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My wife and I decided to get dual line foils for some nieces and nephews this year. The store only had one Synapse in stock. Hearing that we wanted 4, they offered to order more. I asked if they could order HQ Symphony instead. We have 4 on order. Hooray for Kites and Fun Things. #SmallBusinessSaturday

I have an old Pfaff 1222, very stable and simple, mostly metal, worked for everything I need.

My recommendation? a lightly used Pfaff mechanical machine is what to seek-out, USED it has a "walking foot" which grabs the fabric like the jaws of a pliers, from both the top and bottom. That makes a huge difference when you finally begin working with super slippery material like Icarex and a seven foot seam! I've seen kites made with just a straight stitch (as opposed to the triple stitch zig-zag, as that was all that was available on that old model, almost like a manual with the foot pumping mechanism. After my first kite sewing retreat struggle, I gave that machine away, promised the bride we'd never own a kite I couldn't acquire w/VisaCard, but eventually a bunch of great kite builders in my local club forced me to learn how to do it myself. (particularly Dave Ashworth, he only flies stuff he built himself, never the same twice!) That Pfaff led to an even greater appreciation for the workmanship of a true master builder, such as Shook or Bazzer. I took lessons from a guy who owned 7 different brands, each time I had to learn a new one, you learned what features were most desirable and then I found machine that could provide those desired functions as a reasonable cost. Low bottom bobbin warning, needle down/stop locking, walking foot, a fitted table so more of the fabric is flat going thru the machine. Lettering and advanced (Kewl) stitching features are a computer as opposed to a mechanical feature, costs will also increase accordingly. no one will EVER care as much as you yourself do when building YOUR kite, but that doesn't mean you can't get something made as a custom, perfect and your way, for a little bit of extra cost, try ASKING for it. The best thing about doing it yourself is the sense of satisfaction when folks converse about your creation, or enjoy flying it themselves. Changing something for testing purposes?,.... what happens if? Being a builder make these considerations fun to explore, most resulting in failure, but occasionally you hit a home run with the bases loaded. These are magical moments to savor or share. Being a builder allows you to work cooperatively too. From my experience this is the single most rewarding activity in kiting,... your entertainment choices may vary -plm

I'm sure it does over time..

I have a $100 Brother SM 2700 I've used for the vast majority of my kites.. I do have to clean up the gumminess from the seam tape and I make it a point to do so after every bobbin but it's still going quite strong and for the price it might be cheaper to replace than repair if it does break.

Playing with the Active Track function (locked onto my body - it didn’t want to recognize the kite). Nothing exceptional, music is only there so it’s not so boring to examine the video - just playing with the drone functions still. Obviously LOTS yet to learn.

Sometimes it works. Sometimes it doesn't.. SOMETIMES!! it just takes figuring out how to do it differently Back Burner for the time being.

Great choice.. The Symphony is a great sport foil..

I like the stock layout, those 2 are my "Stock" wishful thinking. My custom design is attached... Sent from my SM-T380 using Tapatalk