Originally Posted by
sdhaevrsi
Yep, I have a Mac. I thought about cropping the photos, but decided they might be too small to see if I cut them down. I'll try that here... Then I am going to spend some time with your videos, been looking forward to them all day. May not get far, though, in practice because I work with special ed kids and am pretty "done" by the time I am home from work.
Lol! The one OS I can't help you with. I could even have done it with Linux or the BSD that the MacOS is built on, just not the MacOS. Sorry about that. I see you got some pics up though. We're not in a hurry, we'll go at your speed. I'm pretty done from scrapping with a computer today. No, I'm not proud of that.
I won though. That I am proud of.
Originally Posted by
miriam
Does it do the same stitches with a different bobbin case?
Have you tried changing out the needle?
Some times there can be dinged up burrs or dried up oil anywhere in the thread path that can cause skipping.
I'm leaning toward a burr or an upper tensioner problem with that much puckering. I'd skip stitches too with something yanking that hard on me!
Originally Posted by
sdhaevrsi
I put in a new needle, tried the bobbin case and bobbin from a machine that does work, and there was no difference.
I have watched the first three videos on the tension, and am thinking it could be involved because the dial doesn't turn from 0-9. I will watch the fourth video, then be brave and take apart and put back together the tension and see if that works. Probably not tonight, though... And it will be fun to try and also to clean the assembly better.
It doesn't look as scary as I had feared, I love the videos, Tammi! Fun to hear your voice, too. Thank you.
This is great troubleshooting. This tells us the problem is likely topside or a burr around the hook - something that doesn't change when you change the bobbin case out.
We definitely need to get you to reassemble that tensioner right then. If it doesn't turn all the way, I'm guessing it's too tight based on what we saw in the test sew and needs to be brought down. What does the fast tension test say? Have you had a chance to try it?
I'm glad you understand my Canadian accent.
I wonder sometimes if people do have trouble but I think we sound a lot like PNW US people. They don't sound different to us when we visit that part of the states.
Originally Posted by
miriam
Tension Tamer tea might help. hhhmmmmm..............
LOL! I don't know why that's not a staple in my studio. Maybe I'll keep a few boxes around for when I teach the vintage machine workshop next time.
Originally Posted by
cabbagepatchkid
This has been a very informative thread!
I just want to assure you, Sheri, taking the tensioner apart, cleaning it and then putting it back in again will be a confidence booster.
I'm from a generation of Home Ec students that grew up thinking it was against the law to so much as 'think' of touching that tension dial!!!!! Lol God bless our Home Ec teachers. It must have been a nightmare to have to adjust the tension on all those machines after every class.
Anyway, once you have done a couple of them you will see that they aren't so scary after all. I take pictures as I take each piece off and lay the pieces out, in order, in an egg carton so they don't get lost or mixed up. Good luck!
I LOVE the egg carton idea! I can't eat eggs so no cartons here but I think I might have an idea where to get some. I use a lot of magnetic dishes because I'm a klutz. I've actually hit the side of containers and flipped them and their parts into the air.
I've heard from a lot of people that that's how they learned not to touch their tension. If only the teachers had said WHY you weren't to touch it. That's all it would have taken. The looks of horror that I got when I said I was going to show people how to rebuild their tensioners in my class were priceless.