Mechanical Sewing machine moment

I finally dived into the strange world of sewing machine repair today.
Here is how it all came about. Ever since I bought my Bernina 1008 it
had the annoying habit of sticking when you tried to change the stitch
length from say 2.5 to 5 when you wanted to do a stay stitch or some
such. I have had it in to try to fix it twice and they said they
couldn't find any thing wrong with it. Even when I brought it in with
the lever stuck in the stuck position. I figured it would be one of
those things that you just learn to live with as you could free the
lever by flicking it up and down a couple of times and that would free
the stuck position. Well, it happened again today and it, (pause for
censorship) ****ed me off. I decided to see if I could find out what
was wrong. I tore the front of the machine off with lots of little
screws and knobs and low and behold one of the little parts that was
supposed to be held in place by what is known as a circlip was missing
the circlip. A circlip is kind of like a washer with an opening that
allows it to slide onto a bar with a groove cut in the circumference,
and it holds the bar from working out of the hole that it is passing
through. In taking the machine apart, I discovered the circlip laying
on the bottom of the inside of the machine. The solution; pick up the
circlip, push the bar into the hole, place the circlip in the groove
in the end of the bar, close the machine back up, and put all the
knobs back in place.
I tested the machine many times at many different setting and low and
behold, it works without any hang ups. I felt so damn good that I
called the sewing machine repair guy and told him what was wrong, and
that if I could find it, then he should have been able to. He was not
too pleased to hear from me with this information, I might add, as I
am going to request that he refund me the service charge for one of
the non productive service jobs he did which I had brought the machine
in with the problem present. This was all possible because it was a
mechanical machine of course. If it had been computerized I would have
had to sacrifice a virgin or two before the problem was resolved, I am
sure. Anyway, Now I have my favorite machine in perfect running order
and no longer have to use any of those "interesting" words to complete
a sewing project. This was a good day at the sewing machine, for me.

John

On Nov 3, 3:42 pm, John wrote:
I finally dived into the strange world of sewing machine repair today.
Here is how it all came about. Ever since I bought my Bernina 1008 it
had the annoying habit of sticking when you tried to change the stitch
length from say 2.5 to 5 when you wanted to do a stay stitch or some
such. I have had it in to try to fix it twice and they said they
couldn't find any thing wrong with it. Even when I brought it in with
the lever stuck in the stuck position. I figured it would be one of
those things that you just learn to live with as you could free the
lever by flicking it up and down a couple of times and that would free
the stuck position. Well, it happened again today and it, (pause for
censorship) ****ed me off. I decided to see if I could find out what
was wrong. I tore the front of the machine off with lots of little
screws and knobs and low and behold one of the little parts that was
supposed to be held in place by what is known as a circlip was missing
the circlip. A circlip is kind of like a washer with an opening that
allows it to slide onto a bar with a groove cut in the circumference,
and it holds the bar from working out of the hole that it is passing
through. In taking the machine apart, I discovered the circlip laying
on the bottom of the inside of the machine. The solution; pick up the
circlip, push the bar into the hole, place the circlip in the groove
in the end of the bar, close the machine back up, and put all the
knobs back in place.
I tested the machine many times at many different setting and low and
behold, it works without any hang ups. I felt so damn good that I
called the sewing machine repair guy and told him what was wrong, and
that if I could find it, then he should have been able to. He was not
too pleased to hear from me with this information, I might add, as I
am going to request that he refund me the service charge for one of
the non productive service jobs he did which I had brought the machine
in with the problem present. This was all possible because it was a
mechanical machine of course. If it had been computerized I would have
had to sacrifice a virgin or two before the problem was resolved, I am
sure. Anyway, Now I have my favorite machine in perfect running order
and no longer have to use any of those "interesting" words to complete
a sewing project. This was a good day at the sewing machine, for me.

John

I would have added to the comment about requesting a refund for the
non-service service fee, "I'll be sure to let firends and neighbors
who sew about your business practices."

