Thread types 'n' tension 'n' stuff

[JLSleather]

Anybody else notice a distinct change in tension between nylon and polyester thread?  There seem to be some things that LW people like to leave unsaid. Without going into why that is, safe to say that I'm not one of 'em  

I have tried thread from several suppliers, in both nylon and polyester.  And sewing with a piece of cobra, the tension settings need to be changed considerably, even for the same size thread.

Now, if you're one of those who hopes to set the tension on a machine and leave it there until you or the machine dies, carry on and pay no attention here.  If, on the other hand, you actually want to know how things work, and have found this issue yourself, what did you do about it?/

Worth noting,

• when I say "same size", I mean the same stated size designation - I haven't put a micrometer to it.
• I am talking about similar results regardless of the thread supplier, seems consistent between brands

 

 

Edited June 26, 2017 by JLSleather

[Gregspitz]

I have found that polyester hangs up quite a bit more in the machine..so problematic for me I barely use it..

just my 2 cents.

[billybopp]

I only have a home sewing machine and haven't yet jumped into the world of big machines, but as I think about it, it stands to reason that different threads might have different tensioning needs.   Sewing machines rely on friction for tensioning, and different threads would likely have different coefficients of friction leading to different results.  To some extent top tension and bobbin tension using the same thread would somewhat offset that problem - but if you look at it - the bobbin has a tiny amount or surface area making thread contact in relation to the much larger surface area of the top tensioners, which would likely make them uneven.  I suspect that you might find similar but likely smaller differences between manufacturers of the same type of thread - Perhaps they use different bonding agents and processes or have slight differences between thread size.

I could be wrong, but maybe one of the real experts can shed more light!

Bill

[JLSleather]

I ended up re-routing the top thread a bit to use the poly thread.  Not sure I entirely "get" what's going on in there, but it worked, so I'm good (ish).

I could see that could become a pain switching back and forth one to the other.

But I don't care for that little bobbin case thingie on these anyway... that little screw wouldn't take much to strip out, and it appears that assembly is about &80 (sold as a subassembly?), so not crazy about moving it back and forth regularly.