good day
l'm a tinker, love to fix things, and pretty good with sewing machines of all sorts
but this is my first time playing with a patcher....
now l know these machines are old and "obsolete" and l would have been better off with 29k etc
but l like this one and it is what l have
and hope one of the knowledgeable folk on here can help me out
any way the machine is fairly new to me
and l used it with out learning any thing about it for a while
sewing mostly canvas
(patching military tents)
the stitches were a little close together, and the foot didnt lift as high as l wanted it to
but it sewed through everything l threw at it
till l tried to repair a friends work boots
l was sewing through a couple of layers of leather and foam
so now the stitches were really tiny and l had to help the foot move the work
then there was a clunk and the needle broke
so l replaced the needle
and lo -- it wouldnt sew any more
so l started looking closely at the mechanism
discovered that the foot lifter was set up all wrong (and not lifting)
that the side -to-side adjustment device on the end of the needle bar was frozen as close to the shuttle as it could go
that the ball-end spring on the shuttle carrier was broken
that the thread tension spring (on the needle bar) was broken
and that the shuttle point seemed to be blunted (just the tiniest bit)
and the bobbin thread spring had a deep grove worn under it
so l set the lifter up properly
unstuck the needle adjuster
replaced the springs
(l got them form horseandharness.com)
and ordered their "repair manual" as well as a shuttle
the shuttle is the wrong shape -- that is, the shuttle point is too long, so it never goes into position to grab the thread
(and the manual while a nice compendium of old manuals, is hardly a repair manual and a little pricy)
unfortunately none of that solved the problem....
(well l figured out how to regulate stitch length and foot height)
it sews fairly well through canvas and denim (still skips stitches especially on turns)
and thin leather (with a somewhat over sized needle)
btu even two layers of leather skip
and thicker things skip to the point were they arnt even held together
my best guess is that the needle bar bushings are worn out
i.e. there is too much lateral play
so the needle gets pushed aside by the thicker material so the shuttle hook misses the thread = no stich
l measured the (needle bar) "wiggle"
by poking a buisness card with the tip of the needle at the extremes of the lateral movement
and the holes are a little more than a cm apart
which should translate to even more possibility of movement down by the hook...
so...
is my hypothesis reasonable?
would some one with a 29-4 please measure their needle bar wiggle for comparison?
other thoughts/things to check?
the obvious possibility is the timing....?
which as l understand it isnt adjustable
(except by replacing the cam wheel and roller l suppose)
also the needle seems to go too deep
the short (pick up) grove on the needle is well below the point of the hook (when the hook is supposed to be grabbing the thread loop)
l tried using a shortened needle so that it lined up "right" but that didnt help
could that be a timing problem too -- the needle isnt raising enough to make a good thread loop
perhaps because the cam wheel is worn out?
thanks for your time
this got kinda long
(trying to be detailed -- l'm a little frustrated can you tell)
any way thanks in advance
goat