Ginger in CA
who told off the manager of the local JC Penneys at 7:30 this morning
for a bait-and-switch trick they tried

John, It just goes to show, if you want something done right, you have to do
it yourself.
Ginger, Were you at the "biggest sale of the year" that seems to happen
every weekend at JCP? Those ads get a little old after a while. Glad to hear
you spoke your mind.
"Ginger in CA" wrote in message
oups.com...
On Nov 3, 3:42 pm, John wrote:
I finally dived into the strange world of sewing machine repair today.
Here is how it all came about. Ever since I bought my Bernina 1008 it
had the annoying habit of sticking when you tried to change the stitch
length from say 2.5 to 5 when you wanted to do a stay stitch or some
such. I have had it in to try to fix it twice and they said they
couldn't find any thing wrong with it. Even when I brought it in with
the lever stuck in the stuck position. I figured it would be one of
those things that you just learn to live with as you could free the
lever by flicking it up and down a couple of times and that would free
the stuck position. Well, it happened again today and it, (pause for
censorship) ****ed me off. I decided to see if I could find out what
was wrong. I tore the front of the machine off with lots of little
screws and knobs and low and behold one of the little parts that was
supposed to be held in place by what is known as a circlip was missing
the circlip. A circlip is kind of like a washer with an opening that
allows it to slide onto a bar with a groove cut in the circumference,
and it holds the bar from working out of the hole that it is passing
through. In taking the machine apart, I discovered the circlip laying
on the bottom of the inside of the machine. The solution; pick up the
circlip, push the bar into the hole, place the circlip in the groove
in the end of the bar, close the machine back up, and put all the
knobs back in place.
I tested the machine many times at many different setting and low and
behold, it works without any hang ups. I felt so damn good that I
called the sewing machine repair guy and told him what was wrong, and
that if I could find it, then he should have been able to. He was not
too pleased to hear from me with this information, I might add, as I
am going to request that he refund me the service charge for one of
the non productive service jobs he did which I had brought the machine
in with the problem present. This was all possible because it was a
mechanical machine of course. If it had been computerized I would have
had to sacrifice a virgin or two before the problem was resolved, I am
sure. Anyway, Now I have my favorite machine in perfect running order
and no longer have to use any of those "interesting" words to complete
a sewing project. This was a good day at the sewing machine, for me.

John

I would have added to the comment about requesting a refund for the
non-service service fee, "I'll be sure to let firends and neighbors
who sew about your business practices."

Ginger in CA
who told off the manager of the local JC Penneys at 7:30 this morning
for a bait-and-switch trick they tried

Nothing like starting the day off early Ginger. Geez.

Old mechanical machines are fun to play with. I only once
took my Bernina 930 apart once but old Singers don't scare me.
For years I took my Bernina's almost 150 miles away for service
I trusted. That is ridiculous but since they don't need much
help it was not too bad. (It isn't all that much trouble to
'have' to go to San Diego though)

I went into Michael's the other day. Boy, they make Joann's
look like a well oiled machine. As we walked out DH reminded
me I had said years ago I would never go back there. Now I have
been reminded why.


Taria


Ginger in CA wrote:

Ginger in CA
who told off the manager of the local JC Penneys at 7:30 this morning
for a bait-and-switch trick they tried

On Nov 3, 7:42 pm, John wrote:
I finally dived into the strange world of sewing machine repair today.
Here is how it all came about. Ever since I bought my Bernina 1008 it
had the annoying habit of sticking when you tried to change the stitch
length from say 2.5 to 5 when you wanted to do a stay stitch or some
such. I have had it in to try to fix it twice and they said they
couldn't find any thing wrong with it. Even when I brought it in with
the lever stuck in the stuck position. I figured it would be one of
those things that you just learn to live with as you could free the
lever by flicking it up and down a couple of times and that would free
the stuck position. Well, it happened again today and it, (pause for
censorship) ****ed me off. I decided to see if I could find out what
was wrong. I tore the front of the machine off with lots of little
screws and knobs and low and behold one of the little parts that was
supposed to be held in place by what is known as a circlip was missing
the circlip. A circlip is kind of like a washer with an opening that
allows it to slide onto a bar with a groove cut in the circumference,
and it holds the bar from working out of the hole that it is passing
through. In taking the machine apart, I discovered the circlip laying
on the bottom of the inside of the machine. The solution; pick up the
circlip, push the bar into the hole, place the circlip in the groove
in the end of the bar, close the machine back up, and put all the
knobs back in place.
I tested the machine many times at many different setting and low and
behold, it works without any hang ups. I felt so damn good that I
called the sewing machine repair guy and told him what was wrong, and
that if I could find it, then he should have been able to. He was not
too pleased to hear from me with this information, I might add, as I
am going to request that he refund me the service charge for one of
the non productive service jobs he did which I had brought the machine
in with the problem present. This was all possible because it was a
mechanical machine of course. If it had been computerized I would have
had to sacrifice a virgin or two before the problem was resolved, I am
sure. Anyway, Now I have my favorite machine in perfect running order
and no longer have to use any of those "interesting" words to complete
a sewing project. This was a good day at the sewing machine, for me.

