# Brother BAS 423 MAchine Advice



## cass (Aug 29, 2015)

Hi,

I have been offered a brother bas423 3 head machine for a good price and would like a little info on it if possible.

This will be our first embroidery machine - we currently outsource embroidery.

Will this machine produce retail quality logos on sportswear? 

The same question for caps?

This machine comes without cap frames - does anyone know where i can get some in the UK?

Will i need any specific software or is it a case of simply loading my digitized logo via floppy disk?

Thanks for any help or suggestions.


----------



## 539162 (Jun 12, 2015)

While the Brother commercial machines are good the 3 head was not. I have never worked on one or seen one that ran like it should or doesn't have issues. My advise would be to find a different machine. Also Brother doesn't support the 3 head any more and parts are hard to get.


----------



## cass (Aug 29, 2015)

Thanks for the reply,

Quite surprised you have found them to be so bad as some of the other threads on here say there a machine capable of good results but i assume working in the trade you will certainly know your eggs so i appreciate the honest opinion.

Really the attractiveness of this unit is its price - its about 5 times cheaper than anything similar i have seen. I was hoping the old " You get what you pay for" wouldn't apply here but there you go. 

Anyone on here still running one of these?

Thanks


----------



## tfalk (Apr 3, 2008)

I'm not familiar with the Brother commercial machines, I'm more familiar with the smaller PR series. Like Jeff says, the biggest problem with any of these older machines, regardless of how they currently sew, will be getting parts. Like all equipment, the more you use them, the more maintenance they need and if you can't get parts, they become very expensive/heavy paper weights.


----------



## brembroidery (Aug 30, 2014)

Brother commercial machines where really good we had a single a 4 head and 6 head. when brother left the market it was tough. mother boards rotary hooks etc are harder and harder to find. Axiom american is a good place for parts and resourse so is stitch it international. while the 3 head was made and discontinued before we got in the business. prices are cheap because parts are getting harder to find so is training so make sure u get training on this its over 20 years old people have forgot alot about this model. we have since switched to Barudan and they are amazing good luck


----------



## Lees Custom (Mar 1, 2013)

I own a BAS 423A, 415 and 416. I used to work for a company that still runs a BAS 423A and 416. Although I am sure you passed up on this by now, for the benefit of others I'll give my input on these machines.

When tuned properly, they sew flat around 1,000 SPM nicely. Tuning the machines can usually be done yourself as with most machines.

Hats depending on your frame attachment vary. The machine really was meant to sew larger areas in one hooping hence the space between heads. Tajima or SWF are better for hats IMO.

Parts are not as hard to come by as people act like. Not only can you go Brother direct but they are easy to find on other embroidery machine parts sites also. EmbroidMe franchise used a ton of these machines so even parts machines can be found.

All that aside, the machines will require a bit more TLC than others to run. I do find myself adjusting thread tensions more frequently than other machines on the BAS423.


----------

