Ha! User error is the story of my life. My son gives the standard answer of 'Pebkac' when I have computer questions - 'Problem exists between keyboard and chair'.

I tried Steve's suggestion and there was a tiny bit of dirt. The needle misses, barely, now. Still wish I could line it up exactly with the hole.

Linda,

You got some of it fixed, now I'd suggest removing the needle clamp assembly and cleaning the needle channel out with a good stiff brush and or a dental pic or something similar. I've had times where debris blocked the needle and I had to dig it out.

Joe

Glad it helped. The name of the game with these old machines is incremental improvements. There may be even more dried up old crud in there. i take a tiny bit of 0000 steel wool and twist it into a thin pointed tool and dip it in oil then clean the needle hole. The same issue could exist with crud inside the needlebar mechanism. I have had machines like this that once the crud was removed the needlebar was realigned.

P.S. As an IT manager I have used that abbreviation in trouble/ticket tracking systems.... grin

You don’t necessarily want the needle to be centered in the hole. Most machines are designed to operate with the needle close to one side, usually where the hook passes by the needle, and the extra space in the hole is to accommodate larger needle shank sizes. Small needles can often appear non-centered in the needle plate hole.

CD in Oklahoma

Y'all are so smart. I am off to work on mine, because it never occurred (spell) to me to check for "crud" in either place. Getting smarter by the minute here.....

Thank you! That's the answer. I just happened to come across this in the 206 Adjuster's Manual, too. [ATTACH=CONFIG]499782[/ATTACH]