My husband bought me a Viking for Christmas about 5 years ago. I set it up so I could use a cone of thread (with the thread coming from the back side of the machine) and, yes, even though I took precautions the thread coming from behind wound a hundred times around the hand wheel. I almost cried because our Viking dealer had just closed its doors and all I could see was big $$$ signs in front of my eyes if I took it to a repair shop. I worked for hours trying to manually unwind the thread. Oh, did I mention it was Sulky Rayon thread, Ugh! I finally gave up. When my husband got up that morning I confessed and showed him the machine. He got the plastic wheel off and I was able to remove a lot of the thread but it had gotten down inside the plastic case around the arm that holds the wheel on. I sat there and checked all the places where it appeared the case separated and found another screw to remove and, walla, the case came off and I was able to remove every bit of thread. I gave the machine a good cleaning inside (surprisingly very little thread or lint accumulation) put that baby back together and she purrs like a kitten! Of course, I would never have attempted this if the machine was still under warranty. Even the newer machines can be maintained (to some degree)at home.