Wednesday, August 26, 2015

WONKY WINDER and a FINISHED QUILT

The Nolting came with a stand alone bobbin winder.  It is a simple aparatus: a thread stand, tension discs, a shaft for the bobbin and a motor.  To engage the winder, the motor tips down, toward the direction of the arrow.  There is an on/off switch but the motor stops when the bobbin is fully wound.  If you lift the motor up without turning off the switch, the motor will run again.  AMHIK.



 The winder did a terrible job of winding evenly.  I had to make some adjustments after trying the manual approach without success (i.e. using my finger to guide the thread).

 If you look closely at the picture below, you can see the indentation  in the white part of the stand within the circle.  It is hard to see, but there is also an indentation on the black, metal part of the tension discs.  The arrow points toward it.  There is a nipple just under that indentation and it is, likely, design to sit into that indentation on the white base.  When it sits in there, the bobbin winds off balance to the left.  I loosened the Phillips head screw and stuck a washer between the white base and the black metal part of the tension discs.  This allowed me to shift the tension discs so that the bobbin would wind more evenly.

It isn't perfect, but it is better.   Oh, yeah, I also tightened the thumb screw so that there was appropriate tension on the discs.  This provided me with a much tighter, consistently wound bobbin.
I am getting decent results with these bobbins.  I sure would love to have them more evenly wound.  Relatively speaking, though, this is pretty good.

Here are some photos of the finished quilt.  I don't really have a decent place to show off large quilts.  Our bed is a hybrid queen size bed.  The dogs have an extension at the foot and there is a little pace for Frannie on one side.


I rather like how the back looks.  Actually, I am rather pleased with the overall results, front and back.  Even the mistakes are kind of interesting.

I took it over to the  Quilt Zoo today for show and tell.  I made it just before they were to start the Block of the Month class.  Nina and I found some bad stitches on the back.  When I got home I ripped them out and fixed them using the 31-15.

I like that machine.  It has a large throat and a big table.  The action is not so great.  I think the belt is too tight.  The balance wheel wants to go backwards when I stop treadling.  Gotta fix that.  I think this may be the machine for attaching bindings.  It has so much room.


Oh, and in case you are wondering, I did ride my bike again today.  Personal best: 22 miles.  We went as a foursome.  I struggled up one hill while they zipped past me.  Otherwise, I managed to keep up; else, they were being kind. 




6 comments:

  1. Yowza that looks like a lot of work!
    And what machine couldn't benefit from a little EP tinkering?

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  2. Hmm, my bobbins are not perfectly wound either. I will have to go look at the tension disc mounts. It is a good thing I bought the bobbin tension device- every bobbin is a little different. I should examine it closely and see if I can fiddle with it, not mess it up. I just am still so terrible at this. My ruler lines are a joke. What is the trick keeping that from squirreling all over? I tried some sticky on the underneath, but then it just hangs up and doesn't move well. How are some people getting such great results?
    I use the 15 with the potted motor for bindings. I do the glue bindings, and the 15 eats through them like butter.

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    1. I don't know. I have hit my Quilter's Apothecary a couple of times with the foot. I am guessing it is practice. I had that inconsistency with each bobbin until I tightened the tension discs. Much better now.

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  3. Not sure if I'm more impressed with the biking or the quilting but I think it's a good combination.

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  4. You did an awesome job on your first quilting with a long arm! Your doggy is super cute. Nolting makes much nicer looking bobbin winders than they did ten years ago. Mine is on a slab of unfinished wood, LOL. But it does the job. I quilt things to death so I won't buy prewounds; too expensive. Nice Singer; I see you're a vintage sewing machine fanatic. I have to avoid Craigslist or I would be bringing all kinds home. WTG on the biking.

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    Replies
    1. Disclaimer: I am a novice, but I have had practice on a Bailey 17 midarm on a frame so this isn't, truly, my first. Just the same, I am just learning and with each project comes more experience and knowledge.

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