Singer 210 Memomatic restored in November 2021

This Singer 210 memo-matic came to me in a very good shape yet still needed some TLC….

When I purchased it, I did not know much about Singer/Studio machines. So, I first restored Singer/Studio 360 and only then pulled this one out from my closet

I have to say that my shoulder did not complain a whole lot because this machine feels lighter than all others I handled so far. It is still not the lightest but I think what makes it light is that it does not come with a hard case cover. It came in a nice original cardboard box with Styrofoam layer, in which all accessories were stored.

This machine works flawless. I made a blanket on it while testing all its tuck and slip punch cards.

Pros:

(+) Worked great

(+) Looked at first not as overwhelming as other machines: it has less knobs and does not have a built in knit leader

(+) Not electronics – no need to rely on old electronic mother boards or on electricity

(+) Light-weight because it has no hard case cover but comes with the nice original cardboard box and a Styrofoam packing.

(+) easy to handle row counter: some row counters are flaky and the numbers jump back and forth when you are changing the dial manually…This dial did not give me any troubles at all!!

(+) putting machine and accessories into the case is really straightforward. Those who tried and struggle with placing the machine back into the storage into cases with hard cover (in which the sinker plate and the mast are stored in the lid) know what a struggle it is!! No struggle in this case – all accessories are inside a Styrofoam molds, which a re placed on top of the bed, which adds additional cushioning and security while storing the transporting the main bed.

(+) The carriage has a release lever which helps to remove the carriage in the middle of knitting (if it gets stuck) without removing the sinker plate.

Cons:

(-) the absence of hard case cover might be considered by some people as a con since storing this machine might come with its challenges: what is the carboard gets wet, what is the mice eat the Styrofoam?…It was not a problem for me and indeed, I liked it that it was not as heavy as my other machines.

(-) as with all Singer/Studio punch card knitting machines the patterning drums might freeze if the machine has not been used in a long time or stored, especially outside. This can be fixed though by spraying AeroKroil. There are a lot of resources explaining how to do it.

(-) not electronic and because of this the automatic patterning is somewhat limited. However, it is limitless, in combination with some manual stitch manipulation.

(-) does not come with cast-on combs – this was probably the biggest challenge for me (but I took cast-on combs from my other machines).

(-) I personally found that the tension mast is a bit close to the place where I was clipping the punch cards. It might not be a struggle for other people and it really was not for me, but I though I would mention it….

Compassion with Singer/Studio MemoMatic 360:

The comparison below simply shows difference features of the two models, and these features are not necessarily pros or cons. The reason I decided to put this comparison table together since, in my opinion, this machine is almost the same as Singer 360…. So, see below…

I really hope you will considering purchasing this model as your standard gauge machine (from me or from other seller). It is a great machine and definitely deserves your attention and love!