The manufacturing of this machine stopped in 2001. As the history timeline suggests, the Montgomery Ward (MW) company was formed in 1872.
They are rare to find these days. If you have one, you must be a collector of old sewing machines.
Anyway, if you are making an attempt to run the machine and sew something with your MA sewing machine, but you are not entirely sure about the threading process, then follow this guide.
Besides, we will talk more about this old machine at the end.
Threading A Montgomery Ward
When it comes to threading, it’s the same for all the sewing machines in this world. As there are two sides to threading, we want you to start with the lower threading part, and then go over the upper threading part.
Lower Threading
MW sewing machines have metal bobbins. You need to check what kind of bobbin setting does it have. There are mainly two types of bobbin settings, front-loading bobbin, and top slide-in bobbin. The front-loading style is more like a brother sewing machine front-loading set-up, and the same goes for the top slide-in bobbin. Anyhow, let’s start the bobbin loading process-
Step 1
Take the bobbin that you have with the machine. If you don’t have a bobbin, you can go to a store and by some bobbin that suits the machine. But make sure you are buying the right kind of bobbin for the machine.
Step 2
Now, put a spool of thread on the spool pin and take it to the front guides. Then, lead the thread around from the back to the front.
Step 3
When the bobbin is in your hand, the next step is to thread it. As the bobbin is metallic, you will see a lot of holes on its sides, unlike modern bobbins. Take the thread end that is hanging from the spool and take it through one of the holes of the bobbin.
Step 4
Place the bobbin on the bobbin loader by placing the side that is carrying thread at the bottom. Then, gently tug the thread at the left side and move the hand will a couple of times for initial threading.
Step 5
After the initial threading, cut the extra thread hanging out from the bobbin. Don’t cut it too little, so all the thread comes out from the bobbin. Leave by 1 inch when you are cutting the extra thread.
Step 6
Now, you can load the bobbin by turning on the machine. But, do it gradually so you can check how much the bobbin has been threaded.
Step 7
Once the bobbin is threading, snip off the bobbin thread from the actual spool of thread. And, take the bobbin down.
Step 8
Next, you need to install the bobbin. If you have figured out the setting of the bobbin, take the bobbin holder and put the bobbin inside the holder. After that, lead the thread in the grooves of the bobbin holder and keep 5-6 inches of thread outside the holder.
Step 9
Now, take the bobbin by the holder of the bobbin case and set it in the shuttle. Then, pull the thread out by leading it through the notches of the bobbin shuttle and close the throat plate.
You have just got done with the lower threading part! Yay!
Upper Threading
Step 1
Put a spool of thread on the spool pin and take the thread end through the guides from the backside to the front side.
Step 2
Pull it down to the tension wheel/knob and wrap it around from right to left. Make sure the thread is going through the take-up spring on the left side of the tension wheel.
Step 3
Next, you will see a thread guide right above the tension wheel and lead it through that upward.
Step 4
Then, take it through the hole of the thread take-up lever. The thread take-up level hangs outside the MA sewing machine.
Step 5
Now, lead the thread down again and take through the thread guide above the tension wheel.
Step 6
Next, you need to take the thread to the needle bar. The thread guides in these machines are curly. If your machine is with the casing, then you can open the case. And take the thread through the first curly thread guide on the needle bar.
Step 7
Now, take the thread end through the needle from front to back. Now, you need to hand-crank the machine couple of times to attach both upper and lower threads. And, the upper threading is also done!
More About Montgomery Sewing Machine
These machines were made by several companies. But, it was a Japanese company that started manufacturing this particular machine. The company was out of business in 1957. There are 15 different Japanese manufacturers of this machine, and they used to export it to American department stores. As people say, when the Japanese companies were building MW sewing machines, the quality was better than the Singer sewing machine of that period.
One of the backlashes about the company of these sewing machines is they used to provide confusing user manuals and thread processes. This is maybe because English was not their native language. The manuals are hard to find. There are some sites online that provide the manual of the MW machine. If you are interested in taking a look at their confusing manual, you can look them up online now.
Final Words
It has been more than 20 years since the MW sewing machine was out of business. It is hard to find information about these machines. Parts of the machine are also not readily available. People seem to possess this machine from their old neighbors, or they are finding it at their ancestral home.
If you have one, take care of it. Since they have stopped manufacturing the machine, there were no new models or clones of the machine. Suppose you are thinking about investing in these old machines; you better not invest because they don’t hold any actual value. So, all you can do to keep one in your possession.