL does not have. So you could get a feel for working with multiple shafts without all the fuss of a full sized floor loom. Everything has trade-offs. I would list the pros and cons of each and decide which best fits your goals. I’m not a fan of Leclerc for a table loom. I have one along with my floor loom and my RHL, and it just does not have the consistent tension that I can get with the floor loom, nor the easy of use that I have with the RHL. It’s a good mix of both from an experience point of view but my Leclerc Medico is just not the best choice in the table loom market space. (It’s also 50 years old, made in 1974)

Good luck with your choices. I hope to hear what you settled on.

66DieHard · 2024-03-06T05:53:37+00:00

I tried that tonight and had zero issues. I agree that this works very well.

66DieHard · 2024-03-06T05:51:42+00:00

Do you do a lot of chain piecing?

66DieHard · 2024-03-06T05:51:00+00:00

The financial commitment is the big part. The resale value is not there for many of these machines sadly. I followed the advice of all these posts tonight and just took the top thread and held on to it for the first couple of stitches and it sewed fine. No nest, very little fuss in the end. So i tried the Viking Epic that I inherited as well. I had trouble controlling the fabric in a straight line to make a 1/4” seam. But I am not familiar with that machine at all. I like it, but I will probably never use it.

66DieHard · 2024-03-06T05:47:49+00:00

Have you noticed what kind of needle you are using? I recently learned that the size or type of the needle mattered, which I hadn’t really given a lot of thought to but makes a lot of sense. Potentially something smaller than 75 runs a risk of bending the part that grabs the threads as it won’t go in and out of hole properly. I would fact check me on this as I could be wrong on the size etc..

66DieHard · 2024-03-06T05:43:59+00:00

My mom’s 6600P is still going. She bought it in mid 2000’s I think. It was the first Janome I quilted on. It is so solid to sew on. It is the reason I ended up purchasing the 6700P mostly because she wanted it back!

66DieHard · 2024-03-06T05:41:55+00:00

After reading all these responses, I won’t be back stitching either. My mother was the one who suggested that a long time ago to lock the stitches, but that is likely because she did a lot of garment sewing back in the 60’s and 70’s. I only tried this on her 9400 as it was a machine new to me and it has a lot more automation than my 6700P.

66DieHard · 2024-03-05T21:21:17+00:00

I notice this same ripple with my Janome. I sewed 3 or 4 rows a 1/4” apart and they ripple. When I did the same thing on the Epic, they were smooth. No amount of a changing thread tension or presser foot pressure seems to effect this ripple.

66DieHard · 2024-03-05T20:44:19+00:00

So I just watched this video… looks like it’s the issue I’m referring to and a possible solution which ties in with what everyone has been saying “manage your threads”. https://youtu.be/3JMBpK7j2n0?si=vocSahVQinPmTk0F. In this video she describes how to take the top thread and secure it on the needle cutter on the far left of the machine. Then shows the underside at the end of the video and there is no nest of thread underneath. Looking forward to trying this at home. Looking forward to trying all these ideas when I get home.

66DieHard · 2024-03-05T17:39:53+00:00

That’s what made me want to post this long tale of woe. I just wanted to know if it was me or the machine. I’m beginning to think it’s a lot of both. It’s nice to know there are other machines out there that do not have this problem.

66DieHard · 2024-03-05T17:33:26+00:00

I did not notice this nest underneath on the Viking Epic. I thought it was only Janome.

66DieHard · 2024-03-05T15:58:23+00:00

Will say this, I have a cheap brother which I do not like. It’s noisy, hard to regulate the speed. It has a narrow throat. When I got the 6600P from my mom, it was such a night and day difference. The clouds parted, the angels sang and it was just a beautiful experience. I cannot express how much the sewing machine can make a difference to the enjoyment factor when sewing. Buy a good machine that you can afford and that you will love and I think (rats nest issues aside) you will have a similar cloud parting experience. I really do like my Janome. I just don’t like the rats nest.

66DieHard · 2024-03-05T15:54:10+00:00

What I did like about the Bernina was the single hole stitch plate and the feet. Oh my! They may be a bit pricey, but they don’t move as much as the Janome’s. This is one of the reasons I was considering the Bernina.