John

Good job!!! I love the old mechanicals.........(she says with a new
Babylock sitting in its box) LOL. No, I really do love the old
mechanicals, that is why I have around 20 old machines and only 2 with
any computer parts to them. My Bernina 930's and 910 are my
favorites. I have had to fix my machines too often to count but it is
so satisfying.

It is really hard to find a good service man.

Piece,

Marsha

Well done John. Great result!!!
(You're braver than I would have been though!)
..
In message .com, John
writes
I finally dived into the strange world of sewing machine repair today.
Here is how it all came about. Ever since I bought my Bernina 1008 it
had the annoying habit of sticking when you tried to change the stitch
length from say 2.5 to 5 when you wanted to do a stay stitch or some
such. I have had it in to try to fix it twice and they said they
couldn't find any thing wrong with it. Even when I brought it in with
the lever stuck in the stuck position. I figured it would be one of
those things that you just learn to live with as you could free the
lever by flicking it up and down a couple of times and that would free
the stuck position. Well, it happened again today and it, (pause for
censorship) ****ed me off. I decided to see if I could find out what
was wrong. I tore the front of the machine off with lots of little
screws and knobs and low and behold one of the little parts that was
supposed to be held in place by what is known as a circlip was missing
the circlip. A circlip is kind of like a washer with an opening that
allows it to slide onto a bar with a groove cut in the circumference,
and it holds the bar from working out of the hole that it is passing
through. In taking the machine apart, I discovered the circlip laying
on the bottom of the inside of the machine. The solution; pick up the
circlip, push the bar into the hole, place the circlip in the groove
in the end of the bar, close the machine back up, and put all the
knobs back in place.
I tested the machine many times at many different setting and low and
behold, it works without any hang ups. I felt so damn good that I
called the sewing machine repair guy and told him what was wrong, and
that if I could find it, then he should have been able to. He was not
too pleased to hear from me with this information, I might add, as I
am going to request that he refund me the service charge for one of
the non productive service jobs he did which I had brought the machine
in with the problem present. This was all possible because it was a
mechanical machine of course. If it had been computerized I would have
had to sacrifice a virgin or two before the problem was resolved, I am
sure. Anyway, Now I have my favorite machine in perfect running order
and no longer have to use any of those "interesting" words to complete
a sewing project. This was a good day at the sewing machine, for me.

John


--
Best Regards
pat on the hill

Thank you, Patti, for carrying John's post over for us. Somehow, it eluded
my rctq posts this morning . . . and congratulations to John for taking
matters into his own hands. Yeah! John. What happy news.
'As long as' are scary words around here. You know, you begin with
killing a spider meandering across the ceiling. You decide as long as you
have the extended brush out, you'll dust the entire ceiling. Then you
realize the ceiling does need painting. The 'as long as' adventure can go
on for months and bankruptcy.
But, John,
'As long as' you have dared to unveil the innards of you beloved
1008, you might as well see if there's any sneaky snip of thread that need
removing, any grubby bits of fuzz and any quite logical places that would
enjoy a tiny drop of oil.
Since Katrina scared our fine Bernina guy to higher ground, we are left
with a cranky-pants tech about 100 miles away. She does what some of us
would call (more censorship needed here) a half-assed job. We have decided
we can do just fine without her, thank you, and are right proud of our
success. And yours. Polly

