Thanks for checking for me and sorry about your machine. If there's anything I can do to help like pictures of the underside just let me know.
The zigzag stitches on mine are pretty ragged looking. I haven't played with it farther to see what the problem is.
I picked up a White branded free arm machine around a week or so ago. It's a little newer and has more plastic than I normally like but all it took was a little oil and a tension adjustment and it just purrs. It's nice to get an easy one once in a while.
Rodney