New Family Needles Again

I came into a variety of substitute needles for the New Family.  None are an exact match for the original.  I thought I would give a run down on what I've tried so far.

As a disclaimer, this is all very unscientific.  Measurements were taken using my son's school ruler.  Also the ISMACS chart lists lengths as "to point".  This might be causing mis-measurements on my part as in the majority of documents I've seen lists the "point" as the entire distance from the eye to the tip of the needle.  So I could be completely wrong in using "point" measurements from ISMACS as being end to end length.

What we have, from left to right are:  1 - A broken 12x1 needle that came with the machine.  2 - A hack job 15x1.  3 - A Schmetz CANU 23:51 gifted to me by Maria on Victorian Sweatshop.  Thanks Maria.  4 - A Schmetz, possible of the CANU 26:xx series from Alex Askaraoff.  What I believe is a Groz-Beckert needle although I find not listing of a 42.5mm needle made by them, from Ebay seller TreadleLady.  Schmetz does make a 42.6mm needle, the CANU 27:50.

Neither Alex nor TreadleLady provided nomenclature on the needles I bought from them, so those two are best guesses as to what they are.

First up the 15x1 comparison.

The 15x1 is the closest in overall length and eye to top length.  ISMACS lists the 12x1 as having a length of 37.3mm and a length from top of eye to tip of 5.3mm, though I think my eye is closer to a straight 5mm to the tip.  The 15x1 is 38.2mm overall and top of eye to tip is 4.3mm or (there are two listings for 15x1 on ISMACS)  38.8mm overall and 4.1mm from top of eye to point.  The second measurement looks closer to the 15x1 I used.

As the fitting is done via Dremel, it is pretty much lining up how I decide to line it up by grinding away whatever metal needs to go.

I've done two 15x1s at this point.  Both fit dead center.  Maybe I'm lucky or maybe it's pretty easy to get a 15x1 to line up once you get the girth on the sides down.  As I mentioned previously, it only takes about 5 minutes to grind down a 15x1 so it's no great effort.

The next needle is the Schmetz CANU 23:51 from Maria.

According to ISMACS this needle is an exact match for the 12x1.  The listed specifications for the 23:51 are an overall length of 37.3mm and and top of eye to tip of 5.3mm.  It's actually listed on the same line item as the 12x1.  However the needle I have is right at 40.5mm in overall length and top of eye to point looks to be right at 5mm.  Really though if I got a stack of 23:51s it wouldn't be a big deal to lop off 3mm from the back in to make it match, if I was completely beholden to precisely 37.3mm length.

What made me sketchy about this one.  And all the modern round shanks was the alignment.

Side to side was no problem.  But front to back had me saying, "Oh crap," with each one.  All three modern round shanks brush against the back of the needle hole when sewing.

There will be more on that.  But let's continue with the measurements, since I took so many pictures.  Next up it Alex's Schmetz needle.

Again, I know it's a Schmetz, but nomenclature is 'best guess'.  From ISMACS it appears to be a CANU 26:xx (there are multiples 26s, but the measurements are all the same)  Overall length of 41.3mm and a top of eye to tip measurement of 4.7mm.  The discrepancy with my measurement comes with the second .  I see that measurement on mine as being almost 6mm.  It's possible I have guessed wrong, or maybe some of the 26:xx have different top of eye to tip lengths.

And like before, the alignment was off.

Last up is a possible Groz-Beckert unknown type.  I'm calling it a Groz-Beckert because it does have the GB on the shank.  But I have found no listing anywhere of a Groz-Beckert  with these measurements.

The overall length is right at 42.5mm.  The top of eye to tip is nearly 7mm.  The overall is close to a Schmetz 27:50 but the top of eye to tip should be 5.6mm.  I received these needles before the others, so when it came up different I was a little freaked out.

And even more so when I mounted it the first time and saw this.

With each modern round shank behaving the same way on alignment I was ready to just call it quits on the new ones and stick with hacking 15x1s forever.  In the midst of this turmoil I had a thought.  I wonder if the NF throat plate is adjustable back and forth.

It is.

I did have to push it all the way back, but once I did the front to back alignment woes went away.  The CANU 23:51 was still not dead center.  It has a smaller shank than the other two and so sits a touch further back, but it is in no danger of brushing the needle hole.

Finally I did a stitch comparison between the 15x1 and Alex's Schmetz.

Though you can't tell from the photograph, to my eye Alex's Schmetz makes a stitch that is just every so slightly better than the 15x1.  It could be the fact that the 15x1 is an older used needle and the Schmetz is new.  But for right now I'll be using the two types of Schmetz needles.

All of the needles do work.  They all make excellent stitches.  I'm a little gun shy on TreadleLady's just because the point length is so long, so those will probably sit in reserve for if I need needles and don't feel like dremeling a 15x1.