KathG Posted August 4, 2009 Report Share Posted August 4, 2009 HI I am posting a couple of photos of the flat spot on Lenni's rails . If I am sewing in a diagonal direction, this flat spot is throwing me of track. I marked the table with some chalk to check it was not me, and stopped Lenni when the problem occurred, and The wheel on the track is sat right on this spot. I am a little frustrated as I have not yet put a full quilt on my Little Dove, only practice pieces. If anyone has any suggestions ,they will be gratefully recieved. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Katydids Posted August 4, 2009 Report Share Posted August 4, 2009 Kath. I would like to see a picture of how your wheels are sitting on the track. They should not be rubbing along the inside of the track like that, and certainly should not be rubbing off the black! The curve of the wheel should sit on top of the curve of the track, centered on the track. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IBQLTN2 Posted August 4, 2009 Report Share Posted August 4, 2009 Patty Does the top of her rail look different to you? It almost looks as if she has a 1/4 inch bead on top of the rail that has been welded on and added. Mine is just one solid piece all black iron. The picture looks like there is a piece added to the top of the rail. Just curious if they have changed the rails in some way. Kathy, I sent you a U2U Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Katydids Posted August 4, 2009 Report Share Posted August 4, 2009 Jeanne, The tables have not been changed at this time. It does look different, but in another post Kath had stated that the black was rubbing off. My guess would be that the wheels are not positioned properly or something is hitting the rail and rubbing off the black coating. Kath, one of the black brackets(axles) on the carriage is adjustable, I just don't remember which one at the moment, I will have to go look. You can loosen the bolts and slide the axle a bit to get the wheels centered more on the rail, then tighten the bolts back down. Also check to make sure nothing is rubbing on the inside to be removing the coating. If the flat spot is just on the inside, when the wheels are riding along the top as supposed to and not rubbing the inside, hopefully, the flat spot will not affect the movement. If it is flat on top of the rail too, then that is another issue that will need to be resolved. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IBQLTN2 Posted August 4, 2009 Report Share Posted August 4, 2009 It really looks like two pieces, if that has been all rubbed off then it really is doing a clean job of it as it is pretty consistant all the way down the rails as far as he picture shows anyway. It must be rubbing very hard to take that much of the black coating off. I too would say that the wheels are not aligned correctly. Kathy look to see if your carriage is centered on the rails as it goes down the track. the rail should ride right in the center of the rail. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KathG Posted August 4, 2009 Author Report Share Posted August 4, 2009 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KathG Posted August 4, 2009 Author Report Share Posted August 4, 2009 Hi Patty Here are some photos of the wheels It is hard to get a straight on picture of the rails, but all the wheels are aligned like the bottom photo. We have checked the levels and made sure that the table is square, and if you give Lenni a gentle push she will move from one end to the other quite easily. If I move the carriage over the area where the flat spot is you can hear it, if that makes sense I had not noticed that the black was coming off until I gave the rail a dust with a piece of batting. It is such a small thing ,but frustrating. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IBQLTN2 Posted August 4, 2009 Report Share Posted August 4, 2009 Kathy It really looks centered to me from the pictures. What about the spot where it hangs up. does it stay in the center then? Also have you measured the distance between the rails? I found on mine that when I put a square ruler in each corner that on end was not square and that made it rub further down the line, as the rails became too far apart. that may be something else to check. measure the distance between the rails on both ends and in the middle and it seems off then also check all four corners to see if they are square. Hope this helps. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IBQLTN2 Posted August 4, 2009 Report Share Posted August 4, 2009 Kathy is that rail actually flat on the top or is the inside of the rail just have a bump on it? Could it be smoothed out with sand paper? Not sure if I would do it without checking with APQS though. It looks as if a little piece of metal juts out on the inside of the rail. I cant see where filing that off smooth would be a bad thing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Katydids Posted August 4, 2009 Report Share Posted August 4, 2009 It does look like the lip of the wheel is just a bit closer to the inside of the rail than the outside. It may not make any difference, but try to push the rear axle in just a bit. You'll need 2- 7/16" wrenches, or a socket and wrench. Loosen the bolts and push the axle in just a bit til it is centered a bit more. See if that helps. When I do a set up, I like the put the rear axle on loosely, then run the carriage back and forth on the rails to check alignment before I tighten anything down. Also check for square like Jeanne suggested. You may need to loosen up the table bolts and make some adjustments. Other than that, you will need to contact your rep or APQS if these suggestions don't help. It may need to be filed if it is just on the inside, if suggested by APQS. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KathG Posted August 4, 2009 Author Report Share Posted August 4, 2009 Hi Patty and Jeanne Thanks for your help I have measured the table and it is the same width all along and we checked the table for being square with a square ruler. When I get down under the table the wheels look to be the same on either side, also when I push the carriage backwards and forwards over that spot the sides of the wheels are not touching the flat spot, It is the curve of the wheel that is going over it , hope that makes sense. We do not have a rep now here in the UK at the moment. I will let APQS know about it, and will see how it goes. Hopefully they will have a suggestion. Thanks again for trying to help it is very much appreciated. