Champanier

Thanks very much, Mike and Miriam! It works! And it's happy!

When I took off the needle plate and turned the wheel by hand, all seemed fine - feed dogs moving, etc. So I put the needle plate back, threaded and tried again. No movement, just a knot.

Then, a dim memory came back. As I was cleaning and oiling, i had twisted the knob on top for the presser foot pressure - just to see if it was stuck. It wasn't. But I didn't twist it back again. So, I loosened it up and that was it!! It sewed perfectly fine. And, the bobbin case cleaning and adjustment fixed the tension problem. Before cleaning and slightly adjusting the bobbin tension, I had the top tension all the way to 9 and was still getting a flat bottom thread. Now the top tension is on 3 and the stitches are perfect. Can't wait to actually sew something.

Oh, also, when the wheel was stiff, I think I may have put the needle plate on slightly askew and it may have been interfering with the feed dog movement. Just a theory, but when I started to unscrew it, it seemed to pop into place when I loosened the screws. I don't know if that would have affected the wheel movement, but as soon as the needle plate was off, the wheel turned with no resistance.

Thanks again. This board has been so wonderful and helpful. Even though I get myself in trouble fooling around with things, it's great to have the confidence to keep trying because I have such terrific people to help!