Bernina Activa 140 | Bernina Activa 130 | Vintage Bernina Activa

It is a well-known Swiss brand of premium sewing machines. The Swiss, we know, make the best watches in the world, when I tested this model, it turns out that they do not lag behind in the production of sewing machines, on the contrary! 

The exact name of the machine is "bernina activa 140", it is a machine with a combination of electronics and mechanics, and that is a special feature, since so far I have written mainly about classic mechanical sewing machines, with the exception of "bagat selectronic".

Test model_machine is most likely not used at all or very little, the puncture plate and transport teeth are without traces of use, moreover there is not a single trace of needle puncture on the puncture plate. The machine includes a large plastic box-lid that holds the starting slipper and a larger original Bernina red box. The accessories I found are as follows:

7 original bernina feet, 4 bernina bobbins, embroidery attachment, small unused screwdriver to adjust the tension of the lower thread, fan pad for passing over larger thickenings (more on this later), auxiliary bracket for the second thread when using a double needle, double needle ( I didn't even try it, maybe later), the original Bernina tube with unused machine oil (not unpacked), a set of needles of various thicknesses ... etc.

To return to the machine, removing the large lid-suitcase, a beautiful white machine is indicated, the metal rosfrai and the reinforcement of the sleeve immediately "catches the eye", which gives the machine a dose of robustness and strength. The side view of the machine has a slightly rounded line and its appearance is a decoration of every home. 

BERNINA Activa 125, 130, 135, 140, 145 Service Manual PDF

The whole machine is mounted on a strong galvanized molding a few mm thick, the machine is a set of metal, all vital parts are metal and the outer lining is made of plastic. On the front there is a smaller display that shows the basic parameters of the current program that is turned on, handling is extremely simple, above each key is a symbol that indicates what the stitch is or what part of the command keys.

By including a program, say number 3, the program parameters are automatically determined but can eventually be changed, so the combinations are large. I think that's enough, the regulation of the pressure of the foot on the material is done with a round button on the left, the interesting thing is that when the machine works, that is, when the machine pulls the material at that time there is a partial release of foot pressure. lower transport teeth (standard for bernina). 

The starting shoe is wide and the dosing of speed and speed is fantastic, whether the machine is at maximum speed or stitches one point per second, the force of the needle stitch is constant, the penetrating power of the needle is great even at the slightest movement.

The power supply of the machine is via a special cable and the start pedal is turned on separately, both connections are on the right side, above the main conductor is the main switch, which turns the machine on and off, during ignition briefly one interesting tone is heard.

Now a little about the feet: bernina has a special patent for attaching the foot to the bracket, changing the foot takes literally one second, the foot is raised and one small lever is opened (lock), the foot is removed, a new one is installed, since each has a special groove set crooked or irregular, a great solution (see picture).

For each individual program, the machine "suggests" which number of feet should be set, 1 is the basic foot and most of it can be done with it. There is a special foot for edge processing (overlock), for processing button holes, sewing zippers, hidden stitch ... etc.

The set also has a small "star hex" socket wrench that unscrews a couple of screws and removes individual covers, primarily the side left where the bulb is changed if necessary and possibly lubricates the mechanism. 

Access to the grapple is simple, it is easily removed and cleaned of dust, after opening the small access cover on the left side there is a lock that moves to the left and thus releases the part holding the hook, then the prick plate on the bottom is pressed with your finger and so removed.

The thread winding is on the upper surface as with most machines, but the winder has a special motor, when the thread winding is switched on, the main motor is automatically switched off, so you should pay attention to that, it can happen that the winding lever is on and that

You think that the machine will not do something, in fact you will hear very quiet operation of the motor for winding the thread, which also automatically shuts off when the coil is wound enough.

I forgot to write before, but it doesn't matter, the part that is added or removed from the sleeve platform also has two compartments for storing the little things needed for work.

Each interruption of the needle remains in the upper position, whether it can turn on the counter I could not find, so the automatic positioning of the needle (above). In addition to the classic flat and zigzag stitch, the machine also has decorative and stretch stitches. And now a little bit of my tailoring "skill" (fan-shaped plastic mat), it's a more ordinary shortening of texas pants (shortening of jeans legs - how to hem pants on a gray machine?).

kako porubiti pantalone na sivacoj mašini ?).

This procedure is quite demanding for most machines and I did it with this Bernina with a thin cotton thread, the thread is intentionally white to make it stand out better (see pictures).

Let's shorten the jeans as much as necessary, take the foot for sewing texas fabric no.8, it is desirable to have a better quality needle, but it is not necessary, I worked with the most common standard needle with a thickness of 80.

We double the edge of the sock, turn on a straight point of the desired "step" and start, I do it from the inside, when you come across a thicker transition, we approach with a needle while the foot goes "on the hill", then we stop the machine, lift the foot and drop the one behind the needle fan-shaped plastic part, it consists of three plates and it is necessary to drop approximately for the thickness of the material, lower the foot and continue as normal, finally press the forward / backward button for reinforcement. Otherwise, the machine can sew texas fabric as much as it can fit under the foot, the strength and penetration of the needle are amazing.

Making holes for buttons is done using foot No. 3, it has grooves on the underside that prevent stagnation due to dense sewing at the holes. There are two programs for making holes and they can be done in a couple of ways, it all comes down to monitoring the length and pressure on the back button, I tried it and it can be seen in the given picture, it can lead to an even better look. Bernina activa 140 is a wonderful sewing machine!