Singer 29-4 Needle Plate / Threading

[shoeleatherexpress]

Also, some images of the shuttle mounting area.

[Wizcrafts]

Wiggle the shuttle driver and see how much wiggle room there is. The less the free motion, the better the timing will be as you sew.

[shoeleatherexpress]

Wizcrafts, the shuttle driver has a measured play of 1/16" back and forth.  Hopefully this is acceptable.

[Wizcrafts]

1 hour ago, shoeleatherexpress said:

Wizcrafts, the shuttle driver has a measured play of 1/16" back and forth.  Hopefully this is acceptable.

Yep, that's acceptable. Now, test the play in the presser foot, with the stitch length regulator all the way down to the raised foot. A pristine machine will barely have any slop in the foot.

[shoeleatherexpress]

Wizcrafts, I'll check this in a day or so.  I assume the "slop" I'm looking for would be lateral in any direction of the foot?  Also, I have seen that some feet have toes that are equal length, and others with a long toe and shorter one, reason?

[Wizcrafts]

2 hours ago, shoeleatherexpress said:

I assume the "slop" I'm looking for would be lateral in any direction of the foot? 

The free play I referred to is forward and backward. This affects the stitch length.Sideways motion affects the tracking, which you can adjust for as you sew. You want the least free play when you push or pull on the raised foot, forward and backward. Even 1/32 inch will cause a loss of maximum stitch length. Bear in mind that the stitches get shorted at greater thicknesses and, it is harder to move the stack. Slop in the presser foot will definitely lead to extra short stitches at 1/4 inch thickness.

[shoeleatherexpress]

Wizcrafts, I was able to measure the foot play front to back and wound up with a 1/32" measurement.  Luckily, the bottom thread WAS picked up after I placed the better bobbin in place.  See initial images of a sew on 3/16" soft deer hide.

[shoeleatherexpress]

Wizcrafts.  After further review I see I was wrong about the thread being picked up. I believe this is just excess thread from the top with loops that never were grabbed by the shuttle point.  I found a seasoned local resource that may visit and give some on-hand tips.  I'll keep you posted

[Wizcrafts]

11 hours ago, shoeleatherexpress said:

Wizcrafts.  After further review I see I was wrong about the thread being picked up. I believe this is just excess thread from the top with loops that never were grabbed by the shuttle point.

Then your timing may be off. Slide open the needle plate, insert a good shuttle, then rotate the hand wheel to bring the needle down all the way, then stop when it rises up and halts. At this point in time, the tip of the shuttle should be just meeting the needle, above the eye, and in the scarf area. Your next movement of the wheel will bring the needle down and the hook should pass above the eye. If the hook is in any other position, in front of or behind the needle's eye, the timing is off.

[shoeleatherexpress]

Wizcrafts, the timing definitely seems to be off.  I'll adjust accordingly.