{"id":1555,"date":"2017-08-27T22:50:31","date_gmt":"2017-08-27T22:50:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.qdigitizing.com\/blog\/?p=1555"},"modified":"2017-08-27T22:55:23","modified_gmt":"2017-08-27T22:55:23","slug":"lets-get-back-to-basics-embroidery-tension","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.qdigitizing.com\/blog\/lets-get-back-to-basics-embroidery-tension\/","title":{"rendered":"Let’s get back to Basics – Embroidery Tension"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\u00a0Greetings from the Great Southwest\u2026I hope my message finds all of you well as we prepare to enter the busy holiday season. \u00a0Here at Qdigitizing things will be busy from now through the second week in December when things will start to slow down. \u00a0During this period if you have any special requests please do not hesitate to let us know what you might need. \u00a0All of us at Qdigitizing will always do our best to help you shine with your customers.<\/p>\n

For this months\u2019 blog I would like to start a series that I am going to title, \u201cLet\u2019s Get Back to Basics.\u201d\u00a0 Over the next few newsletters I will review some basic concepts in embroidery\u00a0 that are vital to quality embroidery.\u00a0 Over the past few years new and fancy techniques have become \u201call the rage\u201d inside our world.\u00a0 These techniques (like Puff Embroidery) are fantastic but if basic embroidery techniques are not adhered to it will not be possible to achieve satisfactory results on basic patterns let alone advanced techniques.<\/p>\n

For this installment I am going to tackle basic tensioning for your lock stitch embroidery machine.\u00a0 \u00a0This discussion assumes your machine is in good repair, you have properly prepared your materials and you have decent digitizing.\u00a0 With those three things in place\u00a0as an embroidery machine operator\u00a0the single most important thing you can do to ensure quality embroidery is to make sure top and bottom thread tension is properly adjusted on your machine.It is easy to tell when tensions is bad; typically you will see one of two things; 1. Top thread tension too loose will cause the top thread will loop and\/or appear to be very loose or 2. The bottom (bobbin) thread will pull up from the back and leave what appear to be white flecks showing on the edges of your stitching.<\/p>\n

Bad tension on Column and Walk Stitches
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Bad Tension on Fill Stitches
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\nIf thread tension is completely out of whack you might experience the ultimate tension fail, the dreaded \u201cBird Nest.\u201d\u00a0 Bird nesting is caused when the bobbin tension is so loose the machine will not form stitches.\u00a0 When this happens the top thread will gather in a big ball under the throat plate.\u00a0 The machine will try and suck your garment through the throat and will almost certainly tear a giant hole in your product.<\/p>\n

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Once tensions problems are identified they are relatively easy to correct.\u00a0 My advice is you should always make sure your bobbin tension is correct before you try and adjust top tensions.\u00a0 To do this there are several tools and techniques you can employ.<\/p>\n

The piece of hardware shown here was my personal favorite.\u00a0 To use this tool (available through any decent thread supply company) you simply thread the bobbin through the gauge and gently, with consistent force, \u00a0pull bobbin thread through the gauge.\u00a0 I have found that a tension of about 25 to 30 is perfect.\u00a0 This tool is fantastic for achieving consistent tension across multiple heads in an embroidery facility.<\/p>\n

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\nIf you are a single head shop and you don\u2019t want to invest in the tension gauge you can always perform the, \u201cdrop test.\u201d\u00a0 To do this hold your bobbin by the thread after you have removed the bobbin thread from the pig tail assembly.\u00a0 Pull out an inch or so of bobbin thread, suspend the case by the thread and give a gentle tug like playing with a yo-yo.\u00a0 The bobbin case should drop about 1.5\u2033 to 2\u2033\u00a0 If it does not move at all your bobbin thread is too tight, if it drops further your tension is too loose.<\/p>\n

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Once you know if your bobbin tension is too tight or too loose you adjust by using the small screw on the side of the bobbin case.\u00a0 One thing to be aware of, many times a ball of lint will gather under the bobbin case spring.\u00a0 This ball can be very small but it will cause dramatic tension problems.\u00a0 To clean this out NEVER use a sharp object.\u00a0 Rather, take a business card and slide it between the spring and the side of the case.\u00a0 If there is a glob of material this will clean it out.\u00a0 Then you can adjust your tension.<\/p>\n

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Once you have adjusted your bobbin tension you can perform a test to check your top tension.\u00a0\u00a0 Create a program that does nothing but embroiders a set of column stitches.\u00a0 Sew this test file, take it off your machine, flip it over an look at the back.\u00a0 Use the image below as a guide for how to dial in your tension(ers).<\/p>\n

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Unless your machine has some method for adjusting top tension (like the Melco Amaya machine) there will be tensioners.\u00a0 Turning the tension clockwise will tighten the top thread tension will turning counter clockwise wise will loosen the top tension.<\/p>\n

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Some machines will have two rows or sets of tensioners.\u00a0\"\"<\/a>\u00a0In these cases you can consider the top row as a \u201crough tune\u201d and the bottom set the fine tune.\u00a0 When you have this type of set up the very most top tensions should be \u201cset\u201d then forget.\u00a0 If you try and use the top tensioners to dial in small changes you will be chasing a unicorn.\u00a0 The top tension should be just barely firm enough to let the thread pass without any \u201chitches.\u201d\u00a0 If you tighten this even a little too much you can cause serious tension problems.\u00a0 Since this is one of those areas where you might \u201cset it and forget it\u201d you need to be careful to make sure lint does not build up between tension discs.\u00a0 If a ball of lint gathers between the discs it must be cleaned out or you will not be able to get proper tension in this area.<\/p>\n

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Thread tension can be frustrating.\u00a0 The smallest change to tension can have dramatic results to quality.\u00a0 \u00a0For example, if you are embroidering on white thread, everything looks great.\u00a0 You change the cone out to black and next thing you know you are pulling up bobbin thread.\u00a0 The fact of the very matter is, black thread is thicker than white thread and a change between the two \u201cmay\u201d require a slight adjustment to your top tension.\u00a0 Small changes like this will usually not require a bobbin thread adjustment.\u00a0 the point is to understand what has caused the change and then apply the appropriate fix.<\/p>\n

Next month I will discuss embroidery backings and how to properly prepare your apparel for embroidery.\u00a0 Between now and then if you would like to reach out to me about any topic relating to commercial embroidery and\/or embroidery digitizing please do not hesitate to send me a message here or email me at\u00a0steve.freeman@qdigitzing.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Blog with you soon,<\/p>\n

Steve Freeman
\nManaging Partner
\nQdigitizing.com
\nsteve.freeman@qdigitizing.com
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\u00a0Greetings from the Great Southwest\u2026I hope my message finds all of you well as we prepare to enter the busy<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1555","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.qdigitizing.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1555","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.qdigitizing.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.qdigitizing.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.qdigitizing.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.qdigitizing.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1555"}],"version-history":[{"count":12,"href":"https:\/\/www.qdigitizing.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1555\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1567,"href":"https:\/\/www.qdigitizing.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1555\/revisions\/1567"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.qdigitizing.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1555"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.qdigitizing.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1555"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.qdigitizing.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1555"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}