why is the lower cutting blade on my babylock serger suddenly not cutting well?
Machine is 2 yrs old. I use it about an hour a week. I do sew thick hemp fleece with it quite often, so perhaps that’s the reason, but it seems to have happened all of a sudden. It cuts just fine until I round a corner, then it cuts intermittently, making the fabric look shredded and the shredded edges stick out like a sore thumb. Since I sell what I make, that is not a good thing. 
. I am sewing 3 layers of bamboo fleece and hemp fleece, which I know is hard on the machine, but I can’t figure out why it happenned so suddenly. Is there an adjustment that needs to be made, or do I need to oil the cutter (the online site says let a professional do this, but I read a post by a gal who said she oils her own cutting blade area.) Or do I just need to replace the blade?
I don’t think I’ve ever oiled a serger blade in my life, unless you count wiping down the blades with oil before long storage, to help prevent corrosion. Is this a Babylock thing?
With what you’re serging, and the intermittent nature (just after serging curves), I’d suspect a loose blade, a misaligned blade or dirty blades, or operator error. My first pass at the problem would be a good cleaning, checking if the blades wiggle, and wiping the edges with alcohol to remove any coating that has built up.
Once it’s cutting ok after that, lay a single thread across the lower cutter blade and handwalk the needle through a stitch cycle, watching that thread across the knife blade. If the thread cuts cleanly, the blades are sharp. If it scoots forward on the blade, the softer blade is probably dull enough that it needs replacing.
Sustainable Ballard Fashion Show 2008
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