Edgerider Wheels

[LEE ANN]

My Lenni moves like I'm pushing around an elephant. I've checked everything that I know to check for (leveling, sanding, etc.) and still no relief. I am interested in what y'all are saying about the Edgerider Wheels (I have the original brown wheels on) but Kings Men does not list Lenni as one of the machines it has wheels for. Where and how do you order them? Also I am having TENSION PROBLEMS. I've read Dawn's post and am wondering if I need more than a secret handshake. I don't think my Lenni has ever sewn a quilt yet that the tension has been correct on. Is a tension gauge my answer?

[DawnCavanaugh]

Lee Ann,

Have you checked the wheel spacing on your carriage and the sewing head? Lean your head down along the rails and make sure that the rail is riding at the "crown" of each wheel. Sometimes because of differences in assembly and squareness, one wheel or two can rub on the rail instead of having the rail ride on the deepest curve of the wheel.

Do the same thing for the carriage wheels. They should all ride with the deepest part of the wheel (the crown or crest) on the lip of the carriage. If they aren't, then you can shim the wheels. You will use thin washers to do this.

Check out the thread below for additional info:

http://www.apqs.com/quiltboard/viewthread.php?tid=13158&page=1#pid144908

As for the tension troubles, tell me more about the problem, or give me a call when you can be at your machine and we'll work through it together!

[IBQLTN2]

thanks for that thread Dawn. I am going to go over all the check points on my Lenni this weekend and see if it all checks out. It has never felt exacty right to me. I did adjust the wheels on the sewing head and that helped, but I could still have a leveling problem. when I get towards the right end of the table from the panto side, usually over the legs of the table I get a vibration it even changes the sound of the machine and it feels jumpy . Luckily most of my quilts so far have been smaller and i have not had to go down that far. but either the table is out of square on that end or maybe not level. does that sound feasible as where to look first>

[LEE ANN]

My wheels were certainly off. We took a trip to Home Depot and tried to purchase the washers in the suggested thicknesses but they only sold one kind. . .I'll have to call around town today to see who has available thicknesses. Also, my plastic runners need additional sanding.

I finally got the tension set...sewed one row before the top thread broke and everything ceased to co-operate. I put the machine up for the night and tried again this morning but cannot get the machine to sew no more then afew stitches before the top thread breaks. I've loosened the tension, rethreaded the machine, changed the bobbin, changed the thread...after too long I've again put the machine up and gone back to piecing. In the year and a half that I have had the Lenni I have not been able to successfully quilt a quilt without major hardships. The quality of the quilting I am sure is my inexperience; but it is so low that I am still sending my quilts out to be completed by others. I have had lessons with Myrna and Linda McCuen and had 0 problems on the long arm machines provided in their classrooms (of course, someone was there to handle all tension and thread issues).

At this point, I just want to be able to quilt the 3 or so more rows that it will take to finish this baby quilt. I have already torn out two rows due to tension problems and hope there is something left to give by the time it finally makes it off the machine.