Timing my Longarm

 If I had to give a recipe for how to time a longarm, I'd likely list the following:

• 1 part tools (having the right tools is key to any job)
• 2 parts determination (since you likely won't get it right on the first try)
• a dash of flexibility (you may need to be a contortionist if you try to time it while it is on the frame)
• a sprinkle of hope (I think I can, I think I can, I think I can)
• a good chunk of luck (that will determine how many times it takes you to get it right)

When I got a massive thread jam in my longarm (not sure exactly how that happened), I started with clipping out as much as I could with the access I had.  The challenge was having the needle in the down position.  I could not rotate it out of the way to open up the access hatch on top.

In a fit of desperation, and attending a study period at YouTube university, I found that I should try to drop and pull out the needle itself (which I did), then I put LOTS of oil on the case, and pull hard on the dial/fly-wheel at the back of the machine to manually get the bobbin case to turn.  IT WORKED!  But it also threw off the timing.  

I sent my machine to the local shop who did me a solid of getting it to reset and fixing the timing for me in short order.  At least, I thought that's what they did.  I soon realized the timing was still off enough to cause issues.  In the shop's defence, this could have happened on the drive home as I live 45 minutes away and there were some bumpy roads.

I was able, with the help of my best friend and her tools, to figure out how to do it myself.  If nothing else, it has given me a better understanding of how the long arm machine works and what is involved in the timing.  You could have everything aligned perfectly, but when you tighten things up, you mess it up again.  I think it took me almost a dozen tries, but now that it's done, I have so much more confidence in my machine and look forward to continuing to get to know it better.