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Wheel Adjustments


mrsbishwit

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  • 3 weeks later...

I'm thinking, too, that the distance between the front & back wheels on my Mille aren't correct (like those of luv2kwilt's Mille). There's only about 11 inches between the back set & the front set. What should that distance be? (Mark suggested that she move her front wheels forward by 5 1/4", so what's the proper distance for the best control of the machine?)

And what's the easiest way to drill out for respacing these wheels, should it come to that?

Thanks for a response.

Pat

AZ:cool:

Mille (2001 model)

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Amy, Joy, Sue, and whoever else answered this question --

Thanks so much! A picture is worth a thousand words! I've adjusted my wheels several times, making them loose, then tighter -- nothing ever seemed right. Once I saw the picture, I adjusted my wheels to match. What a difference! I always felt I was fighting the machine, and had judges comments about my curves being too square. It has been frustrating, because no matter how much I PPP, it didn't seem to help. I think this is the solution! And my wrists don't get as tired when I quilt a long time. Thanks again!

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I'm not Mark. But here is your answer. The older Millies had the axle spacing at 11". when the soft mount system was added the front axle was move forward 5 1/4 inches. the current spacing is 16 1/4 inches. The 5 and 1/4 does not have to be exact but this is where I move them. For drill and tap sizes see first page on this post, Mark give the information. If you want to move them and are having problems give me a call I have done a bunch of them.

I scribe a line 5 1/4 inches forward of current holes using a caliper then measure in 1/4 inch from the side and scrive a x in that position. Use the axle to check your x. then drill and tap. Very easy, very simple.

John

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I can attest to poor results when the wheels are too loose. My circles were always square on one side because the machine head had so much play that it would sort of jump or wiggle from one side to the other when turning corners.

Now to test it, I grab the handles, and try to wiggle the machine to feel if it's snug on all fours. I can make better circles now, but I still need to do some more adjusting and practice.

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My wheels seem to be adjusting themselves... They were dragging, so I cleaned the rails, it started again half-way through a quilt. They don't get dirty that fast! So I loosened them a bit. That worked for a while. Seems I went too far and they were too loose. Got them set with the air gap and now 3/4 through the next quilt it's like dragging a bag of rocks and worse in one direction- diagonally up and to the right. Checked the wheels again and they have lost the air gap again. Has my fidgeting wrecked something? There's also a small "click" when I slide the machine side-to-side like a wheel on a grocery cart. Thought it was the pins on my zippers, but it isn't. My Freedom is just over 2 years old and I've just started quilting full time in the last 6 weeks, so it's getting lots more work than it has in the past.

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Hi Leslie

If they had the air gap and then lost it, I would guess you didn't tighten the gold bolts after you made the adjustment to the cams, so just adjust the cams again and tighten the gold bolts.

As to the small click, I wonder if you loosened the bolts that are on the wheels where the encoder boxes are. You have the encoder box and the small rubber wheel that goes inside the big wheel. The rubber wheel is on a shaft and just above the wheel is a collar and in that collar is a set screw. If the set screw is not flush with the collar it can rub on the edge of the larger wheel and cause a small clicking sound.

Best wishes

sue in australia

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I’ve done more adjusting on my wheels than should legally be allowed and nothing works. I still have bad arches from the wheels not rolling like they should.

You should never have to adjust your wheels. Period! Like stated above, there is something fundamentally wrong with the sideways wheel system and I think APQS knows this.

APQS should own up to this fact and fix the problem rather than stick there head in the sand.

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Hi Leslie

I hope you're not still trying to track down the encoder - I didn't read your signature line to see you have a machine without encoders!!! ;) I wonder if you have a bad wheel (is the clicking happening at every full rotation of the wheel - I'm sure a quick call to Mark or Amy will fix your problem - they are awesome.

Best wishes

Sue in Australia

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Hi Ammoman

I was also someone who couldn't get my machine to move in the way I wanted it to when I first got it - quite a few years ago, and thought I'd done everything exactly as the book said.

There was no way I could control my machine enough to do anything like the beautiful intricate work of Marilyn Badger and Dawn Cavanagh even though we were using the same machines. It was either me or the way I had set up my machine - I preferred to believe it was the way I had set up the machine - that was easier to fix;) - the other would take years of practice.

