Quote Originally Posted by Tartan Hiker View Post
The repairman that worked on my commercial Singer told me he never recommends Singer needles for any Singer machine. He swears by the Schmetz needles, and since switching to them I don't think I have broken a single needle, even when punching through multiple layers of canvas.
It's hard to pinpoint an exact date for 'older' as Singer factories spewed out thousands of machines during the longer needle era which were warehoused for years before being sold. Singer also made machines for such brand names as Kenmore, New Home, etc. This warning only applies to the needles sold in Singer packaging which lists a whole bunch of brands. The needles themselves are marked with a blue band. Anyway, they work perfectly fine with the machines that they are intended for, just not with other machines. Funnily enough tho, the other brand sewing machine needles will work with Singer just as your repairman says.