Does the bobbin area in your embroidery machine look like this? Embroidery Machine Maintenance is a must and something that none of us want to deal with but in order to get the maximum efficiency from our equipment this is a must. It makes no difference if you are a sole person with a single head or a large multi-head production shop. Dealing with constant thread breaks or machine downtime is both very costly and annoying. Our customers don‚’t want to hear that you can‚’t do their job today because your machine is down. Most of the time this can be prevented with routine maintenance. It only takes a few minutes each week for each head and is easy to keep up with once you get it worked into your daily and weekly schedule.
I have found that stopping production early on a Friday afternoon to do all of my weekly maintenance pays large dividends the following week. It really helps to start the new week out on Monday morning knowing that all of my equipment is in tip-top shape and I can begin production immediately without the fear that the machine is going to break down right in the middle of a job.
The first thing that you should do every morning before you start production is to remove the needle plate and the bobbin case. Brush or blow out the Rotary Hook and Knife area. Oil the hook. This is done by placing one drop of oil, and I do mean one drop, (I use the small needle point applicator for this) on the rail of the hook just outside the bobbin case. Replace the needle plate and bobbin case and you are ready to begin.
Plan out all of your Embroidery machine maintenance and schedule your daily, weekly and monthly maintenance just like any other appointment. This is a very important habit that needs to be developed and a habit that will save you a lot of down time and frustration.
Joyce Jagger
The Embroidery Coach