The know on the side of the machine that rotates the needle when turned by hand is tight, hard to turn. What do I need to do to fix it or adjust it so that it turns without having to force it to turn?

It shouldn't be too tight. Clean out and remove the bobbin/bobbin case. Now, try to turn it. Does it turn any better? If it does turn easily without the bobbin case and bobbin installed you know the bobbin case was out of adjustment.
To adjust the bobbin case reinstall the bobbin case. Slightly move the hand wheel back and forth. There should only be slight movement of the bobbin case. The bobbin case is held in place by a small piece of metal next to the bobbin case.on the lower right corner. Just make the adjustment to prevent the case from movement.
The hand wheel can also be prevented from movement due to the interior parts of the machine being filled with dried greese. If you're feel safe about this you can remove the front, back, etc and inspect for buildup. Clean it up with carburetor cleaner and a qtip. Try not to douse the plastic gears with this. Clean it thoroughtly. Put sewing machine oil on all steel against steel movement. Any plastic movement should be done with a non petrolium product like silican spray. You can move the hand wheel a great deal to observe any parts that may have movement probmems.

indicates that the top tension is not tight enough
you can check the needle to hook timing yourself
by hand turn the machine over until the needle is in the fully down position
just as the needle starts to rise the hook should be at or just next the eye of the needle so that a fraction more turning places the hook over the eye of the needle
it that is not the relationship of the needle and hook adjust the needle cam on the shaft at the end of the machine or take it to a sewing machine repair shop to have it adjusted

If it's a mechanical machine, most likely it needs a good cleaning and oiling.

Wheel on right side that controls the needle up and down is very tight...

Will not zigzag or decorative stitches New to these newer plastic style...

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Make sure to clean/remove all the lint, thread, dust, etc. that may have built up in the bobbin area, around the feed dogs, and under the needle plate. Sometimes gunk build-up will prevent the hand wheel from turning. Remove the bobbin & bobbin case from the machine and the needle and see if the hand wheel will turn. If not, then it may be time for service.

My hand wheel is hard to move and will not make complete turn unless...

https://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20100518074139AAeeykz

Help My Needle Hand Wheel are Stuck Sewing Machine Jammed

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Test: Put needle on straight stitch. Put needle all the way to the left and turn the hand wheel forward.
Now move the needle to the right and do this again.
Did the hand wheel move all the way for one of the two sides the needle was placed?
If your answer is yes then you need to get the machine timed.
Also, make sure that your brake used for winding the bobbins is tight. If it is tight then loosen the small screw (usually on front of hand wheel). Move the brake forward a little more to tighten and then tighten the small screw again. Look at my picture.

needle too small or machine out of time. to time machine theres a mark on needle bar. lower needle bar till mark shows and raise bar till even with bar guide. take off feeder plate so u can see needle in relation to hook. when mark on needel bar is even with bar guide the hook should be 1/16 fron passing the needle. if not loosen 3 screws and trial and error it to get it right. use a small screwdriver and tighten just on screw when u hab aglined the hook to needle. do a full rotation and watch where needle is and needle bar mark. needel should be as clost to hook without touching.

the machine needs to be taken to a sewing machine shop & be
checked to see if it has jumped time,, a sewing machine shop
technican has the tools to retime the machine & the foot needs
to be filed to get rid of the burr on it.

Make sure your needle is inserted into the machine's needle bar all the way. If the needle is not all the way up in its holder the eye of the needle will be out of "sync" with the thread hook that grabs the thread from the needle. The needle also had a flat side to it, you want to make sure the flat side faces the rear of the machine. If it turned in your fingers and is facing the front of the machine, it will not stitch correctly. Also double check your threading of the top of the machine with the instruction book. You want to make sure the "take up lever" has the thread in it. The take up lever is the piece that moves up and down very fast as the machine sews, if you turn the handwheel (always towards you!), you will see the lever appear when it is at the top of its stroke. It shows up when the needle is also near the top of its stroke. That lever is what completes the knot in the tread by pulling the thread from the bobbin area up to the bottom of the fabric, so if it is not threaded properly the machine will jam or not stitch properly. Lastly check the bobbin. After you "pick up" the bobbin thread by turning the handwheel a full rotation and the take up lever it at the top of its stroke, gently pull on the bobbin thread that is coming up through the needle plate to see the bobbin rotate. The tension value here is slight not tight. On a scale from 1 to 10, 10 being tight and 1 being loose, the bobbin thread when pulled on should feel like a 3 or so, slight not tight. If you're sure all that is proper and it still skips it is probably out of adjustment and you'll need a technician. I hope this helped.

In case of adjusting sewing machine timing, there are twomain parts that you should follow.To adjust the hook needle timing on the rotary hook, first,remove the bobbin, bobbin carrier, and covers so you can see the movement ofthe hook. This may involve removing the needle plate for top loadingassemblies, or removing the hook cap from the front of the machine. Itoften requires the removal of the lower covers to reach the componentparts. Adjust as needed when doing sewing machine repair.Set the machine to a straight stitch at the defaultposition. Different models have different default positions including themost common far left and center positions. If no problems are perceivedin needle bar positioning, the default position will suffice. If thereare needle bar position issues, these need to be adjusted prior to adjustingthe timing. Follow proper sewing machine repair procedures.Rotate the hand wheel toward youuntil you see the needle reach its lowest position and begin its rise. Now lookfor the point of the hook as you continue rotating the hand wheel. Thepoint of the hook should strike inside the needle scarf above the needleby about 0.5mm. Sewing machine repair is vital for smooth operations.Check to see if the hook fails topick up the thread. Double check the needle bar positioning including thehook needle spacing. If these are appropriate and the point of the needlestill fails to pick up the loop thread, proceed to adjust the timing of thehook. Maintain regular sewing machine repair. Look for the lower drivemechanism. It may be a lower shaft with gears on either end. If this isthe case, look to the right end of the shaft for a gear with adjusting setscrews. Loosen and manually adjust the position of the hook. Tightly hold thehand wheel while turning the drive shaft to set the proper position. Retighten adjusting screws. Some models have timing beltsthat control the timing of the sewing machine. Look for a belt connectedon each with to drive gears. Look for work cogs on the belt. Inmost cases, you can reset the timing belt, without replacing it. If,however, the belt requires replacement you will need to do so. Loosen the drive mechanism on the right side to free the movement of the belt.Manually adjust the position of the hook to the needle and re-tighten set screws. This knowledge is vital for effective sewing machine repair.Once the timing has been reset,conduct thorough test sewing on the sewing machine to make sure everything isworking properly.Hope this will help you. Good Luck.

your needle bar has been pushed up and is out of adjustment. You need to take off the side cover, there should be a screw on the back of your machine holding it on. Remove this screw, and remove the cover.You may have to remove the light assembly to reach the screw on the needle bar. Once you can see the needle bar, rotate the handwheel until you can see the screw on the needle bar. Loosen this screw SLIGHTLY until you can turn the needle bar. Hold and rotate the needle bar back and forth as you push down slightly. This will lower the bar.Lower it about 1/4 inch. Adjust the needles by turning the bar so that they are straight across. Tighten the needle bar screw so that the bar doesn't move. Turn the handwheel to see if the threads will be picked up. If not, adjust until they are. Tighten the needle bar screw tightly,reinstall the side cover ,and tighten the screw. Change your needles.Rethead and sew.
sewman7