DoryJM Posted August 30, 2009 Report Share Posted August 30, 2009 I'm starting a new quilt and will be using the base...do I need to raise my hopping foot? If so, anyone know offhand which page that info is on??? Thanks!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ffq-lar Posted August 30, 2009 Report Share Posted August 30, 2009 Hi Dory--you shouldn't need to do any adjusting. Remove you needle plate and washers and it should sit at the same height. ( I learned the hard way to use a big safety pin to keep the four washer together and put the needle plate, screws, and washers together in a baggie.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DoryJM Posted August 30, 2009 Author Report Share Posted August 30, 2009 Thanks, Linda...I immediately put my washers, screws and plate in a small drawer unit and labeled it. Otherwise, it would end up with the panto cord that's floating in my studio somewhere. Okay, off to quilt... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marion Posted August 30, 2009 Report Share Posted August 30, 2009 I did not know you had to remove the needle plate to use the extended base. Is that true. Maybe that is why when I tried to use the extended base it only went so far. It hit the bar where the top fabric is attached but I thought it was supposed to do that. I never had any instructions after I bought the millenium. I used the book that came with it to figure most things out. I did watch the video but I don't think there was anything on there about using the extended base. Will have to look it up and see if I was doing another thing wrong. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quilting Heidi Posted August 30, 2009 Report Share Posted August 30, 2009 I didn't have to raise mine. I'm still on the fence about which base I like better the Hartly or the rulermate. I like the one piece of the rulermate but the hartly is wider and I like that. I'll be selling the harly I think. If anybody is interested please let me know. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ffq-lar Posted August 30, 2009 Report Share Posted August 30, 2009 Hi Marion. The bottom of the Rulermate base should have a wedge-shaped recessed area which allows the thread cutter to work. Remove the needle plate and the washers. Keep the screws, washers, and needle plate together (see comments above!) Place the base so the needle hole is under the needle and attach with the screws that should have come with the base. Use the hand wheel to lower the needle to make sure it is centered and will clear the hole. If the base still hits your rollers, you may need to raise the back roller a bit--but my Rulermate required no adjustment of anything. Love it when that happens!! I love my Rulermate base. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
witha'K'quilting Posted August 30, 2009 Report Share Posted August 30, 2009 ditto Linda!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
barbm Posted August 30, 2009 Report Share Posted August 30, 2009 Marion may have the Hartley Base, which is used with the original needle plate. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
seakitten Posted August 30, 2009 Report Share Posted August 30, 2009 I did have a problem. Still do, I guess. My thread cutter will not work with the Rulermate unless I leave one of the washers on. This lifts it up, less than a millimeter I think, so I don't know that this is source of the problem. Using the QD Wool batt, which is very thick, the screw that holds the needle on hits the ruler, hard enough to break little bits off the ruler. I am sure this is not good for the machine either, so I have quit doing ruler work with wool batting until I can get this solved. Putting the screw on the other side will not help, if you use the ruler on both sides of the needle like I do. So, I'm thinking I do need to raise the hopping foot. How is this done? Why should my machine be that much different from others? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
barbm Posted August 30, 2009 Report Share Posted August 30, 2009 I believe the RulerMate is designed to be used with the washers that normally space the regular needle plate [this is wrong info - Rulermate is installed WITHOUT washers - me bad!]. That's the way mine has been mounted since the beginning. I've never had any trouble with the needle set screw hitting my ruler - the hopping foot, yes, but not the screw!. I've never used really thick wool batting - heaviest has been PolyDown - but raising the hopping foot won't change the potential for the needle screw hitting the ruler, if I'm visualizing it correctly - the needle screw won't be moved. Am I getting it straight? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nadia Wilson Posted August 30, 2009 Report Share Posted August 30, 2009 Hi all, I recently worked on a commission quilt...an odd sock quilt....where I had to raise the hopping foot to the highest position and I had my hopping foot hit the needle set screw!! The quilt was very thick. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hollyrw Posted August 30, 2009 Report Share Posted August 30, 2009 I finally put my ruler mate on last weekend. I like that it is smaller than the Hartley base. I'm not sure if I had to raise my hopping foot or not because I was messing with it to straighten it anyway. did raise my leveler bar and the quilt top bar so the new base would slide under. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
seakitten Posted August 30, 2009 Report Share Posted August 30, 2009 Yes, Barb, you are correct about my issue. I thought the directions said to remove the washers (I may have misunderstood), but it fits my Milli better with one set on. I thought it was the hopping foot hitting (I do that all too often), so I watched very carefully. There seemed to be no way to avoid the screw hitting if the ruler is in a certain position (directly vertical). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quilting Heidi Posted August 31, 2009 Report Share Posted August 31, 2009 I took all the washers off when I installed my rulermate and my thread cutter works just fine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sandra Darlington Posted August 31, 2009 Report Share Posted August 31, 2009 I don't have a thread cutter...but I also didn't have any washers to remove when I took off my small plate and put on the Ruler Mate. I just had 2 small screws. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nora123 Posted August 31, 2009 Report Share Posted August 31, 2009 Ok so I'm confused because the directions I got with my ruler said not to use the washers. So do I or don't I?. , what is that about?.I thought I had to change the height of my hopping foot but that was wrong. The hopping foot clicks on the ruler base. Nora Millennium Washougal Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ffq-lar Posted August 31, 2009 Report Share Posted August 31, 2009 Hi Nora--we have the same machine and we received the same instructions. If someone has a machine without the thread cutter, their instructions will be different. The bases are manufactured to be at the same level as the needle plate with the washers removed. The washers are used on the machines with thread cutters so the needle plate and cover for the thread cutter are at the same height. I guess go with the instructions unless an adjustment is needed for it to work on your particular model. If the hopping foot clicks after you have installed the base without the washers, then you would need to raise it a bit (the hopping foot). And if it runs into the back roller, raise that a bit as well. I guess I was lucky that mine worked straight from the box! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
srichardson Posted August 31, 2009 Report Share Posted August 31, 2009 Catherine, Silly question perhaps but were you sent the right Rulermate? There is one for machines without a thread cutter. Sue Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
seakitten Posted August 31, 2009 Report Share Posted August 31, 2009 Yes, Sue, I do have the correct Rulermate, it has a space to accommodate the thread cutter, but it did not sit just right without the washer. The cutter was impeded by the base being slightly too close to it. It also made a clicking sound, as if it were not tight enough, but now I wonder if that is the click Nora is describing. Both of these problems were resolved by adding one of the washers. I might try to take it apart & try again, tomorrow. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sewlinzi Posted August 31, 2009 Report Share Posted August 31, 2009 I took my thread cutter off. Put ruler mate on, no washers, just the needle plate screws to attach it, nice and flat - love it! (and took the original perspex cover and washers etc off so the area around the hopping foot was naked before Rulermate went on) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quilting Heidi Posted August 31, 2009 Report Share Posted August 31, 2009 Nora it sounds to me like your hopping foot needs to be raised. Did you do the business card test? If you can slide two business cards under the hopping foot when it is raised then it should be the right height. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mswings Posted September 1, 2009 Report Share Posted September 1, 2009 I just got my rulermate and LOVE it. I didn't have to do any kind of adjustment. I have the Hartley Fence also but it would wobble a bit. It is nice and wide but the rulermate is solid. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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