I picked up a carpet serger over Christmas, but I'm having trouble getting it to work well. I've not used a machine like this before so it's all new to me.
The edge finish just seems loose and untidy, and the yarn doesn't want to go over the edge of the carpet. I've tried adjusting the tension but still it doesn't seem to give a nice edge. I've used contrasting colours to help see the different threads:
The seller gave a demo of the machine before I bought it so I know it's not something major wrong, it's likely something that I'm not doing right.
I'm using 20s bonded nylon thread. I tried lighter 40s thread but got the same results.
It looks like it is all tension related. Sergers are very touchy when it comes to tension. Be sure that your top thread (yarn) is running freely. The top picture looks like your yarn tightened up causing the red(lower) thread to pull up.
Thanks for your reply @Steve Ingram I am having trouble getting the yarn to wind from the spool smoothly and when it tightens up, it messes everything up. However when I unwind a load of the yarn to get a decent run of stitches going, I'm still left with a messy and loose edge.
I'll have a play with the yarn tension, and get the spool set up so that it unwinds smoothy too.
Good morning. This class of carpet serger doesn't provide a full 'wrap around'. Depending on the carpet/ carpet thickness you can often get it to wrap around the edge slightly. I'm guessing it's threaded properly based on the stitch. Tighten the tension on your bottom thread, loosen tension on your yarn. Leave needle thread alone. (full turn at a time, then try and monitor the stitch progress ) See if that works. Hope it does and good luck.
Thanks very much for the advice, guys. The link that you provided @Lewis Moore has given me a great idea to solve the yarn feed issues. It also got me thinking about the type of yarn I'm using. @Nadeem Muaddi it's a Pegasus. Pretty old but I think they're basically an old Singer design. @Mal Maher thank you for the advice, once I've got the yarn spool mounted and feeding nicely so that it's not complicating the issue I'll have a play with it and do the adjustments you've suggested.