# entry level embroidery machine?



## texasjack49 (Aug 4, 2008)

we primarily do promotional products and contract out our embroidery work. It's not working to well especially with small orders. We just don't have the budget to buy a small single head commercial machine. Is there any entry level hobby machine that would work well enough for small orders like just adding names to a polo or cap. I was hoping to find something on craigslist or e bay just to do our small orders in house but don't know what to look for. Maybe something used in the 1K to 2K range or less. Any suggestions or is this not a feisable approach.
Thanks?


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## lizd (Jun 20, 2009)

A home embroidery-only or embroidery/sewing machine would be fine for small orders and would work great for shirts and jackets and blankets, etc. but they are challenging to do caps on, as you are trying to sew a curved, rounded surface on a flat machine bed. I have a Husqvarna Viking Designer 1 (bought on ebay for under $1,000) that sews out embroidery as nicely as my Tajima (takes longer, though) and I could recommend that brand. When looking at home machines, look especially at the embroidery field size and buy the machine that has the largest field you can afford. You can do large designs with any machine, but it is time-consuming to have multiple hoopings and raises the risk for error (re-placing the hoop can be challenging). Take a look at this website for all the different things you can do with a home embroidery machine: Embroidery Library Projects - Products . Good luck! --Liz


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## Buechee (Dec 22, 2005)

Go with a brothers or baby lock 6 needle. Can find a used one for around $4k.


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## ikkuh (Apr 8, 2010)

I'm agree with Buechee.
Brothers or babylock 6 needle is perfect to start with and you don't have to change thread all the time.


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## laz0924 (Jun 25, 2009)

A home machine is just that, you have to change the thread on every color change and you get old waiting for it to finish. The advantages of a commercial machine are endless look for a used machine commercial type you will be glad you did. I started with a home machine it is a nightmare compared to my commercial Happy 15 needle. for all intense and purposes you can't do caps on a home machine.


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## tfalk (Apr 3, 2008)

Another recommendation for the Brother/Babylocke 6 needle.

Do you have a store/shop? They are small enough to put on a counter somewhere. If people see the machine and especially see it in action, you will be surprised and how many more requests you will get for it's services...


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## texasjack49 (Aug 4, 2008)

tfalk said:


> Another recommendation for the Brother/Babylocke 6 needle.
> 
> Do you have a store/shop? They are small enough to put on a counter somewhere. If people see the machine and especially see it in action, you will be surprised and how many more requests you will get for it's services...


 Thanks everyone for some great replies, gives me a good starting point. cheapest comm. machines I'm finding are in the 5K to 9K arena. Just can't do right now. We could continue to contract out caps and any large orders but do small stuff in house.
Good to know there is an option.


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## tymbo (Jul 14, 2010)

Well I am new to the forums, and have been looking at the screen printing side, i have stubbled onto the embroidery side of things. I have done my research and it seems like the embroidery has a greater start cost, but has the highest profitability. I am also looking for a good start up machine. Is there a place that has broken machines for sale on the internet? Or old machines that people don't use anymore. I checked out a few places. But i am trying to know if you guys know any other good resources. 

Any help would be nice. Thanks


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## lizziemaxine (Nov 14, 2007)

tymbo said:


> Well I am new to the forums, and have been looking at the screen printing side, i have stubbled onto the embroidery side of things. I have done my research and it seems like the embroidery has a greater start cost, but has the highest profitability. I am also looking for a good start up machine. Is there a place that has broken machines for sale on the internet? Or old machines that people don't use anymore. I checked out a few places. But i am trying to know if you guys know any other good resources.
> 
> Any help would be nice. Thanks


There are plenty of used machines for sale. You need to be careful of buying an older machine because you may not be able to get parts of it if something breaks. If it stops working and you can't get parts to repair it then all you have is a very large door stop. 
Welcome to Equip-Used.com is one place to look for a pre-owned machine.


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## Delmarksman (Oct 29, 2010)

I started with a Brother PE 750D. It was a home machine and only $750. Bought it strictly as a hobby machine, not to do commercial work. In very short order, it left me wanting more, in fact, a lot more.

I found myself in the same boat as you. 

