New 29K58 Shuttle, Breaking Thread

[kidbeey]

I bought a new shuttle (Towa) for my machine thinking it would improve its performance. The old shuttle sews reasonably well but when I put the new shuttle in, it will not sew an inch. As you can see in the attached photos the thread breaks in the shuttle area. To say the least, I find it very frustrating. Comparison photos of old and new shuttle are attached plus some stitching done by the old one. I have played with the tension spring on the new shuttle but without success. Even compared shuttle tension by pulling on the old and new shuttle's thread.

Any feedback would be greatly appreciated.

[Constabulary]

I had this issue with an Adler 30 I have restored but it was the original Adler shuttle that did not work (in both the Adler 30 and my Singer 29K71). I figured that for some reason the era where the spring of the shuttle carrier pushes against the shuttle was thicker than at my Singer shuttle. I tried to adjust the small shuttle carrier spring but had no success (still did not work in either machine). So I decided to grind down the era where the spring pushes against the shuttle and finally it worked in my 29K71 but still didn´t work in the Adler 30. It does not look nice but it works w/o problem now. Now I have the Adler shuttle in my Singer 29K and my Singer shuttle works in the Adler 30. But before you start grinding try to adjust the little spring a little bit or check if the spring has a little burr or so.

Edited November 30, 2014 by Constabulary

[kidbeey]

Thanks Constabulary. I am thinking of getting the cost of a new shuttle carrier. I notice that when I have the needle plate open the thread seems to stick slightly on that round spring section.

What is the purpose of that spring? Is it to hold the shuttle in place?

[Constabulary]

Yes, it holds the shuttle in place and makes sure the hook tip is in a certain position when it meets the needle. There should not be too much tension on the spring, it should just gently touch the carrier. You can also replace just the spring if the carrier is still good.

[cdthayer]

What size thread are you using?

Make sure that the bobbin is not overloaded with thread to where it can’t rotate.
Make sure that the bobbin is placed in the shuttle so that the thread feeds correctly.
Make sure a loop of thread isn’t being dropped under the bobbin when loading the bobbin into the shuttle.

CD in Oklahoma

[kidbeey]

Thanks CD. Not sure of the thread size but I bought it from the boot repair supplier in my capital city. They know the machine well as there aresaid to be 1200 of them on the east coast of Australia.

[kidbeey]

Another question, if I may. When placing the shuttle into the machine is it okay to put the thread from the bobbin up through the needle plate and close the plate; or is this an absolute no no.

[Constabulary]

I always do that but sometimes the thread gets caught between needle plate and gear box but beside of that no problems.

[kidbeey]

My new shuttle carrier (82177), an engraved Singer part, arrived today and I installed it straight away. To my delight the machine sewed beautifully with no more broken threads. I did have to do a minor adjustment to thread tension but that was all.

Attached are photos of the old shuttle carrier, where you will note that the dome on the shuttle carrier spring is worn a bit flat and there are some ridges on the underside of the carrier as well.

I am very happy as the next step was to take it to a sewing machine mechanic. The cost was around AUD 52-00 for the new part.

Hope this post may help others that have threads breaking in the shuttle area.

[kidbeey]