Lenni, Table legs.

[RitaR]

Hello.. I have just received and set up the Lenni table, and it is high enough to cause me mid back pain.

Our question is, Is there a way we can take the adjustment parts out of the legs, cut the legs off and reinsert the adjustment parts?

It is at it's lowest point and still 3 to 4 inches too high for me.

Appreciate any info you can give..

RitaR

[RitaR]

OK, we answered our own questions.

1. Lenni has round steel legs.

2. Inside the leg, there is a section welded in, of added metal with threads about 1 1/2" up into the leg.

3. Yes it can be unscrewed until the foot falls out.

4. We think we have a solution, unless APQS can ship us a set of legs about 4"shorter... lol.... we will take them to a welding shop, have them cut them off up just below the curve, cut out about 4", and reweld them back on.. with the understanding All Legs HAVE TO BE STRAIGHT and THE SAME LENGTH, and the threaded section has to be at the bottom of the leg.

5. I hate to have to go thru this, but I really Need the machine lower.. and don\'t know how else to do it.

RitaR

[quiltmonkey]

Rita, rather than go through that trouble, I have seen where people have built platform floors on both sides of the machine so they are standing higher, elevated. You could get 2"x4"s and build some nice stable platform floors. Maybe that might be easier/cheaper than whacking the legs off and rewelding them back on??? (just a thought) Somehow the thought of cutting poor Lenni\'s legs off makes me a little sad.

[ffq-lar]

Before you alter the table legs, please call the factory and find out a better way. I can\'t imagine that after all the wait the designer would make the table so high. I went to your webshots and viewed all the set-up fun. That table looks so high--even too high for your assembler (DH?) and if something as drastic as chopping off the legs needs to happen, there is a design flaw that APQS should be involved in and perhaps pay for the alterations. It seems sometimes that owners ask for help here and get lots of advise when a quick call to Iowa is what is most needed. No offense. It\'s the weekend, I know, but call \'em up tomorrow and hope it is an easy fix. If it isn\'t, give \'em an earful!!!

[ffq-lar]

Hi again, Rita,

I just went back to your webshots to see what I could about your tall table. I was looking at picture #81 of your "assembler" standing at the machine. Those front rollers seem to be at an OK height for stitching. What looks so very wrong to me is that the Lenni is almost as far forward as it can be and the stitching area is WAY too far away to effectively control the stitching. You would be completely arms-outstretched and leaning over to be able to stitch towards the back areas. I think the front rollers are mis-positioned--they should be MUCH closer to the stitching area--that is, the distance between the front and back rollers needs to be narrowed a LOT. That means the table isn\'t too high, the stitching area is too far away. Is there a way to adjust the roller distance or were the end pieces assembled upside down or something? I sound kinda dumb here--haven\'t seen a Lenni table before. It just doesn\'t LOOK right. Could they have sent you the side pieces for a Millie instead of a Lenni???? Hopefully the problem can be solved easily without amputating anything!! Good luck and let us know the solution.

[Myrna Ficken]

The table is the correct height for the lowest setting on the legs. No design flaws that I can see. Rita is just a small little thing, and it may be too tall for her in it lowest position. The rollers are in the correct position and it will not be difficult to reach the back quilting area. That is unless Rita is very (for lack of a better term) short. The rollers can only go in one position and the sides that hold the rollers can only go in one position. Linda what you may be looking at is the steel table in one of the photos.

Now I would agree that you may reconsider cutting or have the legs cut down. If for no other reason than should you decide at some point to resale. A platform such as Shana mentioned will work very well. Your Lenni sure look pretty in your space. Have fun with her. It looks like you all ready are.

Myrna

[RitaR]

Hi and thank you for suggestions. Himself, my dh is about 5\'5". I am all of 5 feet 2 inches now.. but the height is mostly in my body.. To stitch at the back of the machine, I do have to reach straight out, and lean over slightly. We taped the one handle from the old quilter onto Pennys front handle bar, and that makes it a lot better, at least I don\'t have to full arm reach and lean to quilt at the back of the quilt, but I still have to reach up and over the bars...

LOL, if you only knew what a klutz I am.. and with a brand new beautiful floor in the sewing room, a platform just won\'t work. I\'m known for tripping over what they call a speck of dust, or going out the back door, i KNOW there isn\'t a step there, but quite often find myself going nose first across the drive trying to catch my balance, after stepping down with no step down.. lol, i\'m sure after the neighbors watched me a few times, especially if I tried to veer left to grab the spare on the CRV for balance, they must think I\'m drunk or on drugs. It\'s really comical.. except it hurts the back. I also wouldn\'t have room to freely work around the regular sewing machine and the ironging board with a platform in there. The room isn\'t very big.

