I have the Brother-S-7200A, so far I have done fleece, cotton, flannel, canvas, jeans, quilting, rice packs, nylon.....fire gear....
happy to answer any questions!
Lisa

Thanks for the reply!
It's great to know that it will sew such a wide range of fabrics. I have a Viking 555 (Lily) ,works great at everthing I want it to do except topstitching heavier materials. Will the S-7200A easily sew thru 7 to 9 layers of heavy fabric and heavy weight stabilizer?
What is a Micro-Adjustable tpye floating presser foot,anything like a walking foot?
The info I have says that it comes with a table stand,the picture only shows the machine, how large is this table?
Thanks a Bunch
Mare

Willing to answer any questions! http://pub.brother.com/pub/com/ism_manual/catalog/s7200a.pdf#search='Brother%20S7200A'
not sure you have seen that, I tried to get to it from the brother site, and was unable to. The presser foot looks just like a regular square foot. There are no other feet available for this machine at the time. One note, I like to know everything about my machines, and my nearest dealer is an hour away, this machine is heavy, so there was no way I could run it out for repair easily, not to mention down time. (I sew at home for http://www.grampasgarden.com) So I emailed the tech person right at Brother, and he sent me free of charge the CD with the technician manual on it! I would take the material that you will be using right into your nearest dealer and try it out. What type of heavy fabric are you using 7-9 layers of? If I have something comparable, could try it out. I would think with the right needle, foot adjustment, etc, it should handle it, but don't know for sure. The table is roughly 19 1/2x 45 inches, I couldn't find my tape. There is a picture at the bottom of the PDF file. I love this machine for work, the only time I don't like it is when I am quilting, and want to do a decorative stitch, but I have a smaller machine if I really wanted to drag it out! Another note, this machine seems noisy, but I think it may be because I don't have the feet padded with a heavy felt to absorb vibration, and I'm not 100% sure it's level! Check out the pdf if you haven't seen it, and ask away!!!
Lisa

Have E-mailed Brother for more info. I would be going to a dealer but I live 1 1/2 hours from a major city, and even the nearest Wal-mart is 1/2 an hour away( 23 miles).The fabric I'm using is Corduroy(not always but for now lets say a large twill) and a fleece( Thermolam Plus)as a stabilizer to give the purse more body and to help it hold its shape.Some of the extra layers come from the straps and their seams.I don't trim the seams, more layers. Hope this makes sense to you. Found the picture of the table.
Thanks for your time and patience
Mare

ok, so it's 2 layers of cord and 2 layers of fleece?
I have some scraps of each, will check it out....I think I have a size 16 needle in, just need to remember where the cord is! hehe
I really do like this machine, we use it mostly for fleece and flannel backed items. I do know it will go thru 4 layers of thick chamois like it was butter! and rice, will go thru rice alot too..hehehehe
Will let you know! Always willing to help, since this is finally something I can help with!
Lisa

Mare, I am so sorry it took me so long to do this, I kept forgetting! Anyway, I took some heavy corduroy, and some micro fleece. I started with 4 layers of cord, 4 layers of fleece. I went slow, as I remembered I had changed my needle, and only had a 12 in there now! hehehe Awesome! No problem, stitches looked great, no drag, no complaints. So I added 2 more layers of cord...again...no problem at all! Wanted to let you know.....keep in touch on how you like the machine if you get it!
Lisa

Lisa, Thanks sooo much! Between the info on the machine and your help I have decided that I really want one the S-7200-A. There is only one glitch, there are 6 sub-classes of it, which one do you have? There are so many to pick from that it's boggles the mind!

1. 403...minimum lube ...for medium weight material
2. 405...minimum lube.... " heavy " "

3. 43S.. semi dry .... " light " "
4. 433... " " .... " medium " "

5. 45S...Complete dry.... " light material that's hard to sew
6. 453... " " .... " medium " "

Will let you know when I get one. Maybe Santa will bring it!
Thanks again,
Mare

hey Mare
Mine is the 433 so must be a medium duty..yeah right. With a bigger needle I can't think of much I haven't been thru except layers of leather! I've mended my fire gear and that's like heavy canvas! anyway, when I bought mine they were having a hard time getting them here in Maine. So I basically took what they could get! That was about a year ago. All the semi dry means is when the computer decides you have racked up enough time, it asks that you grease it. The machine comes with a small tube of it, and the book is pretty thorough about the grease points. I haven't had to do it yet tho. Otherwise, you just keep the tank with oil in it, I've topped mine off once. Best investment I ever made!
Congrats!!! OH....make sure you get the one with household current! VERY important, as these are machines designed for a factory, and you may get one with different wiring if you don't specify it's for home use!!!
Thanks
Lisa

Lisa,
Thanks for all the Great info! Will make a trip in to a Brothers Dealer in Dallas soon to look at(DROOL OVER) the machines and to check their prices against the on-line site we found. $1850.00 comlpete, that's only $150.00 more than my Viking 555.
Will let you know!
Youv'e been an Angel!!
Thanks Again!
Mare

again, no problem! hehe..I paid 2400 with tax! I probably should have waited, but needed something right away. I sew at home for a company, and the 1950's singer I was using just wasn't fast enough anymore!
Lisa