I managed to get 10 pics in that post earlier about the threading... I think you can get the pics into the thread.
Either way, I'm replying on the thread in case someone else has the same problem, or can provide more input than I have.
You mentioned that you can turn things from the bottom and that they turn the top, but turning from the top doesn't turn things at the bottom.
My thoughts? Strange! I didn't think it was 2 pieces, besides the actuator itself.
I will have to go look more carefully because here's my understanding of how it's supposed to work:
- The rod with the cream top and the red circles on it, is simply a lever. It looks exactly like you think it does, straight piece with the push piece on the top.
- Then you get to the bottom of the machine, that actuator slides onto the bottom of the rod above and is tightened on with the little hex screw that you see on the right side of the collar.
- The plastic (nylon) part pushes on, or releases, the metal piece that pushes up toward the circular piece and pushes the bobbin case upwards into winding position.
So here's my homework for you
- I notice in your pictures that the collar for the actuator is much lower (you can see more of the inside of the collar) on yours than on the one I have here. So, is the plastic of the actuator actually touching the metal that goes to the bobbincase side of things? If it's too low, the lever is actually working harder to do anything it should, and could be binding, or potentially break. We don't want to do that, I don't think that part is one that can be replaced anymore, but I'll have to figure out the part number, it wasn't on that site I showed you.
- Is the actuator tightened onto the shaft the way it should be? It doesn't have to be holy cow tight, but it can't be loose either. If it's not tight, it will cause the shaft to move at a different rate than the actuator, which -may- cause the bottom moving the top, top not moving the bottom issue you told me about.
- Can you take a pic of the actuator straight on, like the one I showed? I ask because I can't tell in any of your pics if the rod has a flat spot ("D" shaped) on it or not, like mine does. I want to see if the rod is capable of getting out of alignment (circular) or not ("D" shaped) - Which would explain why your mom felt the need to pry on the top of the rod.
- If you push on the metal above the circular piece (the one that's controlled by the actuator) does it move up into bobbin winding mode? What happens when you release it? It comes down right away, or it stays there? How hard did you have to push to do it? (don't push so had it feels like something's going to break)
- Does the actuator become easier to turn when the bobbin case is in winding mode? Moving the bobbincase into winding mode -should- take pressure off the actuator, and make it easier to turn.
What I'm hoping to figure out here is where the "binding" is.