Thanks for the ideas. I did just clean / oil the machine about 6 months ago when I got it. I cleaned out the bobbin area pretty well last night. I'll try again tonight with some compressed air. Maybe I missed a spot. I'll try the needle sharpening trick and go get a size 16 also. I got this set of needles at 12 am at walmart one night
singer heavy duty. I'm afraid to buy an " other brand".