When I got the Bernina I realized I had to have a cabinet for it. I was trying to learn free motion quilting and the extender table thing just wasn't working for me.
But the cabinets can be quite expensive. So I improvised.
What you need:
1 A sturdy desk with a removable top drawer
2 Piece of 1/4 inch plexiglass for the insert
3 Router
4 1/2 inch piece of plywood for the machine base
5 A boyfriend, hubby or dad willing to do your bidding
The only critical dimension is the height of the drawer opening.
Measure how high your machine's throat plate is from the table top - the drawer will need to be at least this tall or else the machine will sit too high.
When you're looking for a desk, look closely at what is supporting the drawer. There needs to be a way to set a sturdy base for the machine to sit.
We used a 1/4 inch piece of aluminum plate for the machine base (Chris is a welder with access to cool stuff like aluminum plate).
Determine the size opening you want for the machine and make the cut. The opening is then routed the depth of plexiglass that will be the insert.
Can't for the life of me remember how Chris did the detail cutting on the plexiglass to snug the curves of the Bernina, but he did a fabulous job!
The plexiglass is cut in a 'u' shape so there is room to easily access the power and foot peddle plugs.
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| Nice flat surface to work on! |
