Wholesale Quilt Supply Store

Sewing machines are astonishing appliances that empower creative expression and practical applications. When they are properly maintained, sewing machines last for a life time. It is quite common for machines that were purchased in the 1950s to still be actively used by sewers and quilters.

Abused and neglected sewing machines eventually become dead head by gobs of lint, dirt, debris, and encrusted lubricants. When this happens the sewing machine will no longer turn. The motor may hum or even spin. The drive belt may move, but the sewing machine shaft remains stuck.

When you find a frozen sewing machine, it is no easy fix. It requires highly a skilled sewing machine technician to fix a dead head stuck sewing machine. You can easily tell when a sewing machine is bound up by attempting to turn the hand wheel. If it binds, resists turning, or freezes solid; it is bound up stuck.

Working on bound up sewing machines can be very frustrating. I suppose that no one wants to hear tips when struggling with insurmountable problems. That is what it feels like when you are working on a locked up sewing machine. It feels like the whole sewing machine has fused into one lump.

As a basic rule of thumb, if you have a locked up machine work on it for up to thirty minutes. If you have been unable to free the bind, get help. It is not uncommon for a technician to work many fruitless hours. When you know how to fix the bound up, it goes quite quickly.

So, what really causes locked up machines?

There are three reasons why sewing machines bind up. Sewing machines lock up because of neglect. Sewing machines lock up because of a fluke in the bobbin area. Sewing machines lock up because of broken parts.

Repairing bound up sewing machines, depends on the removal and elimination of crude in the machine. All the debris, lint, and crystallized lubricants must be removed. When the wrong lubricants are used, they gum of the machine. When lubricants are permitted to dry out, get gummy, and harden into crystals, they lock up the sewing machine. As long as they exist, they cause problems.

In rare cases, problems in the bobbin area can cause the sewing machine to bind. This is why it is so important for users to frequently clean out the bobbin area and place a drop of pure clean sewing machine oil on the race. When neglected, the lint, debris, and gummy residue from lubricants can cause big problems.

Breakage can also cause a machine to be bound up. Gears and levers sometimes just break. When this happens they can prevent the machine shafts from rotating.

Exactly, how do you fix dead head sewing machines?

Set the machine on the workbench and attempt to turn the hand wheel. If it fails to turn easily, open up the bobbin area, remove the bobbin, and remove the carrier if removable. Clean out the bobbin area and lubricate the hook race. Try turning the hand wheel again.

Remove all the covers. Test the hand wheel while observing the insides of the sewing machine. Watch the upper shaft. Examine the lower shaft. Look for any points where metal touches metal. Look for any broken parts.

Release the power drive mechanism or belt from the hand wheel. Again test the hand wheel. Sometimes, tensioners and various pulley assemblies can freeze, so make sure that all of these are turning freely.

Usually, if you completely remove all the old grease, oils, and gunk; and then thoroughly lubricate the machine you will solve the locked up problem. The key is to loosen any gummy, sticky, or encrusted lubricants between metal to metal connections. These points of metal to metal contact are critical. They must be thoroughly cleaned and then lubricated. Once you think you have completed cleaning, drive the hand wheel forward and backward to loosen any spots that are still gummed up or stuck. Spots of resistance must be located and worked until they are free.

If you find a bind between metal parts that just wont give, add lubricant. Move the pieces back and forth to loosen and free them. Work the binding areas until they become free. In extreme situations, you may use a torch or soldering iron to heat up a binding point. The heat will dissolve the old lubricants and enable you to free the bind. An extreme measure use to be used with really old machines without electronics and plastic parts, is to soak the machine head in strong solvent for several hours.

Originally posted 2009-02-16 14:25:12. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

The amazing Italian Necchi sewing machine became famous with the introduction of the Necchi Lydia. Not only was is a big seller, it represents the classic sewing machine line that even today is a popular classic sewing machine.

The classic Italian sewing machine brand known as Necchi is currently manufactured in Asia and marketed in the United States by Allyn International of Denver, Colorado. The line has developed a strong reputation for dependability and longevity.

When I first started to learn sewing machine repair, I attended extensive sewing machine repair training at the Necchi National Repair Center owned and operated by Allyn International. Learning to service Necchi sewing machines provided me a strong foundation for servicing many other brands of sewing machines.

As classic sewing machines, Necchi Sewing Machines are made like most mechanical sewing machines have been made. Repair is generally quite straight forward and easy to do. Once you master the repair of Necchi sewing machines, it is easy to transfer your knowledge and skills to other brands.

Allyn International certifies its dealers to repair Necchi machines. These certified technicians usually service a variety of different brands in addition to the Necchi machines. Indeed, it is common for most sewing machine technicians to service multiple brands.

