A co-worker had me take a look at her Bernina recently. The problem? She was unable to disengage the needle to wind a bobbin. The Bernina 1008 requires that you turn the inner portion of the handwheel towards you in order to disengage the needle. This thing wouldn’t budge. I decided to clean out the machine and sew on it for a bit. One new shirt later, the thing still wouldn’t budge.
I emailed our local Bernina dealer at Sew Much More and he said to bring it in. The good news, the stuck handwheel wasn’t as big a deal as I thought. Apparently if you place a spool of thread under the pin that holds the needle in (see picture), you will get enough leverage to unstick the inner wheel. (hint to machine owner: Do not over tighten the inner wheel after winding bobbins).
The trick also works with machines that are older and require getting the inner wheel positioned just right. (I had to test that theory out on my new machine today).
thank you!!! i used a spool of thread as shown for assistance and my husband used 2 hands to turn the inner wheel. the only thing that seems to be wrong with the design of this machine is that wheel which tends to loosen to the point that the needle won’t go up and down when you want it to.
In which direction do you turn the wheel? The Directions say forward, which is ambiguous.
Lefty loosy….righty tighty.
Turn the wheel towards you (aka. in the forward direction).
Thank you, thank you, thank you!
Oh, wow! Thank you! I was near tears today struggling with that inner wheel. I don’t think I would have ever thought of doing this. I’m so glad you posted this.
I couldn’t get this to work as my cotton reels were slightly too big even with the pull out end removed. Before resorting to two large molegrips my husband suggested trying the device for removing jar lids. Mine is a plastic contraption with a rubber strap about 10mm wide that you put around the circular object as tight as possible and then lever it against the ribbing edge. No real leverage, worked in a second. I couldn’t believe it as I have been trying to free the handwheel for months. There was the solution in my kitchen drawer!!
Thank-you so much – Brand spanking new Bernina 1008, I could not get that inner wheel to budge until I tried the spool of thread trick.
I just tried this! Worked like a charm on my old Bernina-matic 810!!!
Thank you very much!
Jenny
Brilliant thank you so much
You saved my sanity tonight. Thank you!
Thank you! Who knew when you wrote this that a sewist would need this during a pandemic when all the sewing shops are closed.
You just saved me!!! 13 years later and this is still the best fix! Thank you so much!
Thank you!! I was in the middle of a big commission and my fly wheel got stuck, putting a spool if thread in there gave me just enough leverage! 13 years after you originally posted this it’s still helping people!
You are my hero! Now I can sew four items immediately that haven been waiting for me to face this difficulty for weeks (literally). Thank you, thank you!
I had to dig out a weird old spool to make it work, but it did! (Gutermann spools are too tall. I had some vintage spool that was the right height. So try out a few things to find the right size if you’re like me and brand-loyal to Gutermann!)
I’ve tried your solution, and my hands are not strong enough. I guess I’ll see if my Neighbor can come over and unstick the fly wheel..