janeite,
Glad you got the tensioner squared away.
I got interupted in my previous response so forgot to put something in. Ours skipped stitches when we first started sewing with it too.
I did the same things as you did, cleaning and lubing everything. New needle, making sure it was in correctly. But what really got it going was to just use it.
We have accumulated 21 different cams for it so I sat down and using white thread and black felt squares we bought at the fabric store I sewed a strip with each setting on the stitch chart under the trap door. Then from there I went to the cams and sewed with each of them. Put in two needles and sewed with them.
At the end of this that machine had quit skipping and had quieted down tremendously. There are so many moving pieces in there that can gum up, sometimes you just gotta oil 'em and use 'em.
Joe