Silver Needle

Got the FW Oiled and running smooth but top thread tension is very tight even with the tension at 0. This is a dumb question but do you need singer needles? I tried a schmetz but the top thread keeps breaking.

Sally J

I don't know what is wrong, but my FW works just fine with Schmetz needles. I think it must be your tension disk.

Candace

Schmetz needles work fine. You should go over the machine to see where the thread is catching.

Charlee

Cheryl, check to be sure that your needle is in correctly...flat side to the left, and make sure that it's threaded from right to left (inside to out).

That being said, it sounds like you have a tension problem. Check to see if it needs cleaned between the disks....run some dental floss between them, or use the edge of a business card.

If that fails, send a PM to Mizkaki to see what she recommends...I'm betting she can nail it within just a few minutes!

Brynn

Also, make sure the thread is going between the discs--I've had that happen a couple times, nothing makes you feel sillier!

Silver Needle

I think the problem may be with the bobbin area. 1) is the inner collar in the bobbin area supposed to just turn free? 2) the lever to hold the bobbin in is very weak and the bobbin is just kind of sitting there. The machine sounds and looks like it's running ok until you add thread to the equation. It will even walk along with needle going thru fabric as long as there is no thread.

Candace

Make sure that the jut out piece on the bobbin assembly is locked into the groove of the feed dog cover plate. It shouldn't be moving freely. I suspect this is your problem. If you've removed the feed dog plate to clean etc. you need to make sure it's back in place in the cover plate. This is a common thing...and I still do it once in a while!

Candace

April 1930's shop has a good diagram of it. Here's what it should look like.