Originally Posted by
quiltedsunshine
Sounds like you did good! I would not, however, put oil anywhere inside the tension assembly. If it's gummy, I clean it up with a little WD-40. (Sorry, I know some people get up tight when I say that.) When you put the tension assembly back into the machine, it should push against the left side of the machine to be installed correctly. It's kind of spring-loaded.
You can use either side of the tension disks. There are two slots so you can use two threads with a double needle.
If you're using a heavier thread (for upholstery) you'll need to tighten the upper tension about as tight as it will go to get a good stitch. And if you're feeding it from a large cone behind the machine, the thread needs to wrap behind a spool pin to keep it from popping out of the tension.
That is my favorite mechanical machine of all time! I've worked on hundreds of them.
Thanks for the responses
I have the original user book. Its pretty good but as far as top tension, it just says put the thread in the slot. No mention of which side of the disc. Makes sense either side ought to work. When I took the assembly out of the cover, it became clear how it works. Pretty simple really. It makes sense that two strands would have more or less equal pressure on them. Aside from a bit of crud and a couple of fuzz balls it was in good shape. The spot I put a tiny drop of lube was on the pin that gets pushed in by the presser foot arm. It releases the tension and it was sticky a bit. Now it is smooth. I don't think it made difference but at least it does not stick at all
The thread I am using is a bonded nylon. Its pretty strong and slick. It does not seem a lot thicker than regular sewing thread so I am not sure how much tension it needs but I will for sure do some testing at various settings.
The thread is feeding off a big vertical spool and I wrap it around the spool pins to at least get it moving towards the clip on the back side of the machine. I am thinking I need to make some sort of light tension device to keep a tad of pressure on the thread as it feeds off the spool. We'll see how today's session goes with some experimenting. Good news I have figured out the source of my problems, not just some fine tuning