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Thread: Panic!!!

  1. #1
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    Panic!!!

    Help!!!

    Am finishing a DigiCam Winter Dream clone and am at the stage of adding tie-outs but I keep breaking needles on the GG webbing I am using!

    As far as I can tell it is standard GG (may be a little thick) but not any more than usual for tie-outs.

    I just cannot stop getting the needle jammed in the material!!!

    What am I doing wrong & can I use a lighter guage GG on the tie-outs? I'd like the heavier guage on the ridgeline but maybe a lighter on the bottoms & sides.

    One thing (I am very new to sewing) there is a snarl of thread on the BOTTOM side below the heavy GG. Looks real thin on top but a massic=ve snarl on bottom.

    Advice please - this thing is driving me crazy!

    FH

  2. #2
    Senior Member MAD777's Avatar
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    Increase the top thread tension ... a lot
    Grosgrain shouldn't be breaking needles, unless it's nylon strap material that you are using.
    Mike
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    Thanks - didn't think of that on the top tension.

    I have used the Gutterman Mara 70 so far.

    For these tie-outs should I switch to the Tera 40 for this harder material?

    It may be nylon on the material I am using but they had it labled GG.

    FH

  4. #4
    Senior Member rjcress's Avatar
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    or maybe you are pulling the material under the needle too hard and making it hit the shuttle or base plate.
    "I keep telling myself that if I make perfect seams, nobody will believe that I made it... " -JohnSawyer

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  5. #5
    Senior Member PuckerFactor's Avatar
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    Is the presser foot lever down? I'm always forgetting to drop the lever when I sew through thick stuff. Gets me every time. Third stitch, I hear it snag and I instantly know what I did. You'd think I'd remember.

    PF
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  6. #6
    Senior Member JohnSawyer's Avatar
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    Heavier needles... I had that same problem when sewing webbing.

    I switched to a "Denim" needle and all my problems went away...
    "Do or do not, there is no try." -- Yoda


  7. #7
    Senior Member KerMegan's Avatar
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    if needle has gotten bent it would do that- if you don't have the heavier needle handy just try with a new one of the same size..

  8. #8
    Senior Member Ramblinrev's Avatar
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    top tension should stop the snarling. Heavy duty needle should save the needles.

    To say again.. "snarl underneath is a problem with too little top tension."

    Everyone laminate that on a sign and post it over your worktable.
    I may be slow... But I sure am gimpy.

    "Bless you child, when you set out to thread a needle don't hold the thread still and fetch the needle up to it; hold the needle still and poke the thread at it; that's the way a woman most always does, but a man always does t'other way."
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  9. #9
    Senior Member Doctari's Avatar
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    Slow down, let the material feed "naturally" without pulling on it*, make sure the needle is sharp (prolly not a problem with new needles) & all the other stuff above.



    *With thicker material it takes longer for the needle to go in & back out, if you pull on the material, this doesn't give the needle time to get back out AND it bends the needle on the down & up stroke, & as mentioned above, striking the plate near the hole can break the needle, just as quick as bending it to the breaking point.
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  10. #10
    Senior Member Ramblinrev's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Doctari View Post
    Slow down, let the material feed "naturally" without pulling on it*, make sure the needle is sharp (prolly not a problem with new needles) & all the other stuff above.



    *With thicker material it takes longer for the needle to go in & back out, if you pull on the material, this doesn't give the needle time to get back out AND it bends the needle on the down & up stroke, & as mentioned above, striking the plate near the hole can break the needle, just as quick as bending it to the breaking point.
    The point here is not just to slow down the machine. While that might help you sew better seams it will not resolve the problems unless you also avoid pulling the fabric through. Each needle cycle is linked to the full cycle of the machine. There is no way of changing that. But the feed dogs are also cycled to the machine cycle. The fabric will move properly and as intended if you allow the feed dogs to do the work of advancing the fabric. When the snarls form underneath the fabric jams. Pulling it through by had does nothing but make matters worse. Fix the snarls, change the needle and allow the machine to go its own speed.
    I may be slow... But I sure am gimpy.

    "Bless you child, when you set out to thread a needle don't hold the thread still and fetch the needle up to it; hold the needle still and poke the thread at it; that's the way a woman most always does, but a man always does t'other way."
    Mrs. Loftus to Huck Finn

    We Don't Sew... We Make Gear! video series

    Important thread injector guidelines especially for Newbies

    Bobbin Tension - A Personal Viewpoint

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