MeganMills

Hi Everyone - does anyone have a Singer 27, 28, 127 or 128 (or their "K") cousins where the bobbin tension and upper tension are working beautifully together - with plenty of upper-tension adjustment variation possible? I'd love to know what the "factory setting" is on a bobbin tension meter we'd use these days on the bobbin tension. And ideally, what works well when the tension regulating nut is flush with the end of the stud for the upper tension too.

I figure if I have those two numbers, or at least the first, I have a pretty good shot at setting up the tensions close to just right so that only minor adjustments are then needed to perfect it and adjust the upper tension mostly from then on for a fair range of fabrics.

The bobbin in one I've got as I got it, is set at what seems to me very tight, but even so I've got to have the nut starting to wind off the stud for the upper tension before it shows even a glimmer of being a balanced stitch (on 2 layers of quilting cotton, with normal machine sewing thread - Guterman).

The check spring rest is set at 9 o'clock on this one and when I pop the check spring under it to see where it was set as the stud was inserted then it hangs down at 6 o'clock. And on this machine I can't tighten the stud so that the horizontal division is horizontal either, it is just to right of vertical at about 1 o'clock. No numbered indicator on this one.

Any tips, even if they don't involve the tension meter, would be hugely appreciated... Thank you... Megan

OurWorkbench

I can't help with the meter for testing tension. After my brother and I refurbished my sister's treadle and hearing about how much she enjoyed treadling, I decided I would give it another try. I did so on a 27-4. I used http://mysewingmachineobsession.blog...-assembly.html for cleaning and assembling the tension assembly. I have also found http://www.treadleon.net/sewingmachi...huttlefit.html and http://www.treadleon.net/sewingmachi...vsshuttle.html to be helpful.

When I was researching for my reply, I looked at my manuals for the long shuttle machines. I found the reformatted one from Singer - https://res.cloudinary.com/singer-se.../268_27_28.pdf - has a note on page 14 of that pdf that says that the needle tension "should be regulated only when the presser foot is down." I went and looked at the other manuals and couldn't find those instructions where they talk about adjusting the tensions in the 27-28 manuals, but did in the 127-128 manuals. The difference being that the 127-128 have the pin that releases the tension when the pressure foot is up. The 27-28 have that spoon shaped release for releasing the needle tension when removing the fabric that had been sewn.

Another thread that might help is
Singer 27-4 Treadle Tension Problems

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MeganMills

Thank you for all that info - I've got a fair bit of reading to do there to brush up and review! Then I'll have another play around with the machine and see how I go. Kind regards... Megan

leonf

You haven't mentioned if you have cleaned the tension discs. Crud in those will make significant changes. I have a few 127,28s an have not noticed being all the way out to the end f the stud..

MeganMills

Thank you Leonf,
Yes - the tensions disks are clean as a whistle, as is the whole assembly (I took it off and cleaned every piece - I took the bobbin shuttle apart and gave it a thorough clean too). The bobbin tension on a little Postage Scale thingy is reading about 1.75 ounces when the thread starts to move and even still I have to get the regulating nut on the tension post almost wound off the post to get a balanced stitch.

With the info I've been given here, and some more from "Andy Tube" on youtube on his vid about "zeroing out tension" I'm going to have a big play with it and when I work out what works nicely with this one I'll post my findings in the hope they'll help anyone else with the same problem. (Unless, of course, one of you clever folk come up with the Golden Solution or the readings that are working well on your 128 for top and bottom tensions first!)

MeganMills

Okay - it is sewing more reasonably now, without the regulating nut needing to be almost off the stud. The bobbin shuttle is set at about 1.5 oz (40g) to "pull the thread" vertically up from the bobbin. I found that little gem on SingerSewingInfo on their technical page about tension adjustment and calibration (https://www.singersewinginfo.co.uk/tension/)

Then I played with the top tension. A hint I picked from Andy Tube (the last three videos in this little playlist https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=83o6...97NsW5GYM7KD9U) was to make sure that when the eye of needle pierces the fabric (on the down stroke) the check spring comes to rest on the stop and also to make it so that the check spring itself is positioned (where it is held in place at the back of the stud) so that when the tension is fully engaged as you sew the stitch the check spring points pretty much straight up.

My check spring seemed bouncy enough, all right, but it was not resting on the check spring stop when the needle pierces the fabric - it was stopping still a wee bit above the rest at that part of the needle stroke (solution, adjust where the stop is positioned to match where the spring is when the needle enters the fabric). Once I did all those things I could get the regulating nut right on to the post and was able to make little micro-adjustments to the tension like you'd normally expect to do for a nice balanced, "locked" stitch where 90-degree turns look pretty sharp on both sides of the stitching. I did all the testing on a medium stitch length.

I hope that helps someone!

OurWorkbench

Thank you for the additional information.

Janey - Neat people never make the exciting discoveries I do.