Featherweight not working
 

I recently won an auction for a featherweight. Although the body is in near pristine condition,the wheel does not move the needle. The motor runs and we have oiled it. What might be wrong do you think? Thanks so much, Gina

The belt may need an adjustment or the clutch knob on the hand wheel has been loosened to engage the bobbin winder.

My thoughts exactly!

Did you check the bobbin case for threads? And have you oiled and greased it? I just finished cleaning up a featherweight that hadn't been used for years and found that it was so dry that the disks underneath the bobbin race(?) needed to be taken out and cleaned thoroughly; the little grooves in it were packed with gunk and caused the thread to jam. Even a small piece of thread lodged behind it will stop the needle from moving up or down and the hand wheel won't budge either. I put a dap of Tri Flow between the disks before putting it back together and problem was solved. It runs great now. Just my two cents.

I would bet if its thats pristine its the clutch knob like mentioned before. Let us know what you find out

Check to see if needle in proper alignment. Or the wheel is loosened from bobbin winder or make sure winder is moved away from it....the littlest thing caused problem!

tell me you greased the motor, you didn't use sewing machine oil did you?

I don't think my husband greased the motor, but he did use sewing machine oil in other places. I thought I was supposed to use it. Is there something else instead?

does the hand wheel turn freely by hand? does the needle move when turning by hand? Is the freewheel clutch knob tightened? (hold the balancewheel and turn knob clockwise.)
when the motor spins,
1) does its pulley also spin ? if not, loose set screw in pulley.
2) does the belt move but not the balance/handwheel, (loose belt)
3) if you give it a little spin by hand with the pedal depresse, does it turn but slowly. needs more cleaning and oil and perhapd brushes.
what did I miss? thread jams are common in these behind bobbin case. remove bobbin case and bottom cover and examine for threads. remove needle plate and examine for lint buikdup...

bulkdup?? dadgummed phone. cant see screen when keyboard is showing...

You're not the only one who's done this Jim: We all know you wrote build up :o

My 'go-to' site when I have a question is novamontgomery.com. She has a Tip of the Month Index that will help you look up certain problems you may think you have. Hope you enjoy her site.

oh but then we may be opening the can of worms re: recomending websites, ckmmercial and othdrwise. !^|

besides, I really don't think we need to send people away to fix issues. this is well within our abilities to help with.

Man, I sure don't like QB in Android. It freaks out when I type, and the space bar doesn't work right!

x2 on this one!

X4!! drives me crazy. I'm really not that bad at spelling! And auto correct uses words that I dont want.

I'm so glad to hear it's not my tablet. I was thinking it was going to suck to troubleshoot.
Maybe I'll compose messages in email and copy paste? I'm really trying hard not to keep the computer in the living room or the sewing room all the time. (Trying to pare down the number of them that we have now that I'm stepping out of IT)

I turn off auto correct most of the time, especially after some of the "epic" corrections I've seen posted on the net. ;)
I do like the predictive text that android does. It does get a lot of those right.

Thanks to everyone with suggestions. I think we have figured out what the problem is, but not how to fix it ourselves. The machine will run beautifully if the throat plate is removed. Apparently, the feed dogs are hitting the throat plate. They appear to be too far forward (towards the sewer). We have downloaded the adjusters manuel and it does tell us how to move the feed dogs length-wise, by turning a screw on the bottom of the machine, but this has not seemed to make a difference. What are we doing wrong? Thanks so much for your help. I have looked on the web, but can't find an answer. Gina

This was the hard one for me when I was working on my featherweight. Once you take the throat plate off, you have to make sure that the "finger on the bobbin case" is positioned correctly between the bobbin case position springs under the bottom of the throat plate. The "finger" has to be at the top position otherwise it won't run with the throat plate on; but it will run without it. I, too, thought that I needed to adjust the position of the feed dogs, but all I really needed to do was to get that "finger" in the proper place. Hope this not only makes some sort of sense, but also that it helps.