"Patti" wrote in message
...
Well done John. Great result!!!
(You're braver than I would have been though!)
.
In message .com, John
writes
I finally dived into the strange world of sewing machine repair today.
Here is how it all came about. Ever since I bought my Bernina 1008 it
had the annoying habit of sticking when you tried to change the stitch
length from say 2.5 to 5 when you wanted to do a stay stitch or some
such. I have had it in to try to fix it twice and they said they
couldn't find any thing wrong with it. Even when I brought it in with
the lever stuck in the stuck position. I figured it would be one of
those things that you just learn to live with as you could free the
lever by flicking it up and down a couple of times and that would free
the stuck position. Well, it happened again today and it, (pause for
censorship) ****ed me off. I decided to see if I could find out what
was wrong. I tore the front of the machine off with lots of little
screws and knobs and low and behold one of the little parts that was
supposed to be held in place by what is known as a circlip was missing
the circlip. A circlip is kind of like a washer with an opening that
allows it to slide onto a bar with a groove cut in the circumference,
and it holds the bar from working out of the hole that it is passing
through. In taking the machine apart, I discovered the circlip laying
on the bottom of the inside of the machine. The solution; pick up the
circlip, push the bar into the hole, place the circlip in the groove
in the end of the bar, close the machine back up, and put all the
knobs back in place.
I tested the machine many times at many different setting and low and
behold, it works without any hang ups. I felt so damn good that I
called the sewing machine repair guy and told him what was wrong, and
that if I could find it, then he should have been able to. He was not
too pleased to hear from me with this information, I might add, as I
am going to request that he refund me the service charge for one of
the non productive service jobs he did which I had brought the machine
in with the problem present. This was all possible because it was a
mechanical machine of course. If it had been computerized I would have
had to sacrifice a virgin or two before the problem was resolved, I am
sure. Anyway, Now I have my favorite machine in perfect running order
and no longer have to use any of those "interesting" words to complete
a sewing project. This was a good day at the sewing machine, for me.

John


--
Best Regards
pat on the hill

My parents had a rather good way of having repair work done on all
sorts of things, from furnaces and electrical things to the radios in
the airplane. Before anything was done they promised the repairman
payment only when the item was REPAIRED, not just worked on. A couple
of very good repairmen said "well, of course!" and some others
declined the work entirely. It sorted out the folks rather quickly,
and my parents got very good service.

Good on you DS fixed my first machine (Alco by Necchi-- mechanical--with
NO plastic parts) a number of times. The repairman said it had been 'set
wrong' at the factory. How do you 'set' a clutch wrong?
Anyway, whenever it acted up,I let him have at it. Lasted me a long
time..then I used it for my back up machine until we moved here.

Butterfly (Blue rooms are allowed as long as lil ears aren't around)

"John" wrote in message
oups.com...
I finally dived into the strange world of sewing machine repair today.
Here is how it all came about. Ever since I bought my Bernina 1008 it
had the annoying habit of sticking when you tried to change the stitch
length from say 2.5 to 5 when you wanted to do a stay stitch or some
such. I have had it in to try to fix it twice and they said they
couldn't find any thing wrong with it. Even when I brought it in with
the lever stuck in the stuck position. I figured it would be one of
those things that you just learn to live with as you could free the
lever by flicking it up and down a couple of times and that would free
the stuck position. Well, it happened again today and it, (pause for
censorship) ****ed me off. I decided to see if I could find out what
was wrong. I tore the front of the machine off with lots of little
screws and knobs and low and behold one of the little parts that was
supposed to be held in place by what is known as a circlip was missing
the circlip. A circlip is kind of like a washer with an opening that
allows it to slide onto a bar with a groove cut in the circumference,
and it holds the bar from working out of the hole that it is passing
through. In taking the machine apart, I discovered the circlip laying
on the bottom of the inside of the machine. The solution; pick up the
circlip, push the bar into the hole, place the circlip in the groove
in the end of the bar, close the machine back up, and put all the
knobs back in place.
I tested the machine many times at many different setting and low and
behold, it works without any hang ups. I felt so damn good that I
called the sewing machine repair guy and told him what was wrong, and
that if I could find it, then he should have been able to. He was not
too pleased to hear from me with this information, I might add, as I
am going to request that he refund me the service charge for one of
the non productive service jobs he did which I had brought the machine
in with the problem present. This was all possible because it was a
mechanical machine of course. If it had been computerized I would have
had to sacrifice a virgin or two before the problem was resolved, I am
sure. Anyway, Now I have my favorite machine in perfect running order
and no longer have to use any of those "interesting" words to complete
a sewing project. This was a good day at the sewing machine, for me.

John

Hi Linda
I don't know if it was billed as that, just that they opened at 6AM,
and had a set of dishes on sale that I wanted. Used to shop JC Penneys
all the time [boy, the memories from childhood!] but gradually moved
away to other stores.

I have made a vow to myself to not even walk through their doors
again, even if it is to "cut through" to another store in the mall. I
walk over to the big mall from my place.

Ginger in CA

On Nov 3, 4:44 pm, "Linda" wrote:
John, It just goes to show, if you want something done right, you have to do
it yourself.
Ginger, Were you at the "biggest sale of the year" that seems to happen
every weekend at JCP? Those ads get a little old after a while. Glad to hear
you spoke your mind.