Things I did not like about a single needle machine: (Just a few)

Changing threads at every stop, this takes a huge amount of time and effort unless you are just doing 1 color lettering, this will get old after the 2nd day.

Low stitch speeds

Screen size and monochrome or B/W only, being able to actually make out what color and which part of the design you are getting ready to sew makes a big difference in frustration, or lack thereof.

Bigger/commercial machines trim jump threads automatically, Home versions do not. Again, this is frustrating and VERY time consuming and also makes a big difference in the finished look of the design.
If you leave all the jump stitches in place, throughout the process and after, you end up with them being sewn over and not able to remove them. 
And if you leave them... ugh, what a mess/unprofessional looking design you will be handing off to your client/friend/family. You will lose more business than you will gain as everyone who sees your cr**py looking design will surely notice.
Think; Oh how nice, who did that, can you give me thier number? 
or
Eww, that isn't so nice, can't believe you would wear that out in public, hope you didn't have to pay for that.

AND, how many (fill in the blank) will you ruin before you realize that you need a comm. machine.
Replacing a clients clothing is not a cost effective way of working.


Constantly having to readjust the thread tension, especially when having to change threads all the time.

This also leads me to talk about the finished design itself, One of the first things I noticed between the home versus the commercial machine was the difference in the quality of the finished design.
Even just doing basic lettering.

I had half a million stitches in a month, just from learning the machine and doing practice stitch outs.
This was more than the machine was able to handle and it quickly had issues which made my blood pressure boil.
Not good for someone who bought the machine to have a destressing hobby.

I broke down and bought a PR 650. I hated to spend that money but I also got my business license and plan to write all the expenses off, on my taxes, at the end of the year, or even over several years.

Looking back, no way would I spend the money for a hobby/home machine, to use for anything other than the once in a while addition to a piece of personally owned clothing. Certainly not for any type of commercial venture.

Hope this helps,

Del


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## Teamwear (Mar 12, 2007)

I would contact your local embroidery repair guy. They usually either have a used machine or jnow where one is. Using him to buy is a good decision because you will know that it is something he can work on and he can show you how to use it. 

Most of these guys are arrogant and act like they know it all-be patient. You are going to need him if you buy any used machine. They all need something sooner or later.


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## oldkush (Jun 25, 2007)

Big word of caution if you are new to embroidery ..... stay away from broken machines. 

You will have neither the knowledge or experience to diagnose or repair machines like this yourself. An embroidery machine is very complex. Parts for embroidery machines don't come cheap and it can be very expensive to bring in a tech to do the repairs for you.

Before dropping any money on a machine, do your homework. There are machines to avoid [especially if you are a newcomer to embroidery] ......

- the Renaissance [Chinese manufactured and no longer available. Parts/support are minimal at best and in most instances, non existent]
- Feiya [Chinese made and Feiya America has closed its doors. Parts/support can be a problem]
- Chinese made machines are relatively new to North America and in most cases have as many unhappy owners as happy ones. Quality of the machine, dealer support and parts availability have been troublesome. Machines like the Meistergram [new series], Prodigi, Generations, Ricoma, Phoenix, VitalLink, RichPeace and ??? are all made in China. Most of the Chinese manufactured machines copy Tajima technology. 

Stick to machine brands which have been around for some time and proven themselves [Tajima, Toyota, ZSK, SWF, Brother, Happy, Melco and Barudan].

Embroidery has a very steep learning curve and it will take a newcomer considerable time to become proficient with all aspects of the business. Embroidery is NOT a pop in design, hit a button and customers will be beating down your door kind of business. Its the kind of business that once you are at it for a couple of years, you start to get better.

Digitizing [creating embroidery designs] takes many years to master. It takes considerable knowledge, skill and talent to become a great digitizer. Truth is, most do not master the art. Do not believe that the software does all the work for you.

If you are interested in getting into embroidery ask questions, questions, questions and do research, research, research.

I do not mean to discourage you or anyone else who would like to get into embroidery but too many newcomers jump into the business ill prepared for what lies ahead and within a year or two, they are ready to quit.