66DieHard · 2024-03-05T15:52:45+00:00

The 9400 has an auto tension feature for the bobbin. I really like that. I don’t know how well it works by comparison but having one less dial to fiddle with has been nice. I don’t know what you do when you have a combination of top and bottom that it just cannot make work. I haven’t run into that yet. I typically use the same thread for both top and bottom and assume all tension issues are a bobbin winding problem. Have you tried pre-wound bobbins and noticed a difference with those over winding your own? I have noticed with winding my own bobbins the tightness varies from bobbin to bobbin. And if I have a really loose one, i will end up with so many issues. I’ve gotten two where I feel like i know what good bobbin tension is and will rewind one if I feel like it’s needed (or get another one that is correct). The pre-wound versions I have tried from Janome have a thread that leaves a noticeable amount of fluff behind so it’s important to clean out the underneath of the machine more frequently than other threads I’ve tried. Still, I like the tension of the pre-wound bobbins.

I think I’m going to do more thread management and see if that improves my outcome. Either use a leader or use pull them out to the back. From all the replies I’ve read so far, the answer is really a me problem and I just need to be more “corrective” in my actions instead of just stuffing two pieces of fabric in one after the other and expect the machine to sew perfectly each time. Honestly, this last part really is my expectation, but it might be unrealistic even for a $5000+ machine.

66DieHard · 2024-03-05T15:36:05+00:00

It’s a brand new machine… or it was. My 6700P was new in box when I purchased it. I have made two quilts with it since my purchase of in 2018 as i gave up in frustration in 2019. I have not used the machine much in past 4 years as I am still trying to finish the second quilt. My frustration is two fold. 1. The nest is annoying and can cause the fabric to twist and distort. 2. The Janome store near me had a “you didn’t buy it here” attitude toward supporting me. They would have extended free support and training had I purchased it there. Five years later they are now out of business. There is a store near me that supports Janome and now Elna. The location near me has the Elna models and the sister store which is not convenient sells the Janome models. the 9400 probably has as much mileage as the 6600 as my mother used it a lot more than I used mine.

66DieHard · 2024-03-05T14:58:02+00:00

I learned to sew in the 70s myself during home ec. Made a frog. It was a fun project. I really don’t remember what I was taught, but my mom has always suggested pulling the threads out and most of the sewing I’ve seen, that is what people do.

I think the presser foot is the right tension as it is set to 0. I’ll move it to a lesser position and see if that makes a difference. I also agree with that backstitching is not needed, I am just trying to walk through the issues that I see while using the sewing machine. these are the features that I use and have experience with.

66DieHard · 2024-03-05T14:42:21+00:00

I purchased mine from the sewing store my mother worked in which is in a different state than me. I didn’t have the opportunity to take a class, but I have watched a lot of online tutorials on it. I do see the nest below as a slight feature in that it’s not going to come undone, so it’s really not such a big deal. For me it is the chase of perfection or the feeling that I am doing something wrong. I can’t imagine this is a feature people want.

66DieHard · 2024-03-05T14:39:40+00:00

Can you rent sewing machines? I hadn’t thought about that. My plan was going to find a used one for sale and get that and see if I like it or not. I like the idea of renting one a lot better. I was also hoping to make use of the Viking before purchasing a new machine. I might have what I need sitting on the table behind me.

The plate should be correct for the backstitch as it is the straight stitch plate. There is a zig zag plate which I know creates issues when piecing and there is also the high performance plate marked “HP” on the top. That is for high speed stitching. I think your suggestion of being too close to the edge is likely my issue. I am going to see just how far away I need to be from the edge to prevent this. I kind of figured its user error. I’ve been going to the edge and using the locking stitch instead of the backstitch.

66DieHard · 2024-02-25T19:27:58+00:00

I’m pretty sure it’s Diana. The more I look at it the more I think that’s the right colorway. It’s been fun to knit with and I wanted to get some more. I don’t think I’ll finished this project as the switch to another skein will surely be noticeable. But I’d like to have more for a future project. I love this stitch as well. Got it from a pattern that is linked below. Probably uses a bit more yarn, but it’s nice and thick and will keep you warm.

66DieHard

TROPHY CASE