Dang Thread Anyways

[Mojo]

My machine will sew with any thread I give it but this latest spool is the biggest POS I have ever used.

I bought a 16 oz spool of Poly from a vendor off this site who is also a member. I wanted to help a guy out who supported the forum. The spool ended up being a headache right from the get go. I had to put a sock over the spool because it unwound and would fall off the spool. It would loop, twist and get hung up on different parts of the machine. It broke, it frayed, it unraveled. I had to constantly re-adjust
the tension.

To make sure it wasn't my machine causing the problems I threw some different poly as well as Tenara in it and it sewed like a dream. I put the crap thread back on it and the problems started all over again.
It was looping and hanging up on some of the dangdest places on my machine. I had a heck of a time once finding out where the bind was. It had looped around the tension post on the top of the machine. :)

So whats a guy to do ? I called our buddy Miami Mike and ordered a 16 oz spool of 138 Sunguard. It should be here tomorrow. ( Thanks Mike for the lightening fast service ).

Has anyone else ever got a bad spool of thread before and had these issues ?

Chris

[Bob T]

Yes, I had a spool of Dabond 92 that was a royal pain.  The thread was good, but it was wound wrong and would  get caught under the bulk of the thread whenever it would unwind near the bottom of the spool.   I pitched about half of the spool before it started unwinding properly.   I also had some Sunguard that was a pain to use.  It was a little like yours, catching on odd things.  The worse part was that it seemed to have diameter variances so it would feed unevenly thru the tension disks causing the stitching to be very uneven.

[Mojo]

That is exactly the problem I had. I was constantly adjusting the tension. It would be loose and then tight then loose again.

I hope like heck this Sunguard is not a problem spool. If it is I know Mike will stand behind it and exchange it for me. The person I bought the problem thread from never answered my e-mails or the PM's I sent on here. He just kind of vanished. :)

Live and learn.

Chris

[Cheryl]

It happens Chris...   generally after the third or fourth try at making it work... I pitch it.  ::) 

[Mojo]

Thanks Cheryl. I have sewn with a number of different spools and never ran into this before.

It is frustrating to say the least. At first I never considered the problems I was having to be the thread then after talking to Bob Kovar one day on the phone he said " check your thread and spool ". Damn if he wasn't right. That's when I started finding all the problems with it.

These old machine mechanics have forgotten more then some of us will learn. :)

Chris

[jsquail]

i have 2 spools of Black v92  sungaurd on my machine right now. I thought it was my junky Yamata, but since its still happening on my new consew the thread must be the culprit. It keeps bunching at the needle(22ga). I have adjusted the tension to beyond zero and it still happens. its about to find the round filing cabinet.

[Gregg @ Keystone Sewing]

Thread causing sewing issues is nothing new.  Sometimes a case can be bad, sometimes a spool, or even part of a spool can be good and portion bad.  A lot has to do with the bonding process in many cases.  In many cases when trouble shooting, we do exactly what Mojo did here; change thread.  This is the answer in this case.

This is whey we normally like to see the thread customer is using when they are bringing in sewing equipment for repair.  

Don't shoot the messenger, but I do deal with a lot of customers who deal with thread and material suppliers...don't expect them to jump when it comes to a single spool of thread.  In fact, in many cases, very reputable suppliers have told customers to go pound sand when they show up asking a lot of questions and want a very specific thread in small quantity.  I'm guessing customers come off the wrong way, and they feel like their business could be better served by catering to those buying by the case or master containers.  Again, none of my business, and I'm only just trying to be helpful here.

[fragged8]

hiya

I've just had the same thing, it was fine till about 1/2 way through and it began
to unwind wrong and then the thread was dropping to the bottom of the spool.

  i'm not gonna fight it so it's been binned.

I did think about sending it back but I just cant be bothered for 1/2 a reel.

Rich

[Mojo]

Greg:

I can promise you if it was a $ 180 spool of Tenara something would have been pounded alright but it wouldn't be me pounding sand. There would have been a Vendor looking for a proctologist to remove the Tenara from his rear end. :)

I ate this spool and learned my lesson. No biggie, it was cheap thread, it just flames me that it took me so long to find the problem. I should have called Bob sooner.........:)

It seems that it is a big crap shoot anymore when buying anything. You never know what your going to get. This goes for everything from cars to appliances to bloody thread. It seems the art of quality control has been lost. :)

Chris

[Mike8560]

Chris.  I had a thread company call me once many years ago to try there thread   
They se t me A. Ase ro try it and  pay for it if I likes it.
(good deal right ) well the thread was all twisted backwards   I don't remeber how my thread is now but it was opposite and fraying at the needle just all twisting bad.
Well I told them about it and they could have it picked up. I never heard from them again so I tossed it.
The sunguard should be fine I buy thread from mikes all the time.

[Gregg @ Keystone Sewing]

Yeah Mojo, I hear you with the quality control for sure.

When stuff was domestic, German, or Japanese like most of our sewing equipment prior to say nine years ago, even the bad stuff was really good by todays standards.  

Our suppliers are in China often a few times a year, and most will explain that you can find A, B, and C quality items, and will pay accordingly.  For better or worse,  most of the machines being brought into the US are price driven, and the quality will suffer.  I feel like it's my job to sift through sand to find the gold when it comes to parts and machines.  Not exactly what I want to spend my time doing, but if I want to put my name on something, it better at least work as advertised.  Easier said than done.  Another thing about the Chinese market as well is the stability, in terms of materials and labor.  You can get one batch that's pretty good, and another, not so much.  It's a mixed bag.  

[Mojo]

Greg:

I should send you my Tuffsew to inspect and laugh over. It was a Chinese " D " quality item......lol

What a POS that machine was. I used it for quite a while but couldn't wait to get a new machine. It rattled and the clearances were so loose it wasn't funny. The bobbin winder broke the first time I used it. I fixed it and it broke again. I fixed it and it broke again and I said screw it. The forging was so bad on the top cover that it was crooked when screwed to the top of the machine. None of the holes lined up.

You couldn't keep the thing timed and adjustments went right back out of adjustment in a very short time. It was amazing I ever got any sewing done since I spent so much time working on it. After spending months screwing with it one day I hit a wire in a stay I was sewing and the thing made one helluva bang. The machine sewed great after that for about a year. :)

Maybe now you can see why I appreciate my Chandler. If anyone had to sew on the Tuffsew they would understand why I am over the moon with a decent quality machine.

I still have my Tuffsew as a backup machine. I refuse to sell it because I will not take advantage of someone by selling them a major POS. :) I just cannot do that to people. So I am stuck with it and hope it collects dust and never gets plugged back in again. I may take it out fishing with me someday and throw it in the Gulf like I threatened to do a couple years ago. If I do that I will take pictures. :)

Now my question to you is..........what machines are made in the USA, Germany and Japan ? Are there any ?

Chris

[Mike8560]

Don't sink it rich. It would make a nice anchor

[fragged8]

:-)
you saying the thread you got had the opposite twist Mike ?

my zigzag machine takes the opposite twist thread , problem is i can't
find any hehehe maybe why its a PIA

Rich

[Mike8560]

Ya Rich if was the opposite holding my thread inyour thumb Nd fingers in bolth hands with the right hand twist it to the left. Counterclockwise to tighten it this was Loseming