Changing hopping foot

[ramona-quilter]

I just received my new 1/2 inch hopping foot to replace what had to be the original hopping foot on my Ultimate 1. The instructions are not working for me. I removed the needle, needle plate, hook retaining finger. The next step is to slide the hook assembly off the hook shaft. That is not happening. It will not budge. I thought maybe that the instructions were for newer machines ( I get that alot) so I loosened the hopping foot though it was pretty stuck and the inside of the hand wheel housing was a rat's nest. I brushed, cut and finally got all the thread out of there. But I cannot get the hook assembly to move. I WD40'd it and rotated hand-wheel. No-go. I removed all the screws in the hook area, dropping and almost losing 4 or 5 screws.

Any ideas how to 'force' the hook assembly off the shaft of my Ultimate 1??

[Sandra Thomas]

Hi Linda,

The first time I had to time my machine I had to call Connie for help. My hook assembly wouldn't budge. It would rotate just fine but not go back and forth. She had me put two looong handled screwdrivers on either side of the hook assembly and gently leverage the hook assembly by pushing back on the screwdrivers. I then gently polished the shaft with crocus cloth to remove the burs caused by the screws divioting into the shaft.

Good luck with your upgrade and let me know how it goes as I have yet to undertake this procedure.

[ramona-quilter]

Sandra,

I can't thank you enough. Your post gave me the courage to exert some pressure in "sliding" the bobbin assembly off the shaft. I took your advice and purchased the 320 & 400 crocus cloth to get the burrs off. Between me and my husband we spent 11 man-hours replacing this hopping foot. Almost half of it was figuring out how to re-time the machine. I went back and forth to the FAQs here. The hook kept brushing up against the scarf on the needle and I kept backing the bobbin off thinking that the hook should not touch the needle. Not so. Anyway, I got it done. And since I had to remove the tension mechanism to get into the hand wheel housing (to adjust needle position), I went ahead and installed my new tension spring. Now it will probably take me a couple of days to get the tension right again.

I told my husband that the next time we need to replace the hopping foot, I want a new machine. Sounds good to me.

Again, thank you for your response. Did you notice that 74 people read my post but you are the only one who responded? Thank goodness.

[SherryRogers]

Hi Linda

Thank goodness someone could reply! I tried, but have been unable to log in until now!

[LynnQuilts]

I looked at your post, but didn't reply because I had no clue how to do what you were trying to do. Probably a number of others who looked at your post also did not know.

[bstucker]

Sandra,

I had the same problem the first time I tried to slide the hook assembly off....those screws make little dents in the shaft and cause the assembly to sort of jam on the shaft. I changed my foot with some help from a friend and he was brave enough to use screw drivers as a wedge. I'm sure you'll find the new hopping foot worth the effort though, so nice not to have to put that plastic ring on to use rulers. Hope its smooth sailing from now on.

[John Mitchell]

I have been out of town for a few days and unable to read the chat. Changing the hopping foot does not take long once you have done a few of them. To clean up the burrs I use a strip of abrasive 220 or so first and make a loop over the shaft and run the machine while holding the abasive cloth by both ends. Finish up with 440 or so and the hook assembly will slide right on. This speeds the process up a lot.