YEA!! I fixed the tension on my featherweight.
 

the poor girl. The owner must of been pushing on the numbers to change the tension. I thought it was a timing issue. But after looking at that without tension on the dial it was fine. So then I googled and found a few things and it told me to push the number dial in and turn the silver knob...WOW...I had to turn it A LOT..but it is working now....whoo hooo

Now to name her..

Awesome, so glad to hear it is working!!!

I'm having trouble with the tension on my featherweight also. So, if I understand you right, just turning the knob doesn't work? You have to push and turn at the same time? Just want to check before I do any more damage trying to get the tension set correctly.

Belfrybat...on the tension dial if you push the numbers in and look you will see little holes where the number is. There is a notch on the silver dial that moves into those holes. So if you turn the dial counter clockwise you are loosening the tension numbers.

So when you adjust the tension for different fabrics you do not want to push the numbers only turn the dial.

Oh, thanks. I was doing it right after all by not pushing in. But I've gotten the top tension down to 1 and it still pulls the bottom thread up. The bobbin tension is set correctly by the "hang and jerk" method. Not sure what else to do.

Also, if you do push in you can change where the numbers are lining up on the tension dial (where the little peg goes in). DH and I have had to mess around quite a bit with getting the tension dials set right so that with the bobbin tension good - the top is set in the middle. DH normally takes the tension dial completely apart to clean.

We had to take one apart several times before we got the numbers in the right spot. Was a similar problem - setting it all the way to 1 and was still too tight. Dh was trying to compensate by tightening the bobbin tension. He could still "jerk" but he had to give it a rather stiff jerk. I tired it and said "no" so back to the bench the machine went. He eventually got it prefect, and now he knows something else to watch for.

Belfrybat Your presser foot needs to be in down position to set your tension. This should help you get the right tension. Suzy

I'm having trouble with my tension too. Mine skips stitches both on the top and the bobbin threads. Sometimes it even puckers the fabric. What do I need to do to get my FW back in perfect order?

You will need to adjust it then. It's not right at the moment.
http://www.archaicarcane.com/fragile...-equal-stress/

That describes what you want the behaviour to be like. Adjust (by pushing the numbered ring in and turning the knob) until it acts like in my blog post above.

I had a problem with my top tension.. it was not releasing and the number dial and the -/+ would both move. the wire spring was stuck.. finally took it all apart and put it back together and it is working now..not sure if it is completely right yet but it is sewing better!