a little help with New Home Light Running stitch please?
 

'So I have her all together and running off the Hamilton Beach swing away motor
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JNj9TzSuSug . And working on the motor was kind of fun...
[ATTACH=CONFIG]451689[/ATTACH]but... stitching some cotton will eventually break the upper thread by unraveling and breaking it at the needle eye. I've tried various threads, albeit usually cheap polyester or old mercerized cotton covered poly. Same results after a few inches. The needle I had in it, was a tad longer than ones that I had in Boyes thread containers. They are 1.5" long with the center of the eye 1/8" from tip of needle. The needle that was in it, was about 1.73" long with the center of the eye 3/16" from tip of needle. The 1.5" needles are marked "40 to 60". The threads are not marked as to thickness, but I'm trying for least fuzzy, smallest diameter. As I mentioned elsewhere, there was a disc of lint that had accumulated in the end of the shuttle, same as on my 127 and 128, causing catches. Removing it helped, but I'm not sure exactly sure which needle is correct. And perhaps the needle bar height is a tetch off? Any thoughts? Thanks
Jim
oh, BTW, I wrote down that it needs 20x1 needles, is that the longer needle length. 45mm x 2 mm shank (1.77" x .080")?

And this is the little disc of lint I keep finding at the end of shuttle bobbin cases.
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I never noticed that tiny little greyhound on the shuttle before!

I wonder if there's enough wear on the end of the shuttle to inhibit the bobbin from turning freely? Could that be shredding the other thread?

CD in Oklahoma

That's a good "tip". So it didn't look as sharp as my Singer shuttles. I used a diamond hone on it a little bit. But what was more noticeable, is that the shuttle seems pretty loose in its holder, and I can see how it could skip picking up the loop altogether.
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OTOH, I guess it has to be that loose or the thread won't pass back to the rear of the shuttle. Well at least it's nice to be able to see everything!

If the shuttle is worn and has been used a lot the front point and the edges become very sharp and can cut and shred the thread. I have dulled the point along both edges of the shuttle that rides next to the shuttle race. The best thing to do is find another shuttle and boye # 5 should fit it. At least it does on my New Home And yes the shuttle has to be loose so the thread will pass under and over

If you're using a 15x1 needle it will be too short. The 20x1 is longer. Compare the needle you are using to the one that was in it, and you'll see. The numbers on the needle you are using is not the needle system number, but the needle size in diameter.

The 20x1 and 15x1 are the same except for the length. You can short seat a 15x1 so it sits out as long as the 20x1's do and it will work.

That is what I do on my two machines that use the 20x1 needles. Both made by New Home.

Joe

The New Home I had used the 20x1 needle also.

what about adjusting needle bar height setting?

I'd save that for a last resort fix....

CD in Oklahoma

i'm not seeing how a sharp aft edge will contact the upper thread but it is sharp and there is a small notch there. Is that wear or normal? I have new needle plate with larger hole. I'll try it tonight. thanks all of you,!

I commonly find shuttle / bobbin trouble with thread breakage on a Vibrating shuttle machines. I'll wind a bobbin, place in shuttle and strip off the thread by hand. Oftentimes I find the thread catches in the shuttle which would break the thread if in the machine. This could be due to uneven bobbin winding, shuttle problem, or the lint you pulled out. Upper tension problem are much easier to spot since not too much can go wrong.

Once the shuttle gets a notch or knife edge at the edge that wears on the race
It's best to replace if possible.

Jon

Jon is right and yes this is normal wear of the shuttle.
Skip

Jon, Glenn,

So can you tell visually if a shuttle is worn past the point of no return, or do you base it on thread breakage and lacerations when you run your finger over the edge?

I have about 5 or 6 shuttle machines and all of them have the original shuttles as far as I can tell. So far all are sewing properly. Knock on wood.

Joe

what shuttles interchange with NH A183? Am I looking for Boye #5? Are there other mfr part #'s? I haven't located anything yet, but I guess I can keep checking eBay...
thank you again

Easy to tell if shuttle is well worn. Here are a couple pics of a new and wore out Davis shuttle. I believe when the shuttle is so wore there's a notch in it the bobbin is impeded by the notch as it seems to grab and not unwind smooth.

Jon

I missed informed you it is a Boye #3 not five. Sorry I read it wrong.Try Cindy Peters at Stiches in time. [email protected]. Ask her she may have one for sale. She also has an Ebay store.
Skip

Thanks. I tried taking a honing stone to the aft end of the shuttle, to dull the sharp edge. If I run upper tension too loose, it doesn't seem to break the thread, or at least not so readily. Of course, it leaves big loops on top, tightening the upper tension just to get rid of the looping on top will eventually see the top thread break. Before it breaks, I increased the bobbin tension a bit to try to get rid of bobbin thread appearing on top.
I will pursue a new shuttle. Is there any other brand than Boye I should search for which is liable to be out there?

oldsewandsew,

Thread looping on the top is controlled by the bobbin tension. Thread looping on the bottom is top tension problems.

I think it's ArchaicArcane that has a method of setting the top and bottom tensions on her blog. Miriam has several threads about tension problems here too.

What I do is fill a bobbin, put it in the shuttle and then thread it. Then I hold it by the thread letting the shuttle dangle on the thread. Give a little bounce on the thread. If the shuttle drops just a bit it's good to go. If not I loosen it's tension an 1/8 th turn and try again.
If it drops a lot I tighten it an 1/8 th turn and repeat the drop test.

After I get the shuttles where I like them I work on the top tension.

Joe

I've noticed little pockets at the front of the shuttle travel with felt in them on several of my machines. In the wall from the pocket to the shuttle is a small hole. Those are to be filled with oil so the shuttle doesn't ride dry on the machine.
I've removed the old decayed stuff in the pockets, cleaned them and the horizontal hole and put in new felt. Then each time I use my machines I fill the pocket with oil.
That actually made a noticeable difference in how a couple of them sounded. It can't do anything but help the machine.

For the machines that do not have the oil pocket I put a drop of oil on the arched wall of the machine every time I put in a new bobbin.

Joe

Problem solved, Operator error!
 

Distracted myself by looking at a symptom when the real problem was further upstream!
I even carefully compared it to the stitching of my Windsor B, to see what the WB was doing that the NH wasn't.
Here are some symptom closeups...

see the loop forming topside...
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So the needle would occasionally pierce the loop, and break the thread... and the problem was actually...the take up lever wasn't moving. Because when I reassembled the needle bar assy, I neglected to re-engage it. Duhh. And now it's better, much better. Now I need to get a little more traction out of the drive wheel, but that's easier.
I'll post a photo of the culprit, once I get my Netbook to let loose of the SD card so I can put it back in the camera. Sometimes problems are simpler than we think. Good news is, I now have 2 extra shuttles, (new) because the old one is working fine. Oh, I did squeeze down some of the free play around the shuttle, thinking it might have been that, and had to back it back out a hair. I love puzzles!

Awesome! Success feels so good...

Take up lever, spring, do-hickey
 

I think this one may have actually been fashioned by someone other than the factory.[ATTACH=CONFIG]459953[/ATTACH]
Lastly (I think) on this one, I need to figure out what gives with the overcenter spring on the plunger of the handwheel. There is a groove in the plunger, that if the spring falls into, it won't work, so maybe a cir-clip is required?...

I wish my shuttle had a greyhound on it.

well, I'll keep that in mind. I did figure out the handwheel issue. There is a pin broken off flush that is supposed to hold that knob out. Redrilling will be awkward.