Singe 128k Hand crank Heart-cam on bobbin winder
 

Much to my dismay, the bobbin winder is not working properly. It was working perfectly a few weeks ago and got it out today it won't work.

I load in the long bobbin, thread up and it seems to work fine until the cam comes to a certain point then the cam stops turning and the thread guide stops moving side to side.

The hand crank still turns freely, the tyre is making contact with the wheel, and the bobbin turns but all the thread begins to load in one place.

The cam is lovely and shiny clean and doesn't look damaged. The spiral on the bobbin winder that fits into the teeth look a bit grubby (despite recent cleaning).

Any advice would be most welcome.

If I am not mistaken, a very slight bend of the thread carrier may be all that is needed.

have you tried just a touch of lubrication everywhere it should move?

How are you doing? Like leonf mentions, oil all parts just in case, there are joints and oil points in the back as well if I remember correctly. I would tripple check every little tooth in the part that turns the cam, and from your description it sounds like the spiral threaded part needs more oil and wiping off. I use cotton swabs and those velvety microfiber cloths, pieces of soft flanell are good too. Oil the treaded part that turns as you turn the hand crank. Make sure the thread guide (moving finger) moves freely too, it should have a spring action and there are oil points for it. Dried up oil and grime in hard to reach places cause all kinds of hick-ups and it takes a bit of effort to dissolve and flush it out. Spray can oil can speed things up, apply every where a couple of times, turn the mechanism and let it seep in. Eventually turn to triflow or regular sewing machine oil, spay can stuff is usually too thin to lubricate a machine in the long run.

Check the spring on the back. They can break.

Hi Mickey,

I took the whole bobbin winder mechanism while still attached to the guard off the machine. The little bolt and nut holding the winder to the guard wasn't exactly loose but it wasn't rock solid either.

Gave it all a clean/oil especially the spiral thread as you recommend and made sure the thread guide was all the way to the right before re-affixing the winder to the guard (securely!) and then putting the whole thing back on to the machine.

It is all working just fine.

Many thanks to you (and other contributors)

glad you got it.