Howdy all, just wanted to pop in and update. I did get the machine to run well for a moment. I believe the needles and the thread I was using were the culprit. Big thanks to @kgg I got those needles and thread you recommended and they work great. Bad news is I broke the set screw off in the needle bar clamp so I couldn’t change needles right away. Then I tried to tap the screw out with a drill and I messed that all up, finally ordered a replacement needle bar clamp and when that came the thing was not running smoothly. Turns out I had bent the needle bar in all my drilling/attempting to remove the needle bar(was hammering the wrong side of the pin lol). Got a new needle bar. Got the machine running again and everything seems fine. Thanks to everyone who commented for their input, a lot of useful information for the future for sure.
I am curious about another thing with these patchers: what’s the largest size thread/needles it will take? I’m only curious because the thread I got looks rather small on some of the pieces I’ve sewn. If I could run a thicker thread I think it would improve the aesthetics of the pieces I plan on making in the future. Anyway, thanks again all, have a great night/day.
Chase