Help! Tension suddenly stopped working!

Help! Tension suddenly stopped working! Quote/Unquote

(joy=A0beeson)

wrote:
The needle clamp on my Lily has a screwdriver slot... So does the one on
the Viscount. I use a screwdriver to tighten it all the time.
So do my Necchi and my White Family Rotary. (I'd have to move several
things to look at my Monkey Ward.)
---
I don't usually tighten a needle clamp with a screwdriver because the
heads of the screws give me a good grip. (Wide and flat on the Necchi,
large and knurled on the White.) I've been known to need a screwdriver
to *loosen* the screws, though, and I can't imagine a machine so cheap
that it would leave out that little slot.
(But I can't imagine a lot of the trash that people are passing off as
sewing machines these days. Whenever I'm asked by a newbie, I say "Buy
second hand -- you want something that has been tested for "infant
difficulties".)
Joy Beeson
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OK, Joyce-- so it's not just me having trouble with the translation.
Many _good_ older machines have a key-type knob on the needle screw,
which precludes the need for a screwdriver. (Singers, Morse, and my
Bernina)
Only my ancient industrial Singer requires a screwdriver for
replacing the needle, as the needle clamp has no knob, just a large
flat-head phillips screwdriver slot.
Cea