Saturday, July 2, 2011

Tension Adjuster

This post is really a pictorial on the parts associated with the tension knob of the sewing machine.  Taking it apart is relatively easy, but I figured having all the extra pictures will be helpful in putting it back together and ordering parts (if needed). 

Here we go!

 

To remove the tension knob assembly - Tension knob - before removal

one first has to loosen the tension knob set screw, which is located behind the tension knob on the machine head, as shown here - tension knob set screw

In my case, I had to practically remove the set screw before the assembly could be removed.  This was because there was so much gunk or too much rust holding this little doo-dad in place.

The next step was removing the ‘slack thread regulator’ slack thread regulator

Here are some pictures of the tension knob assembly after it was removed from the machine: 

Front - Tension knob - frontBack -Tension knob - back

Right - Tension knob - side 1 Left -Tension knob - side 2

The first step in disassembly of the tension knob, according to the Adjuster Manual, is to turn the regulator thumb nut until zero on the tension index (black numbered thing) is opposite pointer on tension indicator (+ | –  thing). 

tension set to zero

Then you press the index flange to disengage the pin on the thumb nut.   The pin is the shiny little thing just to the left of the number 8 in the picture shown below:

pin disengaged

The next set of pictures will show you each piece as I remove it from the tension knob assembly

Thumb nut - thumb nut

Flange -       flange

Flange stop motion washer - flange stop motion washer

Tension spring - tension spring

Indicator -          indicator

Tension Releasing pin - tension releasing pin

Thread uptake spring -   thread take up spring

Tension disc assembly - tension disk assembly

Tension discs -      tension discs

All the parts after complete disassembly -   disassembled parts

I’ll be cleaning these parts up in kerosene and ER (Evapo-Rust) where appropriate and putting them into a zip lock plastic bag for reassembly at a later date.  Next time, I think I’ll have to tackle the underside of the machine and the real operational parts of Ms. Rusty.  It’s a bit intimidating, to say the least….

3 comments:

  1. Love, love, love your blog. I have spent the last two days, off and on reading from the very beginning, so that I would be current. Now I can't wait for more. Thanks so much for going to all the work to document what will certainly be of great help to many of us who adore these old machines!

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  2. Thanks for the kind words, Laura! I wasn't really sure anyone would read this blog, so I'm glad that it is helpful you. I enjoy writing about Ms. Rusty almost as much as fixing her up - which is also a surprise since I picked my career just to avoid writing :)

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  3. Hi Elle, thank you for all of this info. After reading your blog, I took my 96-10 out of the closet and kept going at removing most of the pieces. The machine was eventually going in the trash, I was really going to give up!

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