1911 New Home treadle machine - stitch problem
 

Hello,
my kids bought a 1911 New Home treadle sewing machine for my birthday. This is a new experience with a vintage machine, one that is that old. The shuttle was lost while transporting home. I found one on Esty. It fits, however, after cleaning and oiling the machine and getting it working, the bobbin thread is not being picked up. Any suggestions as to what might be wrong? I have tried adjusting both top and bobbin tensions. I suspect that is the issue, but am wondering how much "playing with the tension" is needed to get it right. My next attempt is to clean the shuttle by taking off the spring.
thanks for any help
Jeanne

Make sure you have the right needle, this machine takes a 20X1 needle. You can cheat down a 15X1 about a 1/8" in the needle clamp and it will work fine.

What no pictures? I love looking at all these old machines.

Pictures will also help us diagnose the problem.
Is the shuttle a New Home? Sometimes I have found the replacements like Boye don't work as perfectly as an original. I also have a couple loose mystery shuttles that fit various machines but won't actually work in them.

K

Will your thread move freely off the bobbin? Does it take just a bit of a tug to pull it through the shuttle? is your top tension rotary or leaf?

Is the shuttle carrier adjusted right? If it’s too far away the shuttle could be missing the thread loop. But i’d check the needle length first

Troubleshooting suggestions.
1. Is the long groove of the needle facing away from the shuttle? (Required for the loop to form)

2. If you manually feed the shuttle thread up the hole in the needleplate, and thread the top thread through the needle as normal, is the effort required to pull them roughly the same?

3. If you remove the front slide plate and manually advance the machine by turning the handwheel the correct direction, do you see a loop being formed?

4. If you see a loop in step 3, do you see your shuttle trying to go in the loop?

The answers to these will be a big help