I never hear anything about ZSK embroidery machines

[Doug S]

We are thinking of adding embroidery instead of farming it out.  I know barudan and tajima are at the top of their game but our sales rep has talked to us about ZSK machines.  Maybe I'm blind but I've never seen a topic on them.  Does anyone here have one and if so, what are your thoughts on it. 

Would you switch to the more popular barudan or tajima?
Ease of operation?
Durability?

[abchung]

Ask them where it is made... if made in China, i recommend you to stay away from them....
New customers usually ask, "Chinese, or Japanese machines?"....
Some of our Barudans are from the tape era(90's).... they run 24 hours per day from Monday to Saturday....Sunday is for maintenance....

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[JoppaMill]

They're German, right? I have things made by Germans. They all work properly.

That is the logical extent of my ZSK knowledge. Just doing my part.

[inkman996]

They are German made and all I ever heard about them is they are solid machines, not that great with caps and support in the US is a bit hard because they closed their US HQ a while back.

[willy35]

ZSK is well known in Europe, I have seen many at different printing show, there are nice, look strong and solid.

[Biverson]

I was between a ZSK 4 head and single head and a Barudan 6 head. ZSK are tanks and have the most metal components of any machine in the industry. Made in Germany. Where they lack is their US support and techs available. They have added a couple more dealers to the US.

At the end of the day I went with the Barudan and am more than pleased. Made in Japan. The Barudan was less expensive than the ZSK. Barudans also come standard as a stretch field and have a wider sewing area. You can get that with a ZSK but are going to pay 6k more. Downside to Barudan is that you usually have to wait 4-6 weeks to get one. Once a machine hits the states it's usually already sold. I run mine 900-950 spm on flats AND hats. It just goes. Superb stitch quality. It trims so close I've only had to trim threads about 10 times total. I've broken only 5 needles in the 5 months I've had it and they were all my fault. I've also had more threads breaks in an hour with my old (brand new) SWF than I've had with my Barudan over the last 5 months. It's a great machine.

Tajimas are over priced too.


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[Nitrox73]

At this point, I wouldn't own anything but ZSK. I have a 2007 JAF0815 (an 8 head 15 needle) and we just added a new ZSK Racer 4W (4 head, 12 needle with the stretch sewing field). We can run them around the clock with zero concerns. As for support, their main distributor is based in St. Louis and also has an office on the East Coast. I could NOT be more pleased with their US staff. They have answered every question or concern we have had.

I love them because they are solid machines unlike most the Chinese units. One thing I like is that you can have the controller upgraded when new tech comes out. Our 8 head is in St. Louis now (I live less than 3 hours away so I saved some $$ taking it there instead of having a tech come here) getting the new T8.2 controller installed. This way you are not stuck with floppy drives or other outdated tech. It was cheaper to upgrade than replace. It wasn't worn out at all but after using the new controller I decided it'd be nice to have identical control units so when we train/hire new users we only to to train them on one controller.

As to the comment about being a tank, that's an understatement. If I had a complaint, it would about trying to get it in our building; the 8 head weighs something like 3000 pounds.

[Doug S]

I appreciate everyone's thoughts.  The rep was telling us something about a shorter arm giving you the ability to sew larger on caps but I couldn't relate to what she was talking about because I know nothing about embroidery period. 

[Biverson]

I appreciate everyone's thoughts.  The rep was telling us something about a shorter arm giving you the ability to sew larger on caps but I couldn't relate to what she was talking about because I know nothing about embroidery period.

This is true. The new Racers don't have what's called a picker which lets the needle hole be closer to the edge. This allows for more space when embroidering caps.

If you're 100% new to this training will be crucial. Make sure there's a tech near you or a reasonable distance. ZSK has lots of tutorial videos which are nice. You really can't go wrong with a Barudan or ZSK. It will come down to financials, best deal, and closest dealer/tech. Barudans are also likely to sell the quickest if something doesn't happen to work out.


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