Embroidery Suggestions

[screenxpress]

I posted a while back that my son was going to buy a business with a single head Happy Embroidery machine, probably on one of the other boards.

Several said no, don't do it.  And I passed that on to my son.  But since the wife "KNEW' the seller from kids groups, they pushed forward on the deal, which was actually the entire business - machine, website, inventory, etc, etc. 

Well, guess what?  The Happy machine isn't "happy" any longer.  There are 2 bad circuit boards and will run a couple thousand to fix.  And then wait for the next thing to break.  They've had the "Happy" for almost 2 years now, but it's been broke for about 4 months.

So, now they're thinking of trading it in (repair company will do that, but don't know what brands they handle) for a new one and make payments.

So, that's the story. 

Now for the suggestion need.  What brand/model would make a good starter machine (upgrade from a "Happy") that would be 1, 2, or 4 heads?  How many needles?

TIA

[Denis Kolar]

At least 9 needles, and my suggestions for the brands would be (IN ORDER): 1. Tajima, 2. Barudan, 3. SWF

[ftembroidery]

While I agree with the above manufacturers and their ranking, I can't help but want 15 needles.....much like a screen printing press.....more colors (heads) is better because you can have several different designs/jobs set up on the same machine.

[mooseman]

Wayne, here are my 2 cents..........................
couple of things on the embroidery
buy 15 needles, 6 needles will work if you are a hobbist sewing for your kids and the church....9 needles are better but there is something called a sewing field, in short this is how large of a hoop you can use on the machine.Example on a 9 needle what passes for a jacket back is a 12 x 14 inch hoop (generally) which is pretty weak and flimsy.
On a full size 15 needle machine you get a much bigger sewing field and room on the machine to support jackets on the machine table. Our 15 needle machines have a 16 x 16 inside hoop size which we use all of when doing jacket backs for fire depts etc...

On the bad boards...there is a guy in New Jersey Mike Massis who specalizes in REPAIRING bad embroidery machine circuit boards. He comes pretty highly recommended from folks in the industry. talk to him first before you chuck the machine find him here  http://www.masis.com/

lastly on the brands we own SWF they are OK but not the best.
For my 2 cents Baurdan is hands down the best based on quality and such, next comes Tajima, Brother machines are pretty good as are SWF I just don't like mine very much, If you want to spend a ton of money for a very nice SMALL machine then Toyota is sweet little package, very  quiet  but small and very expensive.

Stay away from Amaya don't fall for the BS amout the ganging several machines together, stay away from SWF DUAL FUNCTION machines and RUN I meam RUN like hell from Inbro,  Prodigy,  & Renaissance and any other piece of junk made in China. The China machines have been a TOTAL disaster in the embroidery market but folks keep buying because the price is sooooomuch lower.

Here is another reference for you to use http://www.embroideryyellowpages.com/usedmach.htm

Bottom line in embroidery you get what you pay for
good luck and teach your son to screen print.
mooseman

[GraphicDisorder]

At least 9 needles, and my suggestions for the brands would be (IN ORDER): 1. Tajima, 2. Barudan, 3. SWF

I would agree with that.  I have  2 SWF machines, I know it could be a bit better.  But the cost on a Barudan and Tajima are heavy in comparison.  I would put Happy, then probably Brother (only the industrial machines, not that stupid desktop crap), and so on from there.

[Denis Kolar]

See, you can always learn something. I did not know about the sewing fiels difference between 9 and 15 needles.

And I definitely agree that you get what you pay for.
Also, Toyota is basically Tajima machine with different look (a bit more plastic on it).

[mk162]

I have an SWF dual function.  We've had some issues with it, but we have a really good local tech, so we are usually back up quickly.

Just wondering why nobody ever puts Brother on the list.  I've never sewn with one, but they are an extremely well run company.

[GraphicDisorder]

I have an SWF dual function.  We've had some issues with it, but we have a really good local tech, so we are usually back up quickly.

Just wondering why nobody ever puts Brother on the list.  I've never sewn with one, but they are an extremely well run company.

Many of my competitors have Brother, so I see the results often.  Just not as nice of a finished product.  Just my opinion of them.  Brother is a well run company, but in my opinion they have a bunch of products they build 80-90% good, but since they have many products they don't have many things that id call complete. 

[mk162]

OK, I was just wondering.  Do you think though that some of that is the operators?  I am not saying this in a bad way, but your stuff rocks off the SWF.  It's better than ours, but we are improving all the time.

[GraphicDisorder]

OK, I was just wondering.  Do you think though that some of that is the operators?  I am not saying this in a bad way, but your stuff rocks off the SWF.  It's better than ours, but we are improving all the time.

Well I suppose some of it could be that.  Shelly really prides herself in a really nice finished sew out.  But I know some of these people with Brothers have been doing this way longer than us.  So either the machine sucks, or they do.  Hard saying LOL.

[mk162]

Some people get complacent with their work...I hate that.

[Frog]

I remember a fellow screen printer who years ago tried to talk me into getting an embroidery machine and hiring "some high school kid to run it because it was just about automatic."

I had him screen print for me for a while while I was re-building after my fire, and I realized just how little he cared about quality printing, which was obviously the case with his embroidery as well.
Needless to say, I found a new printer to help me out, who also is the one who turned me on to my first forums.

[GraphicDisorder]

I remember a fellow screen printer who years ago tried to talk me into getting an embroidery machine and hiring "some high school kid to run it because it was just about automatic."

I had him screen print for me for a while while I was re-building after my fire, and I realized just how little he cared about quality printing, which was obviously the case with his embroidery as well.
Needless to say, I found a new printer to help me out, who also is the one who turned me on to my first forums.

I may be alone but I find screen printing to be CAKE compared to quality embroidery.  That's been my opinion for a long time now.

[mooseman]

I remember a fellow screen printer who years ago tried to talk me into getting an embroidery machine and hiring "some high school kid to run it because it was just about automatic."

I had him screen print for me for a while while I was re-building after my fire, and I realized just how little he cared about quality printing, which was obviously the case with his embroidery as well.
Needless to say, I found a new printer to help me out, who also is the one who turned me on to my first forums.

I may be alone but I find screen printing to be CAKE compared to quality embroidery.  That's been my opinion for a long time now.

I am with you on that one
mooseman

[cyw]

This thread is so old, I'm not going to bother to give my 2 stitches......call me tomorrow, Houston, if you need anymore input

One thing I do want to comment on, though, is Mister Mike from Massis
The man is a genius
Total genius

If it can be fixed, I'm 1000% sure he can fix it....actually even if it can't be fixed, he still might be able to do it
He's that good


Diane