MFord

Tammi - thank you for all the information! I went ahead and opened up the beast (that one screw in the bottom tried hard to hold it together, but I found it!), and cleaned out some dirty grease, then added clean Tri-Flow grease to the gears and a little bit of oil to what bearings I could see. Put her back together - she still runs! I didn't break anything!! A little smoother and quieter now - maybe she'll last another 20 years!

ArchaicArcane

Great to hear it!

Cari-in-Oly

Tammi,
Thank you, thank you, thank you for that link! Those videos are gold, just what I need.

Cari

ArchaicArcane

You're welcome. I think I found that when my 350E was having a hissy fit about an allegedly low bobbin (that was 3/4 full). The problem went away the last time I was stitching so I haven't fixed it yet - I hate trying to troubleshoot intermittents because you never know if you got them. Since it's my machine, I can get away with that.

Cari-in-Oly

The low bobbin that isn't is not unique to your machine. Mine does it too and I've been told it's common with this machine. I've learned to ignore it. I use a full bobbin when starting a project(or a half full one for something small) and use the low bobbins doing test stitch outs where it doesn't matter if I have to change the bobbin in the middle of something. It can make the test stitching take a long time though. My last test had 19 color stops and used up 5 low bobbins so a 45 minute embroidery took me 2 hours. Which sucked all the way around because I had to make color changes and test it again. Then change the stabilizer and test it again. Still not satisfied, I think I'm gonna try a piece of felt. All for a stupid apron pocket. Dad might get his gift next year, lol.

Cari

ArchaicArcane

That's what I was reading when I went and searched too. I didn't figure it was my machine only but I wanted to see if people were getting it resolved. I figure I'll make sure everything's in spec anyway and then if it is, I'll live with it. I've also been using Clear Glide pre-wounds, so I wanted to see if that might have anything to do with it. I don't love those pre-wounds though. The last 3 out of a 10 pack have had the last 20ft or so tied on which really sends the machine for a loop til it breaks the thread! LOL! I have the odd design that challenges me too. So far most of my playing has been fairly simple stuff. Leather's the worst I've tried and that went off without a hitch.

Cari-in-Oly

This design is crazy. The first stitch out with fusible interfacing and one layer of tear away, it puckered just a little in one spot. When I did the second test, I rotated it 45 degrees and used two layers of tear away. It puckered in a different spot! Third test with one layer of cut away, better but I think two layers are needed. It's a real dense design.
I also don't care much for pre wounds, even the Janome ones. I bought a cone of Madeira Burmillion 60wt. bobbin thread.
http://www.allstitch.net/product/mad...white-5196.cfm
It's very thin, it feels more like a 90wt. I had to tighten the bobbin tension a little but other than that it works great and lasts forever. I've wound dozens of bobbins and the cone doesn't look like it's been used at all.

Cari

ArchaicArcane

Most things these days, I just go straight to 2 layers of cut away. When you layer, do you turn one piece 90 degrees? The shop where I get my thread from suggested that. It's a little more stability because the fibers are stronger in one direction more than the other so this sort of balances it out.

I'll check that thread out. I can't recall who in the city carries Madeira but I'll see if I can't find a spool to try.

Cari-in-Oly

Yes I do turn one piece. I probably should have used 2 layers to start with, I was trying something new by using the fusible interfacing. It would have been okay if the design wasn't so dense. I should have known better, just have a lot of irons in the fire right now along with the pain in my hands so not thinking clearly.

Cari

ArchaicArcane

I get that. I don't think I've read the "turn one piece" anywhere, and I didn't have access to lessons with my used machine so I don't know if they talk about it there either. So I thought I'd mention it.