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I have just loaded a Brytes, now SoFine 30 weight three ply thread. I have used this thread a lot, and may have had this issue before didn't write the solution down!

I have threaded it through only two holes, up through the first, up through the third, in the guide over the tension disk. It is unravelling, untwisting, and of course eventually shreds and makes a mess.

It is on a cone on the back of the machine. Here is a not very good picture of the thread at the needle. The other picture is of the thread end after I cut it.

I am not sure how to thread this thread, and wonder also if the tension might be wrong.

Has anyone experienced this?

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Just a beginner here but I have purchased somr of the So Fine #30...I see on Superior's website they say to use a 5.0 needle and reduce the tension....I am also woundering if you have the small spools or the cones?  As it is unwinding, maybe turn the spool upside down?  or is it cross wound and maybe should be put on a horizontal spool holder?  I have the cones but have not yet tried them...will be reading the responses....Lin

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I have always like thicker thread and bought a bunch of So Fine 30wt when it was still called Brytes. I have used it before with no problem. If you like the thread to show up you will like this thread.

I re-read the APQS blog about thread and switched the thread through the 3-hole guide above the tension disk to the counterclockwise wrap through all three holes, and I took the thread sock off the spool, and either or both has fixed my problem. I think it is the thread path through the 3-hole guide, because when I started out I was threading just as suggested in the manual and never had a problem with this thread. It has only been recently that I stared trying different thread paths, mainly with Aurofil and Superior Rainbows. These both seem to benefit from a flat weave through only 2 of the holes in the. 3-hole guide.

I know superior threads recommends a larger needle but I have had the best success with the 4.0 needle. From what I have read here, the APQS machine is factory timed with a 4.0 needle and going up 2 sizes to a 5.0 might cause timing issues.

I am not sure I understand what happens to the thread between the spool and the needle in terms of twist, and how the thread patt, or the way the spool is wound, changes it.

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I am a newbie when it comes to longarming....but I remember in the manual, that it said to use the vertical spool holder for cones and spools of thread that are wound so the thread appears to be on the diagonal and if the thread looks mostly horizontal when the spool stands on end (think the old coats and clark), then it should go on a horizontal spool pin which I have added to my Lucey....to understand, someone said to put a spool of thread on the vertical spool holder and then pull like it would be feeding into the needle (pull horizontal to the vertical spool) and then bring the end of the thread back to the spool and watch how it twists or doesn't twist.....then place that same spool of thread horizontally and pull horizontally...bring the end of the thread back toward the spool and watch how the thread twists or doesn't twist.  so...if the thread spool is positioned correctly, you should get less twist....there is an explaination somewhere of why...I think it has to do with the twist that is used when the thread is made and how it is wound onto the spool.....lin

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Lin, I think you have it right about the way the thread is on the spool determining whether it should be on a horizontal or vertical holder. I have been using cones wound on the diagonal pretty much exclusively, but recently I wanted to use a YLI spool that I had from my DM quilting days. I had to rig up a horizontal spool holder, I think I got the idea on this forum-- the horizontal spool holder is on my list to buy but my makeshift one worked pretty well.

Interesting test of the thread twist, I will try that with different threads just to see what happens.

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Oh, Silly me!  I went to look up why that thread test works and discovered that the thread test I discribed is actually for determining if you have the front or back end of the spool facing the needle end when both ends of a spiral wound spool look the same.  You hold the spool horizontal...pull the thread off horizontally about two feet and bring the end back to the spool....you want the end facing the needle that produces the least amount of twist.....so...I apologize for complicating things more!  I have been telling folks for a few years now....that my brain is like a harddrive of a computer....and it is getting full....so I lose little bits of info every now and then!  Time to head off to sleep now I think!  Lin

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