301 Take-up lever
02-22-2015, 04:33 PM
#101
Super Member
Join Date: Oct 2013
Location: Centralia, WA, USA
Posts: 4,890
Congrats on tackling a difficult repair and sticking with it until you got it right! Great job! Multiple problems really add to the challenge of fixing anything. You should be very proud of yourself!
Rodney
Rodney
02-22-2015, 06:41 PM
#105
Super Member
Join Date: Jul 2012
Location: Not Here
Posts: 3,817
Originally Posted by sdhaevrsi
UPDATE: I am beaming and hopping up and down here in Idaho! Tammi (ArchaicArcane,) is an awesome teacher, her videos are perfect, and so are her words of explanation!
I got the take up lever problem resolved... but ended up with skipped stitches all over the place.
So, since the tension control was apparently put together wrong, (it wouldn't even turn more that half the way around,) I took it apart with Tammi's videos, (which she has posted on her blog,) cleaned it, reassembled it, and now it turns as it should, and is nice and clean, too.
The skipped stitches continue so I added pictures here (back a few posts,) of the hook placement...ack, I found out it was out of timing! So, with much trepidation and Tammi's help and a great video, I tackled the timing. (I feel my heart rate increase just thinking about how I felt at that time!) Screws were frozen under there and needed a lot of convincing over a day or two before finally getting them loose today about noon.
I got the machine timed perfectly as far as I my eyes could tell, but when I tried to confirm that, my needle would hit the hook thing before the hook was in the right place. (Highly technical labeling, hope you can follow, ha! Maybe Tammi can clarify it for you...)
So, after staring at my good 301 next to the sick tan 301, I figured out that the needle bar was about an 1/8 inch lower than the good one. Tammy confirmed that and I learned how to adjust the needle bar. :-)
I got to practice setting the timing again. Boy, am I tired, and my shoulders are about the level of my ears, but it all works now! No skipped stitches, tension is beautiful, and it just hums along. Sweet!
Thank you, thank you, Tammi!!
I got the take up lever problem resolved... but ended up with skipped stitches all over the place.
So, since the tension control was apparently put together wrong, (it wouldn't even turn more that half the way around,) I took it apart with Tammi's videos, (which she has posted on her blog,) cleaned it, reassembled it, and now it turns as it should, and is nice and clean, too.
The skipped stitches continue so I added pictures here (back a few posts,) of the hook placement...ack, I found out it was out of timing! So, with much trepidation and Tammi's help and a great video, I tackled the timing. (I feel my heart rate increase just thinking about how I felt at that time!) Screws were frozen under there and needed a lot of convincing over a day or two before finally getting them loose today about noon.
I got the machine timed perfectly as far as I my eyes could tell, but when I tried to confirm that, my needle would hit the hook thing before the hook was in the right place. (Highly technical labeling, hope you can follow, ha! Maybe Tammi can clarify it for you...)
So, after staring at my good 301 next to the sick tan 301, I figured out that the needle bar was about an 1/8 inch lower than the good one. Tammy confirmed that and I learned how to adjust the needle bar. :-)
I got to practice setting the timing again. Boy, am I tired, and my shoulders are about the level of my ears, but it all works now! No skipped stitches, tension is beautiful, and it just hums along. Sweet!
Thank you, thank you, Tammi!!
You did scare me a little with the hammer thing but that worked out OK too. Your needle was striking the hook before the tip of the hook reached the needle. It's a sure sign of timing being out and / or the needlebar being too low. Of course in your case, we found both to be the case. What a great learning opportunity that turned out to be.
I also thought it was a great catch on your part for the needlebar. None of us saw it in the pics so it was very subtle. Things like this are stressful the first time but the shoulders by the ears thing seems to settle down in subsequent tries. If you have to do this again, look how easy it will be!
Originally Posted by sdhaevrsi
And the photo with the circled bumps is odd... I don't know what caused that but it isn't there in real life. Shadows or the way some old grease showed up? I just went and looked again, there are no bumps, here is a photo that I just took.
Originally Posted by Jeanette Frantz
Tammi,
I say it again! You rock, girl! I'm proud to be associated with the fine folks on the QB!
Jeanette
I say it again! You rock, girl! I'm proud to be associated with the fine folks on the QB!
Jeanette
Empowerment is what I always aimed for "back in the day" in my computer business. This is just an extension of the same.
02-22-2015, 07:18 PM
#106
Senior Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Apr 2014
Location: Idaho
Posts: 344
"You did scare me a little with the hammer thing but that worked out OK too."
