Here's a tip about breaking a needle on your FW baby

I guess when you're busy you don't notice how time flies.  Here we are in March already and I have a tip to get your month started.  Spring will be joining us pretty soon with summer close behind.  See, time flies.

While I was away for a few days I helped a dear friend's neighbor with her featherweight that had recently been serviced.  She didn't know how to thread the machine so I was able to help her get that FW threaded and running.  This lady was 90 and wasn't sure she'd use the machine much.  I sure hope she uses it a lot.  That's what I try to do, make people feel comfortable sewing on these little beauties. They are sometimes fussy because they want everything done exactly right. Aren't we all that way?

So, here's the tip.  If by some unfortunate circumstance you would break a needle, please, please, please make sure you find every segment of that broken needle before you sew again.  During a maintenance class last week, one lady's machine wouldn't make a good stitch.  In fact, there were big blops of thread on the underside and no matter what she did, a good seam was not happening.

The first thing to do when something like this happens is to take the upper and bobbin thread out of the machine and start over.  Re-thread both the bobbin and the top and then try (gently) to sew once again.  Be sure the upper thread is going between the tension plates and not in front or behind them. And, another important thing to pay attention to is that the presser foot is UP during the threading process. That will disengage the tension and allow the thread is scoot down and fit right where the thread needs to be, between the tension discs.  Sometimes, even when you know how to thread the machine, you can have problems.  All machines like to throw a fit once in awhile.  Just don't panic.  You can locate the problem but starting over with the threading is always the first step.

Okay, we did all those things but still, blops of thread were the result so it was something more serious.  So, maybe there were threads wrapped around the bobbin assembly shaft.  I took the bottom drip pan off to get to the underside of the bobbin assembly and there we found the problem.  There was a broken tip of a needle stuck on the drip pan.  Where had that needle tip been hiding? The drip pan had been off during the maintenance of the machine and no needle tip had been seen. But turning the machine upside down and on it's end cause that tip to fall in some other direction. When a needle breaks, the path of no resistance is right down in the needle hole and that needle tip will fall somewhere in the bobbin area. Had it caused any damage while it was hiding somewhere? Yup! Unfortunately, there was some damage.  Metal to metal (needle tip stuck in the bobbin assembly) when there shouldn't be metal to metal will wear rough spots and that's what had happened.

The machine had to come home with me so I could take that bobbin assembly all apart, clean it and then polish off the burr that had formed from the assembly scraping against the needle tip. Luckily the damage was repairable because the rough burr that formed was small enough that it polished out. It's back sewing a good seam again but I don't want this to happen to anyone else.

The bottom line is, if you should break a needle, make sure you find every little bit.  It can do some major damage if it falls into the bobbin assembly area and gets stuck. And, that's where it tends to go.  Mean old Mr. Gravity will take it down and it will settle in wherever there's something to stop it. The shop owner where I teach classes told us that day that she had just had  a needle break and couldn't find the tip in her modern machine.  She had to take it into the repair shop and the bill was close to $200. Whew!  It's amazing how a tiny piece of needle tip can do so much damage.

So, this tip about making sure you find every little bit of a broken needle is a good one no matter what machine you are using.

Check out the class schedule for details on what classes are coming up.  You'll find the list of things to bring over there as well.  I'll be adding some quilts soon on the quilt page and I'll add a couple more recipes I love to the recipe page, too.  And stop by the Jackson flea market at the Jackson fairgrounds on Ganson street tomorrow or Saturday if you can.  Be sure to say, hi as you go by.