Today, the housing that the bobbin sits in came out as I was trying to change the bobbin. After much fiddling, I managed to get the housing and bobbin back in their proper places. However, the machine now lays down thread that looks like this.
This is the thread coming off the bobbin. The thread coming off the needle lays down flat, like it ought to.
It seems that, somehow, the tension of the thread coming off the bobbin is screwed up, but I can’t figure out how to adjust it. It’s a very low frills machine, and there aren’t any obvious knobs or screws in the arm where the bobbin sits.
It looks like the bobbin thread is loose. You adjust this with the little screw on the side of the bobbin case. Tighten it until you get the following results.
Thread the bobbin case. Hold onto the thread sticking out, letting the case hang. Jerk your hand up firmly about 4 inches. The case should fall fairly loosely then stop on it’s own after a few inches (less than 12).
Unfortunately, it’s a drop bobbin system. No bobbin case. The bare bobbin falls into a socket built into the arm of the machine. When it first broke, the socket is what fell out of the machine.
I had a newer Singer once. It was a pain and had the drop-in bobbin thing. It cost about 50 dollars a year in tune ups. I bought a Kenmore Machine from the '70’s at a garage sale for $50 and it’s the best machine ever, it sews so smoothly and isn’t picky about anything. It even came with a wood sewing table.
FWIW, sewing machines are supposed to go into the shop every 1-5 years, depending on how much they’re used, to get tuned up and cleaned out. It’s amazing how much smoother some machines will run if they’re given a bit of care. Other machines are just plain evil, no matter how much money is lavished upon them.
I have repaired many sewing machines over the years and the majority of the problems is the cleaning which is simple.also a machine should be oiled every 10 hours of sewing; this keeps the parts from wearing. I do not repair computer driven machines so know little about them except to clean them.
Consult your sewing machine manual for this info. If you no longer have (or can no longer locate) your manual, you might want to Google the brand, model, and “sewing machine”.
Since I share my home with three cats, I find it necessary to cover my machine when not in use, and I also do a lot of dusting and delinting. And cat hair STILL gets everywhere!
The Bobbin race,and many old machines have a little oil hole, also if you can get the top off you can oil around the gears and a small drop of oil is enough on any of the gears you can see. (also the bottom gears of most) You do not need much oil. It is a good idea to run the machine on some scrap material so you will not get any on the artical you are sewing.
Like the other poster I have had an old Pfaff that I taught sewing on and made all my children’s clothes so it ran almost constantly for over 20 years,I had no trouble with it but in time it needed a part that was no longer available, and if I could find an old 50’s Pfaff I would buy it now, as I look every week in our paper but none come up for sale. I have 2 more modern machines but they are not as good on heavy materials as my old Pfaff.
A lot of older machines thoughtfully painted a red circle around their oiling holes, making it easy to know what needs a drop of oil.
And when I say a drop of oil, I mean a drop. Not a squirt. Too much oil will only be slung off and invariably will land on your white silk dupioni.
A lot of newer machines don’t need oiling at all. Ever.
The only way to know for sure is to find the user manual for the machine. If you’ve lost it, you may be able to find it on eBay, or there are a number of vendors that sell sewing machine manuals - they may be xeroxed reprints, but they’ll at least provide the needed info.
Mine is a newer model, which may mean it doesn’t need oiling. But I know for sure that if mine (a Shark, I think?) had a battle with your Pfaff, your Pfaff would make mincemeat of my machine and me. It’s not that great, has problems, is cheaply made, and I can never get the thread tension just right. But it sews stitches, so I’ll keep it!