I\'m sure most of the trouble with pain is from the arthritis in my spine, as well as deteriorating vertibrae and disks, so the cut out and weld back would be the best solution in the long run for me, even though it might be pricy.

The picts may show how it fits.. I\'m use to it much lower..

I\'ll post a several in my wbshots machine album.

RitaR

[RitaR]

Hi Myrna..

LoL, I may be short, but Little, I\'m not.. thank you though.

We just went and did some measuring. From the bottom of my elbow, bent at 90 degrees, to the floor is 36".. the bottom of the front roller, or the one the back would go on, is 36" and the top of the second roller, the one the top would go on before it\'s quilted, is 39". Added to the Height problem, The crossbar for the front handles is 42".. if I hold the Lenni handle bars near the top, by the buttons.. well, it\'s more of a reach at 46" from the floor. The top of my shoulder is only 51" so the buttons on the handles, hit about armpit high. It\'s my structure, not a design flaw..

Like I said, reaching even what little higher I have to, to use Lenni, causes a physical pain.. and one I have to get around, without breaking my klutzy neck before I get some use out of the machine. If I cut 4"out of the legs, about 2/3 of the way up from the floor, before the curve begins, the 9"extension would still be there to be used by a taller person, when I\'m dead, or not able to quilt any more, lol, I wouldn\'t care then.. they could also put boosts under it more easily and more safely than I can use a platform.

This really isn\'t a design flaw.. I wish it were. Neither of us remember Lenni being so tall on the metal table, at the seminar, and we both tried her out.

It would be nice if any quilt table manufacturer could ask the users height so table legs could be shortened for shorter users.. I\'m sure I\'m not the only one who is 5 feet 2 inches and shorter! But I also see the time, cost, etc.. involved with doing that.

Oh the threads that hold the height adjustment bolt, is welded into the bottom of the legs.. so it can\'t be taken out, the legs cut off at the bottom and put back in. I think taking 4"out of the middle will be easiest for the welder and probably cheaper for me too.

RitaR

[smorris]

Hi Rita

I\'d ask the advice of the engineer who designed the table for his advice before cutting the legs through the centre, I would think that would weaken the taken and cause it to move when quilting.

I\'d go with Shana\'s idea on creating a platform. I know you said that wouldn\'t work but am not sure why - perhaps it would slip on your floorboards (I love wooden floorboards). If thats the case what about putting some of the rubber matting underneath. It seems so much easier than having someone cut the legs.

Good luck

Sue in Australia

[smorris]

Hi Rita

Hope you could understand that gobbledy gook above when I re-read it I saw some typos. I meant take some advice from the engineer at APQS first as cutting through the centre of the legs might weaken the stability of the table.

I just looked at all the great photos you posted they are very clear and really show us what the table looks like. If anything, I would RAISE the height of the table and stand a little closer to the backing roller and you could use the microdrive handles too to keep your arms bent at 90 degrees. I aim to work with my elbows bent at about 90 degrees most of the time but since my measurement from elbow to wrist is 8" when working further away I do have to straighten them out when I am working closer to the levelling bar.

I hope you find a table height that is comfortable for you. I really think if you lowered that table you would have neck pain because you would have to stoop to see the needle.

Good luck

Sue in Australia

[RitaR]

Hi Sue.

the platform won\'t work, the main reason why is I\'d be tripping over it trying to work around the ironging board and the quilting machine, get batting, etc. The other reason is its a new laminate floor and we dont want it worn where the platform would set, nor have to try to lift it and position anything under it. Also the lumber would be collecting threads, and dust, which doesn\'t make my lungs happy. The room is small, and none of the picts show the ironing board with the extension on it, which sets right inside the door to the right.

My other machine table was much lower than this, and since I won\'t be looking straight down with the table lower, it doesn\'t bother the neck. It is the reaching up and over the quilt top roller that is bothering.. I don\'t think cutting the legs and then welding back together is going to weaken the structure appreciably, as the leg material is quite thick. Himself insisted I stand back from the rail while he took the picture.. I normally stand right against the backing roller, and still have to lean to reach and stitch the quilt, at the back.

We did talk to Amy, and shortening the legs won\'t affect the warranty, we\'ve found a welder who can do it for us this evening, the legs are out at his place now. We used the old machine table to set this one on for now.

The welder understands about the legs having to be straight, equal in length, and no rough spots sticking out to snag a quilt or batting. We will primer and repaint them before they are put back on, too, so the machine & table will still look nice and not give apqs any black marks on cosmetic workmanship.

Must run and get more of the state names embroidered. then when Penny is up and together again, I can pppppp.

Thanks for all help and suggestions..

