Madeira USA, Laconia, N.H., now offers a digital tension gauge to help embroiderers check thread tensions, which the company says is the “most overlooked first step to setting up a new embroidery project.”
The gauge measures force in millinewtons (mN) or gram force units (gf) — each is a scientific measurement of force, popular in different parts of the world, according to the company. The gauge measures both bobbin and top-thread tension, offers a low-battery warning and will go into “sleep” mode if left alone for 50 seconds. If left alone for five minutes, it will turn itself off.
It operates by simply wrapping thread around a system of pulleys, which read the tension produced when pulled against the top thread that is in the embroidery machine, or when a bobbin case is dropped into the unit, pulling the bobbin thread through the system of pulleys.
“When I first learned how to embroider, it was a very easy step to overlook – checking upper and lower thread tensions,” says Nancy Mini, senior marketing coordinator and resident embroiderer for Madeira USA. “But if a design wasn’t turning out right, or the machine wasn’t performing well, those two simple tests often revealed that the issue was as simple as a few twists of a tension knob to increase or decrease thread tension. In speaking with embroidery pros, I learned how critical thread tension is to machine performance, and ultimately to the success of a design.”
The digital tension gauge is available for $129 and comes in two models for L- and M-style bobbins. — J.L.
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