Warning about cones of thread
 

Hi, I had a cone of thread sitting on my sewing table. It was sitting on the cone holder. Some how the thread got caught around the fly wheel of my Brother 1500. As I sew the thread was winding off and wraping around the drive shaft. It cracked the plastic hand wheel cover. My dealer has told me that the part can't be replaced unless the whole drive shaft is replaced. So if you use cones be sure not to leave one on the sewing table. Lucky for me the Brother is still working and the thread didn't get into the machine.

wow, the things we need to pay attention to

I did the exact same thing .. some how ..maybe static .. and it wrapped around the underneath of the wheel. It was a repair bill I wish I could have avoided. Now I put my cones a good distance from the machine.
Sorry this happened to you.

This was a cone that you weren't using in your Brother? It was just sitting there?

Yes the cone wasn't in use. I do a lot of sewing repairs so I change out threads often.

Ooh okay, I'll make sure to keep all my threads someplace else. Yikes!

Sorry to hear that it happened to you. My cones are away from the table now. Lesson learnt.

I should also mention that the amount of thread that broke the plastic wheel was less that a bobbin full of thread!

Yikes!! What an awful thing to happen!! I saw something like this happen to someone at a workshop at Sisters several years ago and I have been very careful ever since.

wow...sorry to hear that. I leave a cone out next to my machine all the time, but it is about 10" away and I always put the end UNDER the cone so I know where it is!

I have done the same thing with my spinning wheel, many times. Fortunately it is a diy fix there!

Thanks for the warning. I would not have thought of this!

I have the exact machine and Yes! this happened to me. I left a spool of thread on the spindle to fill bobbins. I noticed that thread on the spool was winding and I thought that's odd. I realized it was going right to the fly wheel. It was a full spool of Aurifil and it was half gone. I started unwinding the thread but after 20 min. I was bored with that taking it slow so the thread wouldn't break. I took the housing off my machine and cut the rest off the shaft. It wasn't hard to get the thread out. I'm glad it wrapped in a spot that didn't cause the machine to bog down. Also the at little space where the reverse lever is? Well a pin got in that hole somehow and fell to the bottom and stopped the gear from turning. I took the machine apart and there was the yellow flat head pin stuck right in the gear. I took it out and the machine worked just as before. I don't have any fear at all about taking this machine apart. I have saved a small fortune finding the problems myself.

Wow you are braver than me! I also see a crack in the reverse lever. I am going to glue that as I bet its the same deal about replacement. I love that Brother and sure couldn't do the stuff I do without it.

Thanks for heads up!!

Sorry to hear about your tragedy. But thank you for sharing...I use the large cones a lot and seldom pay attention to where they are placed...I will definetely be checking often and making sure nothing like that happens.

Wow, who knew?? Thanks for the heads up. I leave my cones by the machine all the time. Guess I've just been lucky. You can bet I'll be moving them!

Just curious. Do you piece and sew with the cone thread made for serging or are you talking about some other kind of cone? I worked for a Bernina dealer who made her bread and butter by doing custom dressmaking and alterations. We never used cone thread meant for a serger with the machines in the shop. I know that they now make cone thread for longarm machines but it is not the same as serger thread. I purchased one of those little machines to wind bobbins and I love it. I always hated to have to unthread my machine to fill a bobbin. I got the one made by a man in Floridia. It is not only very useful but I kept the money here in the good old USA.

The cone was a regular poly cotton I had been using in some custom sewing. It works with all my machines including the serger. I guess that any cone or spool could do the same thing it it get into the wheel where its not suppose to be. Note to self....clear the table more often. LOL

This happened to me too! It was the clear, monofiliment thread and I just didn't see it get wrapped around the handwheel.

I never even thought of something like this happening! Thanks for the warning. I really appreciate it.

Dina

I knew there was a reason I should pick up the top of my sewing machine table. Boy an I motivated now!

Thanks for the info! I have just used a cone of thread this weekend, but it is threaded on the machine. I hope that isn't a problem.

It happened to me with a cone of rayon embroidery thread. Luckily I saw it in time to get it out myself. Thanks to the surgical seam ripper I was able to get in there and get it out. I now make sure when I use a cone I put it BEHIND the machine and have the thread go between the 2 thread posts on my machine.

thank you for telling us, I always have a cone or two sitting around my sewing machine, I will be sure to remove them thanks again....

I have fur babies that seem to like to wander between cone and machine so I definitely pull it out of the machine. Walking away for any length of time I could come back to the thread stretched off across the table and into the unknown.

ANOTHER WARNING ABOUT THREAD CONES LEFT ON SEWING TABLES: I had my thread cone in thread stand and threaded through my machine. While away for the day, our cat, Wilson, jumped up and got caught in the thread that reaches from cone to machine. YIKES!..... CAME HOME TO A SPIDER WEB OF THREAD THROUGHOUT THE HOUSE. COPY CAT

Good heavens, I never would have thought of such a thing. Sorry to hear about your machine, but I'm moving my cones now. Thanks for the warning.

have a thread box that snaps closed and the spools and cones are arranged like a rainbow, this is about the only organized thing in my sewing room (or my life) so now not going to feel silly about it......it is a 'safety procedure'. Thank You for the valuable information.

Yes, we need to observ what is going on with our machines. It is best to put away all threads, fabrics, etc. that we re not using while we are sewing. Glad you can still use the machine. I'd hate to lose my 1500! It is such a workhorse.

wowo !!! Thanks for the lesson .. sorry you had to learn it the hard way .. All my thread is away from the machines as I am a neat freak when it comes to sewing- I don't like anything around other than the material I am working with. My grown DD's think I am just the worst neat freak when it comes to sewing !LOL
They told their friends (even when they were growing up) : mom cleans before she sews anything otherwise she considers it a distraction.

Thank you for the warning. I'm not a very good sewer, so when I am at the machine, I am totally concentrating on just making my 1/4" seams. Thanks for the ALERT!

Great info - I'd never have thought of the problems that could cause....

My sewing machine repairman just told me last week to be careful of thread too close to the flywheel. He had someone with red metalic thread caught around the flywheel and pulled inside the mechs. He said it was a tangled nightmare

Good to know. Thanks.

Thanks for sharing this valuable information. We appreciate when someone cares enough to share experiences with us that we need to be aware of.

I have a shelf above my machine and keep spools of thread on it. I share my sewing room with them. So far they haven't gotten up there. Thanks for the tip.

Yesterday I was using the only cone I own and it stuck to the quilt in progress as I took it to the kitchen table for more work and I had it everywhere. I too will clear all thread from the sewing area. Thanks for the information.