miriam

Well, I was hoping you would say that.

ArchaicArcane

Even Igor can disassemble things, we're looking for "it also works" after we're done with it.

I find that there are a lot of people who don't find the Singer tensioners easy or that's what 55K views on those tensioner videos on my Youtube channel says to me. If you have a solid basis in the Singer ones that are easier to find instructions and tutorials on, the clones do come easier because the understanding of how they function is already there.

miriam

I think you are right on. There are so many directions those parts could combine but there are basics that need to be figured out. How about a tutorial on a front tension from a Kenmore or an Atlas? Same thing really but people have a hard time going from one kind to another. I think I have it pretty well figured out but once in a while I find something Igor got to before and can throw things off.

Maybe we need to start an 'Igor was here' thread with pics of what Igor did....

ArchaicArcane

Any time I've had those sorts of machines here, when I've rebuilt the tensioners, I haven't bothered with photos or video. They're a little different in the parts they use (sometimes you have to pop a cover off and them the number dial screws onto the tensioner pin, etc) but I've always thought they were similar enough to not warrant doing a video on. That said, I always thought the 500 style tensioners were close enough to the 201,etc machines so I didn't plan on doing a video on them. I got so many requests for it that I did one. Just the tiny differences sometimes trip people up.

Sometimes I think it's the "imagination" part of repairing these machines that people don't want to do. I.e. imagine what that would look like if it was the Singer equivalent. That's all I've ever done and 99.99% of the time get them back together at least better than it was or even as good as new.

If you start that thread you HAVE to put that one of the tensioner on there,... back from page 3? *shudder* That looks like someone who's been broken into several pieces.

miriam

Same here. I don't photograph a lot of the stupid thing I run across. I usually have enough to do to stay focused on the task at hand.

I was able to put that tension back the way it was intended to go but I had a pretty good idea what it was supposed to go like. I think there are some basic ideas how the stupid things go. They mostly have a can with a post. Inside the post goes a pin. Outside goes a spring. The disks have to fit in there dished out so thread has somewhere to squeeze through. Some times there are parts behind the disks sometimes not. Then there is something to push against the pin. Then there is a spring and some times something to cover it and a nut... Very basic but they all work that way. I think the easieat way to get the concept is to mess with an old Singer 66. It is all very simple and adjusted by feel.

ArchaicArcane

Boy, you're not kidding. I'm finally getting around to writing a pattern to publish that people have been bugging me about for 2 years and I even put away all distractions - like when I service a machine - and STILL forgot to take a couple of the photos that I needed even though I distinctly remember standing there with the shot set up and everything. I was lucky though because they were ones I could "fudge" and make look like they were taken of the right step at the right time.

Exactly how I teach it with tension. The simple early tensioners show what and why, then we just add bits for more control and repeat-ability (numbers for reference, etc)

miriam

Yup just a bunch of add on bits but sorting out which way those bits go seems to mess with Igor's pea brain. But it is also very possible that if Igor understood how a tension worked he might have less disasters.

ArchaicArcane

I think if Igor went in eyes open and brain engaged, it would cause him a lot less tension in a lot of different projects. I know it would sure make my life easier when I get what he broke before I got it.

miriam

I'm thinking way too many people try to fix something with out getting enough information before they start. It may look easy but often time good information can go a very long ways. Then there really is a school of hard knocks. Experience is a real good teacher. Unfortunately Igor flunked out of the school of hard knocks....

ArchaicArcane

I think it doesn't help that there's a conception that sewing machines aren't all that "complex" - which is true to a point. They're easy to operate - mostly - and something children can be taught to use. To fix a specific problem can often be easy but sometimes it's not. It's important to recognize the difference and I think that Igor's problem is that he often doesn't recognize that he's crossed that line. There's also a severe lack of common sense out there sometimes...