One of those days.....

[Go2Tex]

So, I come into the shop this morning first thing and look at the strap I stitched last night. Oh jeeze, what a way to start the day. The stitches were all locked at the top. This sort of thing used to happen a lot but hadn't happened for quite a while. Just every once in a while, for no good reason, the thread tension gets wacky and either ends up laying on the bottom, which is more common, or ends up on the top. It was a fairly thin strap but it shouldn't have made a difference.

So, I messed with the top tension and it was already fairly loose. The problem persisted. The more I messed, the worse it got. Then, the stitches started going crooked and looking loose and almost like the thread was being split. I changed needles, smaller, then larger. Things just got worse. Finally, I decided to pull the shuttle out and have a look at the bobbin thread tension spring. It was as tight as it could be. I've never been able to stitch with it any other way. I use 277 on top and 207 on the bottom.

Well, I remove both screws and the tension spring plate, clean it all up, put it back on and I notice that there is just too much room and almost no tension on the thread with the screw all the way in. I can still push the plate down with my finger. I decided to put a washer under the screw and then ended up putting a spring under the screw and tightened it down. Then I finally got some tension on the thread! I can't believe this is correct. 207 is not the smallest thread that I could use on this machine. Did I get a bad bobbin thread tension spring, or what?

Anyhow, long story short, I put it all back together and it worked a lot better. At least the thread was locking in the middle of the leather again but it was decidedly not straight. The stitches were angled. According to the manual, this indicates the needle is too large. Nope. Didn't work.

Finally, I just stitched some holes with no thread and noticed that the danm needle wasn't straight. I'm using those awl type needles, 794S I think. I straightened it up, and viola'!

Half a day wasted!

[millman927]

So I have been practicing with a techsew GA5-1 and seem to be getting something of the same sorts....start the stitching-keeping a straight line...stitches look good then all of a sudden in the middle of the lenght the stitches go way down in the leather, so like going along fine then way too tight then fine again, go figure, also the top stitches look like there on an angle and the bottoms are straight and great. Ive been practicing with black 277 on top and white 207 on bobbin so that i could see where the stitches are being pulled, sometimes great , sometimes not so good. Thanks for the needle too big tip on the slanted thread I'll try that tomorrow. Also playing with a consew 206 rb, way to fast for me to even practice on...the thread keeps flying out of the needle and I have to keep rethreading it..just a pain till I get the servo and speed reducer I'am making on it.

Thanks all, this is the best informational site, read it all the time.

[Go2Tex]

stitches look good then all of a sudden in the middle of the lenght the stitches go way down in the leather, so like going along fine then way too tight then fine again,

That sounds like your bobbin isn't wound consistently or is catching for a bit then releasing for some reason.

[Randy Cornelius]

Sometimes it is so simple, sometimes it's not. Try looking at the spool of thread. Make sure the thread is coming off the spool from the top. Meaning that the very first thread guide, the one on the long rod is right above the spool of thread. It this gets out of place it will try to pull the thread off to the side and the thread will hang up and cause uneven top tention every few stitches. Also if you need more bottom tention than the screw will allow you can take the bobbin holder apart and there is a tinny spring you can bend to give you more tention.

There is always a reason for it doing what it does, right or wrong. Start at the begining, the thread spool and work your way to the needle. Don't straighten those needles, throw them away and put in a new one.

Give Jerry at Artisen a call and see if he can walk you through any problems, I understand that Steve is gone, he was very good at trouble shooting over the phone.

Randy

[Go2Tex]

Sometimes it is so simple, sometimes it's not. Try looking at the spool of thread. Make sure the thread is coming off the spool from the top. Meaning that the very first thread guide, the one on the long rod is right above the spool of thread. It this gets out of place it will try to pull the thread off to the side and the thread will hang up and cause uneven top tention every few stitches. Also if you need more bottom tention than the screw will allow you can take the bobbin holder apart and there is a tinny spring you can bend to give you more tention.

There is always a reason for it doing what it does, right or wrong. Start at the begining, the thread spool and work your way to the needle. Don't straighten those needles, throw them away and put in a new one.

Give Jerry at Artisen a call and see if he can walk you through any problems, I understand that Steve is gone, he was very good at trouble shooting over the phone.

Randy

Where is the tiny spring located? I had that bobbin off the machine and didn't see any spring except the big one inside the holder that pushes the bobbin out. My bobbin has a spring steel plate secured with a screw at the base of the bobbin. The thread passes through a notch in the side of it. Is this on the DVD they put out? They sent a nice copy to me but I admit I haven't had the time to go through it yet. Maybe it's time!

[Randy Cornelius]

Where is the tiny spring located? I had that bobbin off the machine and didn't see any spring except the big one inside the holder that pushes the bobbin out. My bobbin has a spring steel plate secured with a screw at the base of the bobbin. The thread passes through a notch in the side of it. Is this on the DVD they put out? They sent a nice copy to me but I admit I haven't had the time to go through it yet. Maybe it's time!

This process is not on the CD. The spring I am talking about is inside the bobbin holder itself. You have to take the bobbin holder out. I am not at home and don't have the tech names for all the parts. But you have to take the small screw out that you use to adjust the tention. Then inside the holder this little spring will come out. You have to bend it a certian way for more tention, another way for less. I cannot remember which way I had to bend mine. But I have not had any problems since.

But your problem sounds like something has happened to make it not sew all of a sudden. Try rethreading the machine from the spool to the needle, replace the needle and clean and oil the machine. Take the bobbin suttle out and clean and oil there also.

I had a problem with my thread fraying out of the stitches? Worked and worked on it, finally I replaced the needle and everthing was fine. Looked at the old needle under magnifying glass and it had a tinny burr that was pulling the thread.

Randy

[Go2Tex]

But you have to take the small screw out that you use to adjust the tention. Then inside the holder this little spring will come out.

Randy

I had that screw completely out, several times... no little spring. Nuthin'. It has one now though.

[esantoro]

I had that screw completely out, several times... no little spring. Nuthin'. It has one now though.

Though we call that thing a spring, it's actually a forked tip clip where the thread is pulled through. Carefully bending this forked tip downward will add more tension to the clip.

I've had similar problems and noticed that not all bobbins are equal. Some have some warp to them and are a tad longer than others. With unequally sized bobbins I've noticed that I would get inconsistent stitch results. I removed that spring that pushes the bobbin out of the casing so that the only tension variable on the bobbin thread will be the screw that tightens or loosens the bobbin tension clip. I had found that the spring pushes the bobbin against a metal bar at the top of the housing, adding tension, which can be inconsistent from bobbin to bobbin, as each bobbin is slightly different from another. With that spring removed, I also don't wrap the top thread twice around that top pigtail, as indicated in Artisan's video.

I find that with these mods I can get predictable and consistent tension reads and adjustments on the fly, especially when I transition from two or three layers of 5/6 oz to one layer, as with bag flaps.

Are all of your bobbins, by chance, from Artisan? If they are, I'm sure they are top quality and probably machined in a rather consistent way. The bobbins that I noticed were of inconsistent manufacturing had been bought on Ebay. With my mods, I can use any of my bobbins, even the ones for the GA5/baby bull.

ed

[millman927]

Hey thanks all of you...the bobbin not wound consistently sounds like something to check.