Do machine needles get too old to use?
 

I ask this because I was sewing last night, and broke a needle. It was a needle that had been in the machine and used for quite a long time. I went back to the same package , and two needles broke within 20 stitches of use and on test fabrics of only two layers. I know they were placed properly . I then went to a package that was newer and no issues.
So... is it possible that machine needles get fragile with age? I have never had this happen till now .

I have never had a needle age in the package.

But you may have bent something when you broke the needle. Put in a new needle and use the hand wheel to move it up and down. Do not thread it or have any fabric in the machine. Watch closely, is the needle hitting the needle plate? Can you feel it catching or hitting something underneath? If you can remove the bobbin or feed dog cover when you do this a second time to see if anything is hitting.

You can also out the timing out on your machine.

I have read, several places, that a high percentage (30%???) of sewing machine needles are faulty. Yet, as far as I know, I've never run into one of those faulty needles. Maybe you're getting them all? :eek: Seriously, I don't know how a metal needle could deteriorate, unless it's stored in a damp place and got rusty, and you would have noticed that.

Sounds like you simply got some duds. :thumbdown:

Duds - I've used Schmetz needles for years, but couple of months ago I had 3 needles (TS 80/12) from the same pack of 5 break within four days. Chucked the other two. Very odd though to get that in the same pack as I imagine thousands of them come down the production line and go randomly into packs. Not had a problem with any others since either.

Each new project should have a new needle so hey are never in the package long enough to get old.

Production runs can have quality control issues. Most likely all the needles in the bad pack came from the same faulty production run (that was probably not caught in time).

I have needles that are very old and have never had a problem with them, I have bought a new package and had trouble with every needle in the package. I think sometimes we just get a bad package of poorly made needles.

I read somewhere on a thread web site I believe that a needle should be changed after 8 hours of use, and that you should never use a Universal needle for piecing. May have been Supeior Threads web site, not sure.

Schmetz needles are no longer made in Germany where quality control was great. If you can read the TINY writing on the packages, you will see they are made elsewhere. (Quite some time ago I pointed this out and noted the name of the country where they are now made; I was quickly deleted by admin, for "bashing" I assume. So I won't name them here; read it for yourselves.)

My local Bernina dealer mentioned how many Schmetz needle packages he is having returned these days due to breakage. He is trying to get Organ needles to package their needles more like Schmetz does for customer convenience rather than in the little paper envelopes. Organ needles are English. :)