That's what I was thinking too.

If this is the problem, the last 3 photos on this page address what Jassinc6 is referring to:
http://thefeatherweight221factory.co...MachineJam.php

Thanks for the link. I did go look and what I can't figure out is that I'm doing what it says and that little finger thing on the bobbin is in the up position, but when I put the throat plate back on it looks like it is getting stuck in between the springs on the throat plate. It won't move at all with the throat plate on.

Exactly! That's what you want!

That little 'finger' isn't suppose to move. If it does, nothing works right.

Ok then why won't things work anyway? The "finger" ,I don't know what it's called, is in the right position, I guess. It's where the pictures show it's supposed to be. But the wheel won't turn with the throat plate in place. Does it make a difference that I don't have a bobbin in the bobbin case?
I'm sorry to keep asking questions, but I would really like to get my machine working. Gina

No, the handwheel and needle should move without the bobbincase in place. The needle thread will likely hang up on the "center pin" where the bobbincase sits, but otherwise it doesn't care if that case is in place.

Are you able to post some photos? The hook area, the feed dogs, the feed dogs striking the needle plate anything that looks "wrong" to you. That way we all can see what's going on. I think it was oldsewnsew who posted a bunch of questions back on the first page. If we know the answers to those questions, we might have a better idea of where to guide you.

When you say the wheel doesn't move the needle, I see three different scenarios, each of which is treated differently.

1. Clutch knob is in "bobbin winding" mode.
2. Machine is bound up likely with thread behind the hook base, and likely the whole of the link that I posted should be gone through step by step.
3. Perhaps the handwheel can be turned, but the motor does not turn the wheel. If so, it's likely the belt needing to be tightened. Does the handwheel turn at all? wiggles a little back an forth but no actual motion? Turns smoothly or is a little reluctant?

All of these things have been suggested, but we don't really know what you've tried (besides adjusting the feed dogs) or what the actual symptoms are beyond "wheel doesn't move needle". This is akin to me to a "general car fault" - troubleshooting is possible, but not fast without more details.

I know it probably seems we're asking a lot of questions and for a lot of clarification, but it's how we "see" the problem without visuals or being there.

Featherweights are very simple machines, they don't have a lot go wrong with them. It will work, but it will take a little time to figure out what's wrong. Truthfully, the diagnostic time is always longer than the repair time.

I sincerely doubt the feed dogs themselves are at fault, I think it's something else, but with a clear photo, maybe we can help you rule that out for sure?

ThAnk you for answers me. I will get some pictures posted. To answer some questions ; the motor runs the needle perfectly. The problem I have is that when I put the throat plate on,all movement stops. The hand wheel will not turn at all. I have the finger where it needs to be, but that doesn't solve the problem. Going back to the link that I was provided, I am attempting to take the bobbin case out to see if there is thread jammed in there. I'm having a hard time doing that. Not sure if I'll be able to.

With the needle plate off, turn the hand wheel and watch that "finger".
What does it do? Does it spin around, or does it stay mostly in the same spot? What happens if you grab it gently with your fingers (basically, you act as a needleplate as far as the finger is concerned)
while trying to turn the handwheel? Does it try to rotate out of your fingers, or does it stay put in your fingers?

Are you having trouble taking the bobbin case out, or the gib screw and the bobbin case base out? (The photos on the link I gave you will show you what each of these parts are.) If you can't get the bobbin case out, that's a completely different issue.

BTW, be very careful with the gib screw. The second they're removed from a machine, they tend to grow wings and disappear.

I want to say thank you to all who responded to me and to that link ArchaicArcane sent me. I decided to try to take the bobbin case base out. It took quite a while, but finally got it out. It was stuck and after I cleaned it and oiled it, it started to turn with in the case. That was why the needle would not work when the throat plate was on.
So glad to have it working. No w I just need a bobbin case and I can start sewing.

I'm glad you're up and running!