The Upholstery Forum

Is there a general rule for changing your needle after it has seen a # of service hours through vinyl?

I am pretty bad with this honestly.... I usually change when they break or when they start causing a problem.
That's not what you should do. You should change before every big job. I don't know if there is a recommended hour service life on them or not.

@BigRig @John

I found this online from Memphis Sewing Machine - makes sense.

Most manuals don’t really tell you how often to change it and it’s something that you don’t really think about doing until it breaks.
Did you know that your sewing machine’s motor will have to work twice as hard with a dull needle?

That means your machine will wear out twice as fast. A dull needle can not only ruin your motor but it can also damage your fabric, cause stitches to skip, thread to snag, bad tensions, and threads to break. So, how often do you need to change your needle?

• It is recommended that you change your needle after every 3 full bobbins used or every 2 pre-wound bobbins used.

• It is also recommended that you change the needle after each project or if using a fabric that naturally dulls the needle such as leathers or heavy fleece.

• If you are quilting, it is a good ideal to change every 8 hours of sewing or with each new project unless it is a small project.

Source: https://memphissewingmachine.com/how-of ... ng-needle/

Your awesome @torriec! Thanks!

I never considered the effect it would have on the rest of the machine and the motor. Makes complete sense.
Only thing, I think changing the needle every 3 bobbins is excessive. Haha I'd sometimes be changing needles every 10 mins rate

After each project or 8 hours of sewing. That seems like a pretty good time frame.

Thanks John,

How about when the needle bends ha ha ha. I keep telling Bondo needle down becasue that fabric can pull hard on that needle and all that work he is doing in that cab well he is gonna bend some needles unless he pays attention in class

@BigRig
I moved to the front of the classroom, I'm paying attention for sure. I promise I'm not just staring at the tools in the background.

Right on Bondo,

Kinda more than frustrating sometimes here. I for sure just want to get these seats done but holy dina they take a long time! This has been a great learning experience though.

Needles need to be changed? just when I thought I was getting a grasp on the basics.

@bryanmartin that's alright, I saved you seat up front too.

bryanmartin wrote:Needles need to be changed? just when I thought I was getting a grasp on the basics.

Bondo497 wrote:@bryanmartin that's alright, I saved you seat up front too.

you guy are hilarious! Thanks for making this forum so fun!

BigRig wrote:Thanks John,

How about when the needle bends ha ha ha. I keep telling Bondo needle down becasue that fabric can pull hard on that needle and all that work he is doing in that cab well he is gonna bend some needles unless he pays attention in class

Haha yeah you don't want to bend them either. That'll scare the heck out of you the first time you bend one enough that it misses the hole in the foot or feed dog. Its loud and scary. Ive done it a few times with the zipper feet I have ground down so I can sew wind lace and things like that.

The shop where I purchased my sewing machine explained me that it is possible to know if the needle needs to be replaced running the nail up and down, like that:


I discovered that my needle was a little deformed. It's not easy to see it with the naked eye, as it seems completely normal when I see it:


But if I take a macro picture of the needle, it is like that:



In order to compare, this is how the same needle looks when it is brand new:



The needle worked flawlessly, but when I showed it to the owner, he adviced me that it is better to replace it. I did it, just in case, as they are pretty inexpensive

@LeatherJohnny

Thank you for this Johnny!

You're welcome! This is a great forum where we newbies learn new things each day

Excellent Johnny, so what is it we are trying to feel with the fingernail, or are we seeing if it scratches the fingernail?

@Revv Up

Maybe a small burr?

Thanks for the info @LeatherJohnny. I have the same question as Revv Up.

Must be feeling for something off like a bump or loss of needle point by the looks of that used needle compared to the new one.

Yes, by moving the nail up and down, in the side that is defective, the nail feels a kind of stop when it is going down, because it hits the bent part of the needle. If we pass the nail to the other side, it moves freely up and down because there is no bendng to the outside. I hope that I have been able to explain it, as explaining these technical things in a non-native language is very hard!

I read somewhere that with a file, one can "repair" the needle and use it a little bit longer, but I'd only do that in case of emergency, given that this way we change the way the needle has been designed and manufactured.

By the way: it is almost incredible to see how these needles are manufactured, as they are extremely small, and their quality is awesome... and they are very strong, as I have used them to sew some very thick and hard leather that I would have never guessed that was possible to sew if I had not seen others doing it in YouTube videos

Totally makes sense now! Thanks for the explanation!
Yeah it is quite amazing what those needles are able to do especially when you consider how inexpensive they are.