bfranklin3

Last post I wrote that the Organ 16x257 needle is slightly hitting/rubbing the hook and that the scarf seems to catch on the hook. I then asked how to adjust the machine so that the needle is moved slightly to the left or the hook is moved slightly to the right to provide a bit of clearance. Not receiving any answers, I decided to experiment a bit further. Since I have an old 31-15 machine from 1902, I thought I'd try a needle CDTthayer mentioned in his response. I was able to obtain Schmetz 16x73 (16x1) needles [both numbers are listed on the box]. Although CDThayer mentioned that these are for foot-powered machines, I tend to sew slowly with my motor-powered machine. These needles are the same diameter as the 16x257, but do not have a scarf. However, they are about 1/32 of an inch longer than the 16x257 needles, so I adjusted the needle bar slightly to compensate. For some reason, they do not rub the hook. These needles work great! No problems at all. So, I'm happy that the machine is running fine now. As long as I can obtain these needles, all is good. Again, thanks everyone for your help. Your comments set me on the track to find a needle that works. However, I am still curious why the 16x257 needles (with a scarf) would rub the hook and if there are any adjustments that can be made to eliminate this. If anyone has an answer to this mystery, I'd love to know.

OK - I think I found the problem (a problem?) on my machine — it's weird that I don't remember seeing this originally. By going very slowly — and watching and listening, I can see that when the needle is going down into the bobbin area, it hits the hook slightly (I can see the needle deflect and hear a slight scraping noise). With the 16x257 needle, the deflects but the scarf seems to caught slightly on the hook and the bounces off as the needle moves upward. How do I adjust the needle to the left or the hook to the right to give a bit of clearance between them? Or is this due to the rotational timing issue that was mentioned?

Anne Bonnys Locker: I just saw your comment after posting my comment above. I don't see much of a gap between the needle and the hook. There are several threads on this topic also, so I'll look into this. Thanks for the feedback!

Just an update as to where I'm at. I reset the needle bar height and the feeding mechanism using the method listed in the Singer 31-15 Adjuster's Manual. I've also taken the bobbin/hook mechanism apart several times and have figured out the trick to quickly get it back together (yeah!). Both needles (an original Singer needle and the size 16x256 needle) correctly grab the bobbin thread now. It sews now, but the new problem I'm having is that I have lots of big loops at the bottom of the material. As I've messed with the tension on the bobbin thread and the top thread, it has gotten better, but not gone away completely. I see that there are several threads discussing this issue already here in the forums, so I'll go through these and see if I can find a solution. Again, I appreciate the feedback and help! Thanks.

I took the shuttle assembly apart and cleaned it. There was a bit of lint, some dried oil, and a broken thread in it. After putting it back together, the Singer needle sews correctly only intermittently. It sews, but I am getting a lot of long loops on the bottom of the material and occasionally missed stitches. I replaced the Singer needle with a 16x257 needle. Same result! At least both needles sewing the same now. I wasn't able to correct this just through changing the tension. I then started checking other things and noticed the needle bar height was a bit off and the feeding mechanism timing is a bit off. I'll go through the machine settings today and try to adjust things and then see where I'm at. I had been reluctant to mess with this before since the original Singer needles had been working. Thanks for all your help!

CD: Thanks for the information! I was unable to read the size on the Singer brand needles that work with this machine. My machine is pretty old; it's from 1902, so your advice from the 1916 manual is probably pertinent (unless someone adjusted the machine to different specs at some time). It sounds like I need to order and try the 16x87 needles. CowboyBob: Yes, the 16x257 needles look identical in size, length and diameter to the Singer brand needles that are working correctly. The only difference that I can see is a scarf and a longer shank on the 16x257 needles. However, the overall length of the two needles is the same. Yes, I am putting the long groove on the left. In spite of this, the 16x257 needles will pick up the bobbin thread only once out of every ten revolutions or so.

Maybe I should have been clearer with my question. Does anyone know how to get size 16x257/LR needles to work with a Singer 31-15? I have read that these needles should work in the 31-15, but they don't. Does the machine need to be adjusted or retimed?

I recently purchased a Singer 31-15. It came with two sets of needles. The first set of needles were marked "Singer" on the shaft, and from the eye size, look to be either #16 or #18. These have no scarfs on the needles. The second set of needles were still in the package and are marked Organ needles 16x257/LR (110/18). These have a scarf on each needle. Both sets of needles look nearly the same; they are both the same diameter and length (except for the scarf on the second set). I was using #69 thread with the Singer needles to set up the machine, and got everything working fine. It sews correctly on either cloth or leather. Without making any other changes, I then tried to use the Organ 16x257/LR leather needles in the machine. These did not work. They will not catch the bobbin thread. In both situations, the groove on the needle was to the left, and threaded from left to right. However, when I reversed the Organ needle (groove on the right, still threaded left to right), it would sew maybe a dozen stitches before breaking the top thread. Anyone have any ideas how to the leather needles with a scarf to work?