squeaking handwheel driving me insane!!
 

so the handwheel on my Janome has a little squeak. It only happens when I turn it towards me. I've checked everything else, I'm rather obsessive about cleaning my machine so there's no lint in the bobbin race, walking foot is nice & quiet, all the other moving bits I can see look well-lubed, fresh needle, rethreaded bobbin and upper thread a few times, checked the manual which was no help....anything else anyone can think of? Other than the little squeak it's sewing beautifully. the sound just makes me want to scream...

thanks in advance to anyone listening!! i'm totally in the mood for late-night sewing!!

Try rubbing a piece of wax paper in the cracks between the wheel and the housing, or where ever you think the squeak is coming from.

wow, i think that's helping! i tried it a few times and each time the squeak got a titch quieter, or at least seems to...perhaps i had a piece of lint stuck in there or something? it's certainly better than endlessly googling and searching repair threads ;) thank you!!

A vintage machine (late 80's - early 90's) that I bought at a thrift store had a squeaky hand wheel. Someone tried to adjusts of the two drive belts and the pulley. It sewed fine other than the squeak. It's been fine since I readjusted it back to it's proper place. Maybe yours needs a little adjustment or new belt(s)?

Edited to add

I see you posted while I was typing. Hope that fixed things.

no actually the squeak is back, boo! i think it was just me wanting desperately for it to stop lol.

so my Janome is one of those that has the nifty top that holds presser feet, i notice there are a few screws up there which i assume would take the top off the machine and enable me to get a better look at things...or is that an insanely bad idea since I have only ever done basic maintenance and basic oiling

For Janome users, this is known as "the chirping bird", according to the guy that services my machine. It's a well-known quirk in their machines, caused by who-knows-what. He oiled "that area" when he serviced my machine last time, but it came back. I've learned to love that bird, lol.

I understand the squeak is annoying. I had to buy a new storm door because the one I had for less then a year had a squeaking cracking sound that we could not get rid of.

I wouldn't be able to stand it. Trade it in.

thank you everyone! I'm going to not mess with it, not take it apart or do anything else dumb and drop by my favorite repair shop this morning and see what their thoughts are. It's sewing perfectly and if I can work on getting over the squeak... I do some fun sewing last night, I just turned the radio up a titch louder to drown the sound out ;) what a nice group, I'm so glad I joined!!

I almost never touch the handwheel on my Janome 7700 so we must have a different model. What drives me nuts is my squeaky foot pedal. My dog doesn't like it, either. He used to always stay with me when I was sewing but now, when I turn the machine on, he gets up and leaves the room. He stays when my cutting and pressing but he does NOT like the sewing machine.

It's a mechanical so when I'm sewing, if the needle stops out of the fabric I have to put the needle down. I spoke with someone at the repair shop, she said it's either nothing, a belt rubbing or wearing out, or something needs relubing. To cover herself (which I understand) she recommended not sewing with it till she can hear it in person, so I've gotten out my backup machine :) so glad I didn't give it away like my first instinct...

The squeak comes from old oil that has gone gummy or turned into a shellac. That needs to be removed for the squeak to go away. If you keep using the machine, it can freeze up and burn out your motor. So be careful.

I had that happen. The service man found a crack in a little piece and replaced it.

Try a dry bar of soap on the squeaky area, my husband being a mechanic uses a dry bar of soap on belts for my vehicle, zippers on my clothes, the dry soap will dissapate, therefore do not rub it off, and it will stop your squeaking. Sounds silly however it does work.