Sewnoma

Rodney - I messed with my Kenmore last night and the bobbin/race seems OK. It's loose and rattly-sounding but it never popped out on me.

Something inside the arm suddenly went "BWONNNGGG!" though, and now all my stitches are very very tight unless I'm going in reverse! The stitch length lever went loose - I'm hoping just a spring came unhooked but I didn't have time to look. I closed it back up and told DH to haul it upstairs to the "hospital" for me, it's going to have to get in line for a checkup! It needs a new belt, anyway.

Sewnoma

Thanks, I know I'm being a bit silly - usually when something intimidates me and I finally get brave enough to tackle it, I discover that 90% of my concerns were unfounded. I'm pretty bold with tension on regular sewing machines and I don't usually have a ton of trouble getting it set right. Like you say, I've picked up machines at thrift shops and discovered nothing worse than bad tension wrong with them.

This serger comes to me already threaded with 4 different colors, so I have a head start there. I just hope the other people's attempts to fix the tension haven't created issues! Hopefully nobody got too terribly "creative".

Rodney

Thanks for checking for me and sorry about your machine. If there's anything I can do to help like pictures of the underside just let me know.
The zigzag stitches on mine are pretty ragged looking. I haven't played with it farther to see what the problem is.


I picked up a White branded free arm machine around a week or so ago. It's a little newer and has more plastic than I normally like but all it took was a little oil and a tension adjustment and it just purrs. It's nice to get an easy one once in a while.
Rodney

miriam

Tammi, I am sssssssssoooooooooooooooo looking forward to your tutorial on sergers.

HelenAnn

Tammy I love your blog and video's. Keep up the good work.
HelenAnn

Sewnoma

Hehe, thanks Rodney! Too bad our states are just a little too far apart, sounds like we'd both benefit from putting our machines side-by-side and figuring out what's what! It's going to be a while before I get back to this machine I think, I have a lot of stuff hanging around waiting for attention all of a sudden.

Mine makes very tidy zig-zags and good straight stitches too, or at least it did before this new issue! Now it makes very TINY stitches, LOL, but if I look close they're still pretty well formed. Just almost zero stitch length!

How wobbly is your motor? When I flatten the pedal and get it going full speed it wobbles and was causing the belt to slip. The belt is pretty hard and frayed so that's probably part of it, but I didn't like how wobbly the motor looked. The machine is too heavy for it to really shake it around but I could feel it.

It's hinged and has a spring to put tension on the belt, but I think I like the Singer method better, where it's bolted down tight.

miriam

Check to see if there is a cracked plastic gear. You can replace it with metal.

redbugsullivan

I bought a Singer serger from our local Goodwill site. I decided, like you, that fear had to be overcome and doing so in the privacy of my own home was the key. Follow the directions and don't expect to understand (that was the hardest part for me). You do that and prepare to be amazed!

The one slice of information you need to know, learn how to wind spools. You don't have to buy huge amounts of matching thread. Buy one and use your empty spools to load up on that one color. I use one of my Japanese clones to hold onto the spool and then that one serger spool becomes one big and three little. Much cheaper and my machine sews just fine with the little spools. You CAN do this!

redbugsullivan

Came home to a White 477 in its original cabinet sitting in my driveway the other day. Dirty, nicotine stained, and rather frozen, that's what I've been fiddling with today. The bobbin winder is bound up even with heat, Triflow, and "suggestions".

I know this will be a strong machine when finished. I only wish the cabinet was smaller and didn't suck up so much valuable space. The family who dropped it off? Six kids and no space. Gee, I think I get it.

Rodney

Annette I have a White 418 that I think is very similar if there are any parts you need.
Rodney