Ha! I could hear that, Tammi, as you spoke in a very calm, controlled voice: "Hammer? You used a hammer?" But, really, it was just to tap once, very lightly, because thumping the end of the screwdriver with my palm wasn't having any effect. I did seriously consider the bouncing-it-on-a-trampoline idea, though. (Insert smiley face with a wicked grin.)
Ha! I could hear that, Tammi, as you spoke in a very calm, controlled voice: "Hammer? You used a hammer?" But, really, it was just to tap once, very lightly, because thumping the end of the screwdriver with my palm wasn't having any effect. I did seriously consider the bouncing-it-on-a-trampoline idea, though. (Insert smiley face with a wicked grin.)
02-23-2015, 06:54 AM
#107
Super Member
Join Date: Dec 2009
Location: Somewhere in Time
Posts: 2,697
Actually, I was talking about the whole assembly. The one in the black machine photo does not have writing on it. It also looks like the teeth at the end of the triangle on the assembly might be different lengths. I thought that might be affecting the take-up.
02-23-2015, 02:55 PM
#109
Power Poster
Join Date: Mar 2011
Location: Somewhere
Posts: 15,507
I can remember quite a few years ago I had a Consew walking foot sewing machine that got thread wrapped around the shuttle and stuck between all the little parts - it must have done it at a million RPMs. I took the shuttle off and had to get it all put back and timed. I kept getting it put back but not in time. I think I twiddled with that machine for over a month before I figured out how to do the timing. I sure wish I would have had someone like Tammi who could have explained it back then. The only thing I knew at that time was the hook had to pass the needle eye. But I also remember the feeling I had when I figured it out - good isn't it??? Then it happened again................
Last edited by miriam; 02-23-2015 at 02:58 PM.
02-23-2015, 09:42 PM
#110
Super Member
Join Date: Jul 2012
Location: Not Here
Posts: 3,817
Originally Posted by sdhaevrsi
"You did scare me a little with the hammer thing but that worked out OK too."
Ha! I could hear that, Tammi, as you spoke in a very calm, controlled voice: "Hammer? You used a hammer?" But, really, it was just to tap once, very lightly, because thumping the end of the screwdriver with my palm wasn't having any effect. I did seriously consider the bouncing-it-on-a-trampoline idea, though. (Insert smiley face with a wicked grin.)
Ha! I could hear that, Tammi, as you spoke in a very calm, controlled voice: "Hammer? You used a hammer?" But, really, it was just to tap once, very lightly, because thumping the end of the screwdriver with my palm wasn't having any effect. I did seriously consider the bouncing-it-on-a-trampoline idea, though. (Insert smiley face with a wicked grin.)
Originally Posted by Aurora
Actually, I was talking about the whole assembly. The one in the black machine photo does not have writing on it. It also looks like the teeth at the end of the triangle on the assembly might be different lengths. I thought that might be affecting the take-up.
Sheri did a really good job of taking the photos but I do notice that they're slightly different angles so I think there's a chance that part of what we're seeing is optical illusion. It's a good catch though.
Originally Posted by miriam
I can remember quite a few years ago I had a Consew walking foot sewing machine that got thread wrapped around the shuttle and stuck between all the little parts - it must have done it at a million RPMs. I took the shuttle off and had to get it all put back and timed. I kept getting it put back but not in time. I think I twiddled with that machine for over a month before I figured out how to do the timing. I sure wish I would have had someone like Tammi who could have explained it back then. The only thing I knew at that time was the hook had to pass the needle eye. But I also remember the feeling I had when I figured it out - good isn't it??? Then it happened again................
Lucey's sucked a few things in on me and wow. 3600rpm uses up thread fast! "Back then" it was harder to find a forum like this one where someone would explain it. Often we were at the mercy of our OSMG who wouldn't or couldn't explain these things. The OSMG who used to service my 290C emailed me recently and said "I see you're getting very good at making videos and posting free information on how to fix sewing machines...." I didn't get the impression that he just forgot to say "Good job!" The feeling of giving a machine a new lease on life is amazing. Even when it's done by proxy. I'm sure your Consew was just wanting to make sure you remembered the lesson with a little reinforcement and repetition...
Thread
Thread Starter
Forum
Replies
Last Post
sjdal
For Vintage & Antique Machine Enthusiasts
3
01-05-2014 07:13 AM
janceejan
For Vintage & Antique Machine Enthusiasts
8
08-10-2012 04:28 PM