The basis of all sewing machine service is the tune up. The goal of the full service is to eliminate the causes of problems and fine tune the sewing machine to operate as close to new as possible. The primary cause of sewing machine failure is the collection of lint, dirt, debris, and crystallized lubricants. The clean and oil sets out to thoroughly clean away those sources of problem while refurbishing the machine with fresh lubrication and readjustments.

Whenever a sewing machine breaks down, the technician should perform the repair and tune up at the same time. This approach eliminates the primary causes of breakdown, instead of leaving them to continue causing problems. Quick fixes are problematic because they leave potential problems unresolved.

A full service begins when the technician receives the machine from the customer. The customers concerns are indicators for diagnostics. Then he does an external inspection. He turns the hand wheel. He performs a test sewing of straight, zig zag, and stretch stitches. He looks for problems and potential ones.

The machine is opened by removing a few screws and releasing the top, bottom, and side covers.

It is vital to make the sewing machine clean inside and out. The user needs to keep it that way. Old grease and oils dry out, crystallize, and harden. All the lint, debris, old grease, and gunk must be completely taken out.

Once the sewing machine is completely clean inside. Metal to metal contacts need lubricating with pure clean sewing machine oil. Plastic parts may be lubricated with silicon or Triflow spray. Metal gears and especially their teeth may be treated by sewing machine grease.

Mechanical sewing machines require frequent removal of old oils and grease and fresh application of lubrication. Metal to metal contacts will bind if the lubricant gets old and crystallized. Keeping lubricants fresh keeps the sewing machine operating smoothly.

Necchi Sewing Machine Repair involves basic repair and service. The Necchi line of sewing machines has maintained its simplicity over the years making it a machine that lasts year after year. Most sewing machine centers can do Necchi Sewing Machine Repair.

Learning to do your own Necchi sewing machine repair is fairly quick and easy. Allyn International is very helpful in providing new dealers with excellent support. A basic sewing machine repair course will help you learn the fundamentals to effectively service Necchi sewing machines. In an emergency, you can always ship a sewing machine to Allyn International for their national service center to perform repairs for your. While this can be costly, it does give significant assurance to the beginning sewing machine technician or user.

Originally posted 2009-03-20 17:42:53. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

Have you ever started sewing with your serger, only to look down and see missing and skipped stitches? It can be very upsetting. Why is it so hard? Maybe, because sergers are more complicated than ordinary sewing machines or because the run so much faster.

Good quality serger stitches are consistently assembled stitches with properly balanced tensions, and all threads lying evenly in place. Good quality stitches have an obvious absence of loops, puckers, skips, irregularities, and broken threads.

Failure to form a stitch and skipped stitches are two of the more frustrating problems serger users experience. These problems require a concerted effort to identify the causes and find solutions.

The most common causes of skipped stitches and unformed stitches include needle problems, threading challenges , thread issues, faulty tensions, fabric issues, snagging, and misalignment of either looper timing or needle bar height or both. Check each possible cause and eliminate one of the at a time.

Start by replacing the needle or needles involved. Needle burrs, flaws, and bends are common causes of skipped stitches. Make sure the needles are fully seated in their holders.

Serger needle positioning is critical. Some sergers use ordinary sewing needles that have flat back tops, but many use special needles with rounded tops. On the front of the needle is a groove for the thread to ride in while the needle goes down. On the back and just above the eye is a cut out space known as the scarf. The scarf must be at ninety degrees to the lower looper. Make sure the needle is straight forward and properly seated in its holder. Use the right needle for the application you are doing.

When the needle bar is jolted by the needle striking hard surfaces or breaking needs, the needle bar can be forced out of alignment. A professional sewing machine technician should realign the needle bar properly.

The second possible cause is threading. Simply, rethread the serger. Make sure it is threaded properly. Also, watch out for snags.

Next, check the threads. Poor quality and odd threads can cause problems. Use different colored thread to thread the machine and then test.

Generally, sergers work on all fabrics, however, certain challenges can emerge with super thin, slippery, or thicker fabrics require accommodations.

Failure to form stitches usually results from the same causes as skipped stitches, but the issues are more pronounced. It is a matter of degree. If a serger issue causes skipped stitches, it is only a matter of time before stitches fail to form at all.

Start serging by collecting all the threads together under the presser foot and behind it. Set the fabric in place, and serge. I you have resolved the skipping problems, you will also have solved the unformed stitch problems.

Diagnose and resolve issues by replacing, rethreading, readjusting, and processing each possible cause until you have eliminated each one. If these measures fail to resolve the issue, you may need to have the serger professionally serviced to adjust the needle bar height or looper timings.

Originally posted 2009-03-07 17:20:42. Republished by Blog Post Promoter