One of the most beautiful and least used tools on a sailboat should be a sewing machine. Most cruising or weekend sailing ships are covered with a Sunbrella cloth or something similar. From the roof of the sail to bimini or seat covers, there is cloth everywhere, and most of it sits in the sun day after day. The fabric itself holds up very well, considering, but I found that the stitching that holds everything together seems to want to be first.
A few years ago, we purchased a Sailrite Ultrafeed LSZ-1 sewing machine. While the machine is fairly easy to use, if you are like me and do not use it every day (or a month), cutting a needle can be a difficult process to remember.
After unpacking and installing the machine on a flat surface, the first step is to assemble the stand for the thread. The thread is removed from the top of the cone to the area of the hook at the top of the stand for the thread. From the stand bracket, the thread goes to the top of the machine. There is a reel tensioner on the upper front edge of the machine. It can be identified by a unique pigtail protrusion. The thread is brought from the back side to the front wrapper from right to left, so that it ends through the center of the pigtail.
The next step will be a loop of flow through the holes for the ears. They are located on the front of the LSZ-1 below and slightly to the left of the pigtail. In the hand of three holes. The thread passes from top to bottom through the right hole. Then it comes back and leads from top to bottom through the left hole.
The upper tension is the handle on the front of the machine under the holes for the ears and above the needle. The thread falls down by the handle on the right side and is wrapped under and propped up on the left side. Behind the handle there is a small tenderloin on which the thread rises, and then comes back to catch the wire hook.
From the wire hook, the thread goes back up to the lift lever in the left upper part of the machine. The thread passes through the gripping lever from right to left and is thought through through the front groove to the needle assembly.
On the assembly that holds the needle, there is a small hook. The thread is transferred behind the hook and down the left side of the needle to the eye. Up to this point, the thread has always gone from right to left. The thread passes through the eye of the needle from left to right. This part almost never happens on the first attempt and is more likely to succeed on land than on a rocking chair, but with patience you will get there. Pull out about 6 inches of thread, and you are ready to start the project.