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JustSewSimple Posted August 4, 2009 Report Share Posted August 4, 2009 I agree with Jeanne. That doesn't look like my table. It does look as if you have a extra piece in there. Maybe it is just the black worn off but it does look differently. I would trust Patty, however, she is the bomb! Hi Patty! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brenni Posted August 4, 2009 Report Share Posted August 4, 2009 I had black soot all over my rails when I first got my machine. I took a towel with alcohol and rubbed it over the entire table before I loaded the first 10 quilts. I still clean the table entirely as part of my preload routine although I am not getting the volume of soot I did initially. I still get black soot on the inside of the wheels but I clean those with q-tips. It took me a minute to figure out the first picture is taken from above the rail looking down. Looks like something was dropped on the rail or someone hammered it accidently. If what I am seeing is true, moving the wheels probably won't fix your issue. Mary Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brenni Posted August 4, 2009 Report Share Posted August 4, 2009 The analogy I would use for your problem is you are driving down the road and go over a man hole cover. Your car does not stop running and you can keep driving but you still feel the difference enough to spill your coffee. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KathG Posted August 4, 2009 Author Report Share Posted August 4, 2009 Originally posted by Brenni It took me a minute to figure out the first picture is taken from above the rail looking down. Looks like something was dropped on the rail or someone hammered it accidently. If what I am seeing is true, moving the wheels probably won't fix your issue. Mary Hi Mary The photos where not taken looking down onto the rail. They where taken from the oposite side of the table ,looking straight on. What you are seeing is the rail from inside of the table.The flat spot is on the side of the lip on the inside side of the rail. Hope that makes sense. I can honestly say that we have not dropped anything on the rail or hit it accidently with a hammer. In fact we did not use a hammer to build it From what I can tell it looks more like a fault I do agree that I do not feel that moving the wheels will have any effect. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kerstin Posted August 4, 2009 Report Share Posted August 4, 2009 Hi Kath, sorry I can't give any advice but I hope you will find a solution for your problem very soon. Wish you and your Little Dove good luck! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Linda G. Craig Posted August 4, 2009 Report Share Posted August 4, 2009 Here is my advice.......email Amy Anderson at APQS, her email is aanderson@apqs.com. She is amazing and I'm sure will have an answer for you. Good luck! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zeke Posted August 4, 2009 Report Share Posted August 4, 2009 Hi Kath, I don't know about you, but I would find a welder to see if they could fix it. They could weld a small bit of welding material on the rail and then file it off smooth. This will make the rail the same as it was before. With some sand paper and then some very fine sandpaper it would be like it never existed. That's what I would do if I were in your position, but that's justs me. Regards, zeke............... p.s. Look for a welder that is mobile welder, one that has him unit on a truck. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brenni Posted August 4, 2009 Report Share Posted August 4, 2009 I vote for Zeke's idea. My first guess is it happened during shipping or at the factory. Something heavy and sharp landed on that rail or the rail landed on something hard and at an odd angle - you can't make a dent like that easily. I am sure you handled the pieces like we all did when we got our machines - each piece was held like a new born baby. Good luck and let us know how it turns out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
quiltmonkey Posted August 4, 2009 Report Share Posted August 4, 2009 I bet this got damaged in shipment. I vote for Zeke's idea, too, to find a welder to add some extra metal and file/grind it down to a smooth surface. This is an easy fix. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KathG Posted August 5, 2009 Author Report Share Posted August 5, 2009 Thanks everyone for your ideas, I have emailed APQS and Amy, but am still waiting to hear back from them. I do not want to start doing anything with the rails right now with this being a new machine. As well as the welding idea, I am wondering if there is a way to just recoat that part of the rail, with some sort of coating. The photo makes it look larger than it is, The area that is bad only covers about a 1/2 ". But it is amazing how something so small can throw you off. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tracy G Posted August 5, 2009 Report Share Posted August 5, 2009 Kath, Learning all the time from your trials and tribulations with LD. Sent u a U2U. :( News not good. Tracy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KathG Posted August 5, 2009 Author Report Share Posted August 5, 2009 Tracy, Your U2U has not shown up. You have me worried for you now.:( Here is my email kath.garvey@ntlworld.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tracy G Posted August 5, 2009 Report Share Posted August 5, 2009 Kath Resent your U2U. Tracy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IBQLTN2 Posted August 5, 2009 Report Share Posted August 5, 2009 Oh Tracey I hope your Lenni isn't lost in transit, Dont cry Dear she will make it eventually and it will all be fine! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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