I think sometimes we look to the wheels as the "be all and end all" of why the machine is not moving as we want it to - we forget that the way the table was assembled and levelled is just as important - maybe more important.

Once the table is set up correctly and the wheels set up correctly I rarely need to adjust them again. I say rarely because it depends where your machine is located. If you are in a building where the foundations are not stable or the ground outside is likely to shift with changes in the weather, the floor can shift and so the machine will also not be level.

If I am checking a set-up where the table has already been constructed and the machine is on the table - this is what I would do.

Loosen off the bolts on either side of the 5 cylinders that run across the table - then tighten them up evenly ( so that about the same amount of rod is showing past the nuts at each end of each cylinder) with my fingers;

When I have tightened them all the same by hand, I then get my wrench and give them a final light turn - aiming it to be an equal turn on each one. If I tighten one more than the others this will distort the table bringing the rails on either side of the table closer together where I have tightened more. If I then adjusted the carriage wheels with the carriage sitting where the cylinders were tightest and then moved the carriage further along the table, to where the cylinders were not as tight, I would find it harder to move the machine there.

After tightening those bolts evenly you should be able to measure across the table and get a measurement of 23 3/4".

Beacuse I am doing this on a table that already has the machine head and carriage on it, I put the machine in the centre of the table and have the tension bolts as low as they will go on a 12ft table - I will adjust the height of these bolts if necessary after I have adjusted both ends of the table.

Next I level the table legs at one end of the table first across the width of the table

Then I level the table lenghtways by taking my spirit level to the opposite end of the table and having it sitting lengthways and adjust each leg.Then take the across the table measurement at this end of the table.

After I am sure that the table is as level as I can possibly make it (which should be totally level because you have the adjustment in the legs to adjust height and also the levelling feet) then I set to work on adjusting the wheels.

I have a digital level which has a spirit type display as well as a digital display and I am always amazed when I look at the spirit display and think everything is level and then check on the digital display to see how far out it actually is. They cost about $100 but are well worth having.

When everything seems level, with the machine in the centre of the table place your spirit level alongside the machine to see if the weight of the machine is causing the table to dip in the middle if it is adjust the height of the tension bolts on the back and front or just on the back of the machine. I find I don't need to do this normally but you might.

The other thing to remember after levelling the table is that if you later decide to move the table a few feet or inches across the room you must pick the table up, not drag it as dragging might distort the table.

Hope this makes sense and that I haven't left something out. The new manual that comes with Millis now has really extensive instructions on setting up the table - if you have an older manual, you might like to call APQS for the updated instructions.

I think we do our best in setting up the table but in our eagerness to get tht machine up and running we overlook some of the really important points of getting that table set up right.

Got to dash - there are a whole line of kids at my door waiting for a lift to school.

Best wishes

Sue in Australia

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Hi Sue...I really like what you are saying about the wheels. Ammoman and I have been arguing/discussing the wheels on the Milli.

He agrees that there is no problem with small curves but it's the larger curves that cause him problems...the machine wants to go in a straight line and he wants it to curve smoothly.

I think this has something to do with mechanical engineering like forces working against each other...I remember a Statics course many years ago where an object wants to move in a straight line and the only way to get the object of course it to throw another force at it.

So if you have tracks - horizontal and vertical - then you are going to have torque or dynamic issues as part of the mechanics of the machine. The only work around is learning where the machine wants to go and compensate which takes experience. Sorry for my lack of technical terms but I think I'm on the right track with the mechanical engineering argument for the wheels not wanting to move as smoothly on the larger curves.

Any support or disagreement is welcome.

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Hi Joanne

You explained that very well way above my understanding of physics;).

As to your discussion with Ammoman about being able to do small curves but not long ones, I expect myself to have similar control of my machine when quilting as I have with a pencil on paper. I can draw a pretty straight diagonal line up to about 3" in length anything more than that and I go wobbly so I only expect to be able to quilt the same length. I can draw small circles and curves more accurately than larger ones, so if I can do the same on the machine as I can with a pencil I think my machine is set up correctly, allowing for me getting used to the feel of the machine - how to stand etc.

Best wishes

Sue in Australia

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