For used machines, check out sites like

http://embroideryyellowpages.com/

http://www.superpunch.com/machines/buy/used-machines/

http://imachinegroup.com/embroidery_used.php



good luck

BobK






tymbo said:


> Well I am new to the forums, and have been looking at the screen printing side, i have stubbled onto the embroidery side of things. I have done my research and it seems like the embroidery has a greater start cost, but has the highest profitability. I am also looking for a good start up machine. Is there a place that has broken machines for sale on the internet? Or old machines that people don't use anymore. I checked out a few places. But i am trying to know if you guys know any other good resources.
> 
> Any help would be nice. Thanks


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## tymbo (Jul 14, 2010)

My dad works on these machines, and he said that I if I could find an old one that no one wants, we can fix it and get it running. He said as long as the main board works we can fix anything else on the machine. So if you guys have old machines or ones that are broken and you have already replaced it and don't use it anymore PM me and we can talk about what you have. Also if you k ow anyone else that has a machine they don't use because it's broken let me know. That's any help will be greatly appreciated. 

And thanks for the site links this is the first i heard of them . . .


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## stitch187 (Nov 15, 2010)

Domestic or home machines are not meant to withstand the large stitching (or miles). The quality is also not the same. Using a home or hobbyist machine is a great way to get started, but in the long run will not be sufficient for a business. A commercial machine does take more skill, technical ability, and money to run and maintain, but the quality is huge. Remember that the machine is merely a tool to the embroiderer. It will be only as good as the technician is skilled. Choose your tools and materials carefully to attain the product you want. When you decide on the machine that fits your needs, learn it well and practice, practice, practice.


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## skaplan1 (Dec 20, 2010)

We have childrens business that we use the heat press machine to print on bibs, onsies, burp pads rec blankets . I know that a hobby embro machine would be difficult to do onsies on but anything flat would be much easier. We can not spend a lot of money right now so can you let me know which hobby machine would work well for us.


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## laz0924 (Jun 25, 2009)

I had a Brother PE770 that worked real well, but was too time consuming for commercial work so I had to get a commercial machine. I paid like 735.00 for it. Now I see it for 699.00 it does embroidery only and has a usb port. There are some other Brother embroidery only machines for about 3-400.00 but only have a 4x4 sewing field the 770 has a 5x7 sewing field. I sold mine on Ebay for 650.00. And I bought a Happy 15 needle machine a world of difference.
Hope this helps


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## lizd (Jun 20, 2009)

stitch187 said:


> The quality is also not the same..


 
That isn't true. I have a Husqvarna Viking Designer 1 and a Tajima single head, and the Viking embroidery is just as nice as on the Tajima. It is slower, way slower, but the quality is just as good.

For doing a few items a day, or a small run once or twice a week, a home machine would be adequate, as long as you get a good one (I'd stay away from the really low-end ones). Many home embroiderers use their machines as much or more than that. 

I can recommend a Designer 1, as mine is outstanding and produces good sewouts, and I can say that I have had trouble with a Janome brand machine. Other than that, I would recommend you go with what you can afford; if it works out for you and you want to upgrade, then you'll know more what features are important to you.

Also, don't rule out doing onesies--lots of home embroiderers do _baby socks_! 

Good luck to you. 

Liz


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## laz0924 (Jun 25, 2009)

I didn't say the results weren't good, the embroidery looked very good on the home machine. But they are still 2 different animals, If you are only going to do a few items a week then it might workout, but for all intense and purposes you need a commercial machine if you want to make a living doing commercial embroidery...


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## Mtnview (Nov 5, 2009)

Buechee said:


> Go with a brothers or baby lock 6 needle. Can find a used one for around $4k.



Speaking of Brother...I was going to post this as a separate thread but maybe some of you can tell me (if this is still for sale) would this be a good price to pay. It is about an hour away from me so I don't really have to have it delivered. I am sure I would have to hire someone to train us on it. It is a PR-650.


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## laz0924 (Jun 25, 2009)

That looks like a good price for that machine they sell on Ebay for between 5-6,000. As far as training those machines are very user friendly, I think they have built in videos.


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## Mtnview (Nov 5, 2009)

laz0924 said:


> That looks like a good price for that machine they sell on Ebay for between 5-6,000. As far as training those machines are very user friendly, I think they have built in videos.


Too good to be true. After posting the previous question I googled the model and have seen a number of these (same exact photo) with different email addresses all over. Oh well, back to the drawing board.


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