# Embroidery Equipment



## Miro031 (Feb 8, 2010)

Hi guys, 

First, I just want to thank you all for the vast amounts of knowledge you all have. This forum has helped us several times.

I have been in printing for 16 years in various forms. We now have had our t-shirt and apparel business for about 3 years and are getting ready to move into embroidery. I have lost a lot of work cause we do not offer it yet.

I have done tons of research and homework and ready to start looking into equipment. I was just wondering what brands of embroidery equipment....especially embroidery machines does everyone use or in favor of?

The only brands I have gone to look at so far is Babylock and Husqavarna.

Thanks everyone!
Miro


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## binki (Jul 16, 2006)

tajima is top of the line. otherwise pick a brand that has a close by office. 

digitizing and embroidery are 2 different animals. both need each other but digitizing is an art and machine embroidery is mostly mechanical. you do need to figure out problems and how to solve them with the machine. 

as far as size, minimum is a 4 head and maybe more. otherwise you will sew forever and not make anything. 

good luck


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## RickyJ702 (Jul 23, 2012)

nicely said binki ^^


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## clsgraphics2100 (Nov 20, 2007)

I have a 2 head Barudan. Some of us feel it is top of the line. I'm not saying anything bad about Tajama. If you're looking for a comercial machine those are the ones to look at. If you are looking for the large orders then a 4 head is the way to go, if you are looking for the smaller orders, say 100 and down, a 4 head might be over kill. I do a lot of ones and twos and up to 24 piece. I have it close enough to my other equipment that I can have several machines running at the same time. I have the luxury of plenty of space and nobody getting in my way. I turn the music up and cruise thru the day. Life is great!


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## lizziemaxine (Nov 14, 2007)

I have a Barudan single head that is a workhorse for me. But, I do contract out larger orders.


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## philipfirth83 (Aug 17, 2012)

I have 2 ZSK Sprint single heads, Before them I was working on a 4 head ZSK. I don't think the ZSK's get much of a mention when people are asking about machines.

ZSK machines are German Engineered, and anything thing the Germans produce are really good, Just look at BMW's and MERCS 

I use my 2 single heads 5/6 days a week for around 10-14 hours and im often doing garments of 200+.


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## binki (Jul 16, 2006)

Didn't mean to insult the non-Tajima owners here  I don't own a Tajima, the price point was just too high. I purchased a 4 head SWF (we had a single head SWF) and I can tell you we could run the thing 24/7 if we had the bodies to do it. We sure have the work for it. 

With the difference in price I was able to also purchase a hoopmaster system for all of our hoop sizes, a complete set of mighty hoops, a vinyl cutter, an upgrade to our emb software, an engraver, a merrow machine and have an electrician come in and update our shop with an additional 20 outlets. 

That being said, a single head gets you into the biz. The first time you have an order for 500 hats with 2 locations you will be happy until you are on the 100th hat and thinking this will never end. We debated between getting a 6 head and ditching the single head (for space reasons) or getting a 4 head and keeping the single. Having 2 machines gives us the flexibility to run 2 jobs at once and also to avoid setting up the 4 head for smaller jobs. 

My only regret is that we only purchased 4 of each size of the mighty hoops. I should have gotten 5 to cover the single head. 

BTW, the reason we went with the SWF (besides price which was a big deal) was the larger sewing field on the 4 head.


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## SHALO (Apr 5, 2008)

I work with single head-4 head -6 head and 12 head SWF machines- they are awesome work horse. I run them on 800-850 speed.large sewing area.


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## tfalk (Apr 3, 2008)

We took a slightly different approach, we started with a PR600 6 needle. Then we added another PR600 so we could run 2 things at a time and also have a backup in case one machine went down. Then we added a single head SWF 15 needle for the larger sewing field. If you are going to run a shop, something like a 4 head or larger would definitely be an advantage. I'd still keep a single head for 1-offs and small jobs.


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## califembroider (Jul 27, 2012)

Have you heard of Happy Embroidery?


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## drdoct (Jul 26, 2011)

Babylock and Husqvarna are home type machines. You won't be happy with them for long. That's how I got started. My wife wanted a sewing machine and I figured why get a sewing machine when I can get a combo. Turns out I loved the embroidery part. We had the cheapest Brother Walmart had. Moved up to a Husqvarna which is a great machine for a home based grandma. It wasn't until I got my old Brother 416 that I was able to do a good job and handle anything. It was all I could afford and it works great. I wouldn't be too afraid of buying a good used machine as long as you see it working and can line up some decent people to work on them. I'll tell you though, embroidery is very slow and doesn't really pay compared to other decorating. And really... You were probably money ahead letting those types of jobs pass you by. It's hard to justify really running a single head. I can work for 8hrs and maybe clear $200 or work for 20min and make that with tshirts. Believe me... the 8hrs on the machine are worse.

With a 4+ head machine you can get into turning time into money. As long as everything goes right. Embroidery isn't as easy as just pushing a button and retrieving the end product. In fact, it's probably the most labor and machinery intensive of all the decorating. Digitizing for stitches needs to be hand done. There are lots of automatic programs but most will cause horrible birds nests and thread breaks. I wouldn't advise depending on those regardless of how much you spend on a program. 

Have I discouraged you enough? lol... that's not my intention at all. I just want to make sure that the other side is well heard from before you jump in the shark infested waters. Good luck.


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## lizziemaxine (Nov 14, 2007)

califembroider said:


> Have you heard of Happy Embroidery?


Yes, Happy embroidery equipment has been around for a long time.


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## extremestitch (Jul 6, 2008)

Tajima, Barudan are top shelf, with Tajima inching Barudan ever so slightly. Next I would class Happy, SWF, and Amaya in the next class below. Toyota, Brother below them.


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## philipfirth83 (Aug 17, 2012)

extremestitch said:


> Tajima, Barudan are top shelf, with Tajima inching Barudan ever so slightly. Next I would class Happy, SWF, and Amaya in the next class below. Toyota, Brother below them.


Where would you put ZSK's?


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## extremestitch (Jul 6, 2008)

philipfirth83 said:


> Where would you put ZSK's?


I have no experience with it. I only mentioned machines I have or had. 
Listening to others over the years and playing with them at trade shows I would rate them with the SWF's. 
Nothing sews as accurate at a Tajima 3 trillion stitches (5 years) later. Happy is a beast but doesn't have the accuracy the Barudan does. The SWF works but doesn't hold up as well as the Happy, The brother will sew 1000spm without caring however its cable operated pantograph is it weakness. Tajima is slightly lighter duty than the Baradan however not enough for me to ignore the beauty of how it sews. If I was ever to start over from scratch I would only but Tajimas. They all do well at a trade show. Find owners in high production shops 10 years after the purchase, and ask them how they are liking that XYZ machine. YMMV.


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## philipfirth83 (Aug 17, 2012)

I would disagree there, I have used Tajima's and I own 2 Zsk's and in my opinion the zsk's are far better machines than Tajima's.

My machines are just as accurate today as they were when they were purchased 10 years ago, and to look at them you would think they are new.


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## Daddyof4 (Aug 23, 2011)

We don't own a tajima but we own a Melco...don't buy a Melco. Biggest mistake we ever made and one we continue to pay for each month. Will sell it as soon as it's paid for.


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