cathyh Posted February 25, 2013 Report Share Posted February 25, 2013 I am using rulers more and more and today I hit my ruler, twice, I think with the foot, but the second time I wondered if it could have been the needle bar. My needle did not break, so it must have been the foot, and my Millie kept quilting afterwards with a great stitch and no problems. My question is what are the possible consequences of hitting a ruler with the foot? Should I check anything? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Primitive1 Posted February 25, 2013 Report Share Posted February 25, 2013 I have hit them several times and usually it just chips the ruler and does not hurt the machine if you don't break a needle. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DawnCavanaugh Posted February 25, 2013 Report Share Posted February 25, 2013 Cathy, Odds are that your ruler slipped up on top of the hopping foot and the needle bar struck it. This can happen when the ruler lays on top of a bulky seam, or when we hold the ruler too far away from the hopping foot (which lets it fish tail a bit and slip around). For optimum control, if you aren't already using this technique, try to imagine that the hopping foot is a rotary cutter. For safety when using a rotary cutter along a ruler we are taught to keep the cutter blade directly across from our hand, between the spread of our thumb and pointer finger. When the cutter blade is parallel to our pointer finger (cutting away from ourselves) we're supposed to "walk" our hand down the ruler and reposition our hand. If you use that same analogy with your foot, walking your hand down the ruler as soon as the foot approaches a parallel line with either your pointer finger or your thumb, it's time to pause the machine and walk your hand down the ruler before continuing. If you're already doing that, just ignore me. As to the damage you can cause, if the needle bar strikes the ruler with enough force, the needle bar itself will slide inside the clamp that holds it in position. The clamp should hold the needle bar tightly, but it's always possible that it could shift if the ruler strike is hard enough, or the motor is moving fast enough to slam the bar into the ruler. (You'll also probably take a chunk out of the ruler.) That will throw off your timing and the needle bar will need to be re-set. If your machine is stitching OK, then so far so good for now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lindasewsit Posted February 25, 2013 Report Share Posted February 25, 2013 And... to add to what Dawn said, it will scare you to death!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
witha'K'quilting Posted February 25, 2013 Report Share Posted February 25, 2013 absolutely scares you to pieces! i think at one time or another, we all have probably hit a ruler! i have never caused injury to my machine while hitting a ruler, as it sounds you haven't either. i have chipped rulers though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cathyh Posted February 25, 2013 Author Report Share Posted February 25, 2013 Yes, I have a couple of chips in my favorite SID ruler, and it did scare me to death!! Dawn I think what you described is exactly what happened. I was pausing to move the ruler, in SR mode, and moved the ruler out a little and at the same time, unintentionally, moved the machine head also. I try to remember to hit the right blue button to stop the movement while in SR and pausing, but sometimes my hands don't do what my brain is telling them to do..... Hopefully I did not do any damage, I was going pretty slow at the time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
carolinequilts Posted February 25, 2013 Report Share Posted February 25, 2013 Always do ruler work with a base expander was a lesson I learned early. Also, when I hit a ruler I blew a fuse. Keep a couple extra fuses around as spares in case this should happen! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zeke Posted March 1, 2013 Report Share Posted March 1, 2013 Fuses, Fuses, we need no stinkin fuses. Holy cow. I changed out my disc pressure foot for the 1/4 foot a couple of years ago. I have never blown out a fuse while ditching with a ruler. All I can say is, HOLY COW!!!!!!!!!!!! The Ultimate One has one crazy thing about it, because of the needle positioner, a 32 milliamp fuse. Try finding that in any local store around you. Impossible........ I now have two spares on hand from APQS, thanks to Mark. Always have an couple or few fuses on have no matter what. Regards, zeke............ Just like check springs, bobbin cases, thread guides and extra new unused bobbins. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cathyh Posted March 1, 2013 Author Report Share Posted March 1, 2013 Definitely ordering up some fuses! Thanks everyone for your tips and suggestions. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anniemueller Posted March 1, 2013 Report Share Posted March 1, 2013 I knocked my needle bar out of alignment once, by letting the ruler slip up and get caught between the top of the hopping foot and the bottom of the needle bar ledge. My stitches didn't look right after that, until I reset the needle bar. While you're buying things, to reset the needle bar you'll need a very long screw driver, a bright flashlight and a good magnifier. It took me half a day to collect the tools needed, and about 5 minutes to reset the needle bar. There are good instructions in the manual. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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