How can I smooth out a rough needle hole on the throat plate?
 

This is for the Improved Eldredge "B" that just came home. I think the original plate is too far gone to fix; there isn't much metal around the hole. A replacement I found has more metal, but I am uncertain of just how to smooth the hole's edges. Both of these really got bashed repeatedly by needles over the years. (I have to wonder if the needles weren't secured tightly enough, or if the machine has a flaw and can't hold them). The metal might not be all that hard to begin with. How would you go about this? it must be done or the thread will shred almost instantly as it passes through the needle hole. I have a Dremel...
Pat

Depending on where it is...in the hole, around the hole...the usual counter request is "photo please".

Here you go-
http://shop.sew-classic.com/Abrasive...rrs-SCSE52.htm

Cari

Here's picture of a replacement I will probably buy. As you can see, the needle hole is in bad condition. Mine is worse.

[ATTACH=CONFIG]541528[/ATTACH]

Gentle dremel?

I would definitely check here. Or like amcatanzaro suggests.

Thank you, Cari!

Or this is what I use...

http://www.stitchintheditch.com/product-p/n1216.htm

Ha! I've probably got a file that small.

Cari

My Eldredge Two Spool had a needle hole like that. It would make a loop in the thread every fourth or fifth stitch. The only solution was a new plate. My young sewing machine guy took care of that.

Most likely, the needle was deflected by pulling or pushing on the fabric while sewing. Would it help or hurt if that hole turned out a bit larger after the smoothing work on it?

Cari-in-Oly and Annette in Utah, glad you posted links to tools. I need those, or at least one of them.

I like these diamond needle files
http://www.harborfreight.com/needle-...-pc-69876.html

Another ha! I have a set of diamond fiddly bits for my dremel. Why don't I think of these things I already have? Probably because my stuff is scattered in different places since I don't have a garage or a shop. That's soon to be remedied.

Cari

I agree about the cause.

The reason the needle hole is as small as possible, is mainly to avoid the needle pushing the material down, and get a clean entry. The hole should be as small as possible. That's one of the advantages of the SS only machine, and the reason we should dig out the extra throatplate that came with the ZZ machine, for SS. But if all things are done right - new needle and correct thread for the material, holding the thread tails when starting, etc - we usually don't have any problems sewing SS with the ZZ plate. And that hole is larger than the SS hole. Point is, I don't think we need to worry about widening the hole a little bit, it's much worse to leave sharp nicks and burrs. I'd be sceptical to opening it enough to avoid hits in the first place, though.

Thinner needles will deflect more easily, but the size is a given for the project. Then there's stiffness. I've read some people are concerned with needle quality, and choose needles for minimum flexibility. Organ is the brand mentioned often, but this is not something I have tested.

Check beading supplies - look for a bead reamer. Very small, round file.

I agree, too. The feed dogs on this machine don't look very "toothy", for want of a better term, nor do they rise very high. Maybe that is why the seamstress thought is necessary to pull on the fabric: It just didn't feed well. Has anyone noticed this as a problem with these Nationals? I won't know for sure until all the parts are installed.