Rita

[smorris]

Hi Rita

Sounds like you\'ve got it all sorted out and maybe your Lenni will be home again soon

Good luck and best wishes

Sue in Australia

[smudges]

Hi! I am about the same height as you, maybe an inch taller. I have a Millennium and had the same problem as you when I first got it, and kept getting shoulder pain after 10 minutes or so.

However the more I practice the more I build up those muscles and the less pain I get, and the more control I have over the machine. I have gone from pain within 10 minutes to going over an hour without a break with no pain.

I do have a yoga step that I stand on if I need to lean over and unpick anything. My floor is unlevel so while one end of my machine is down as low as it can go the other end is raised up a couple of inches so the machine sits level, at the taller end the bottom of my backing roller is 38 inches tall, so comparable to the Lenni.

My wonderful husband made some extensions to the rear handles for me which are just absolutely wonderful, and Amy from APQS arrange to have some extension cables for the handles made for me so I could plug my handles in with the extensions in place, that has made doing pantographs so much easier as I don\'t have to lean over so much to reach the handles at the furtherest point.

I totally understand why you would not want platforms, I would be terrified I would step off it and twist or break my ankle, and you want to be fully concentrating on what you are doing and not worrying about doing an injury to yourself! I have fallen off my a step a few times already, haven\'t done any serious injury but have given myself a huge fright LOL!

It\'s great that the table legs are adjustable for those taller people, but it would be fantastic if APQS could perhaps look at making the legs in a shorter height, so then you could choose your table length AND table height.

Susan in Australia

[RitaR]

Hi Susan M.. yes, it sounds about like the same trouble.. except I\'m use to machine quilting, and with the old clunker,, believe me it was a lot harder to move.. It was sheer height of the front rollers..

We found a young man who cut the legs off, smoothed and repainted them for only $50.oo, and unless you lean down close, it\'s very hard to see where he did the work.

Now I\'ve another problem. The velcro will not stick to the roller.. before I even get to the middle of the roller, the first end is coming off. A short piece literally Pops off. We are trying Bond 527, and though we had to put tape around the roller onto itself to get it to stick and hold the velcro on, and the Bond 527 seems to be holding, it\'s not the best glue job we\'ve done. It stuck quite well on the bare fence rail poles.

Not sure what else there is to try.. Any suggestions?

We don\'t have 8 hands to hold the leaders in place to get the quilt rolled...

Yes, I\'ll call Amy tomorrow. She\'s going to want to run when she hears my name..

RitaR

[BethDurand]

Hi Rita,

Boy, you\'ve had a heck of a time getting to play. I have no suggestions for any of your issues, but I doubt sincerely that Amy is going to go running when she hears your name. If anything, she\'d probably give you her home phone number.

Good luck in this venture.

Beth

[RitaR]

Well... lol, Amy didn\'t exactly run.

I guess if we can get the velcro to stick well enough on the roller, for two of us to get it held in place straight and the leader wraped around it to hold it in place, that should be good enough. Just awfully hard to hold it in place so the leader ends up straight, when the velcro won\'t stick.. AND the more we try, the less it sticks.

APQS doesn\'t have adjustable handles that will fit Lenni and don\'t plan on working towards that end. We\'ll make our own. Save money.

I hate this little winder they sent.. doesn\'t wind an even, or snug bobbin.. and unless it\'s held in place, it\'s as though it has legs of it\'s own.

Oh, the welder was shocked at the thickness of the legs.. he said it took him more than twice as long to cut thru them than he expected to take. They are at least 1/4" thick walls on the pipe. We thought that was just at the end where the threads are welded in, but it\'s not.

We\'ll get it worked out, as necessity is the Mother of Invention.

RitaR.

[RitaR]

Another episode.. solved.. Because of arthritis I cannot pin quilts onto the leaders. I use the walking foot on my dsm and baste them on.

Also the leaders being canvas and so thick, and wide, take up a lot of room on the take up roller.. sooo... we tried to remove it from the velcro on the roller, and it all came off and wouldn\'t go back on. It would fall off before we could get even 5 feet stuck on straight.. tried tape, neither packing nor duct tape would stick, soooo...

The Lenni does not come with anything attached to the rollers.. we have 2 five foot pieces to each roller, and then the self adhesive velcro which would only stay on if held in place by the leader being wrapped around and holding pressure on it to keep it there.

We took the rollers off today, sanded them down, wiped them off and wow, Now packing tape sticks.. so we taped the leader on, and used one I made up of a much lighter fabric, but with good stability, no stretching at all.

I\'m feeling better about this situation.. I\'m not saying what APQS provided, isn\'t good, or wouldn\'t work for others.. it just didn\'t quite do it for me. Praying this is going to be a long-term solution.

RitaR