# What embroidery machine do I buy? HELP!



## Joseff29 (Sep 8, 2015)

Hello,
I am a printing business looking to expand into embroidery.

I have no clue which machine is the best on the market for my price range.

I can spend a maximum of £9000 inc vat.

I have been looking at the brother machine but also the AMAYA machines etc.

If you could help me out it would be much appreciated 

Thanks Joseff


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## SunEmbroidery (Oct 18, 2007)

There are lots of threads on that topic in this forum so I would start by reading the most recent discussions. I would also research the availability and cost of technical support in your area. 

Do you know what type of embroidery work you'll do? Do you already have order requests?


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## Joseff29 (Sep 8, 2015)

Thank you for your response but I am based in the UK and what i've read on here is talking about America?


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## SunEmbroidery (Oct 18, 2007)

I would think you could read about the experiences people have had running Amaya, Brother and other machines. I wouldn't think the actual experiences would be too different although not necessarily perceived the same. You could do your own research about the availability of local tech support by calling manufacturer representatives in your area but I agree that it would be best to have local recommendations.


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## philipfirth83 (Aug 17, 2012)

Hi Joseff, Where abouts in the UK are you based?

I wouldn't use the brother PE-770. You will need a commercial machine rather than a home one.

Stocks in Leeds have a couple of used Brother and ZSK machines, Link Below

Used Embroidery Machines

There is also a SWF machine within your budget on Ebay.

SWF Embroidery Machine | eBay

If I was you I would find the extra and get the ZSK Sprint 5 from stocks.co.uk German made machine built to run 24/7 7days a week. I've got 4 Sprint's and they have never let me down.


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## 539162 (Jun 12, 2015)

philipfirth83 said:


> Hi Joseff, Where abouts in the UK are you based?
> 
> I wouldn't use the brother PE-770. You will need a commercial machine rather than a home one.
> 
> ...


I agree can't go wrong with a ZSK if you got the funds. The best machine on the market


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## smo (May 1, 2015)

Amaya Every time, I have a number of them and they are fantastic, streets ahead of the other machines imho.

You might struggle to get a new one for 9K though but certainly a good used will fall into budget - I might even consider selling one of mine!!


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## sportasiajan (Nov 6, 2013)

Zsk's every time for me and I can highly recommend Stocks Sewing in Leeds - really helpful. You may be able to get a used ZSK but I would agree that the Sprints are great.

Janet


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## utero (Jun 9, 2007)

When we added embroidery we first looked at the brother units which your £9k would cover but to be honest it's better to try and up your budget a little more. We've had a Tajima for a couple of years now and the only downside to it is that you wish you have more thane once machine to get more out.

Consider what the machine comes with. When we were looking the Brother packages were limited in what frames they came with, they also didn't come with a cap frame unless is was on a special offer. The Tajima wasn't much more in terms of money but is a real workhorse and comes with the cap frame and two set's of each frame so you can hoop up another garment whilst one is in production.


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## Pyroshouse (Mar 4, 2008)

9,000 is a very tight budget.

Machine is easy to come by in your budget but the biggest problem is you need
Software to go with the machine plus you need training on the software. Most 
EMB companies have there own version of software or you can get an independent.
I would suggest going into a ZSK, Brother, or Amaya dealer and see what they will
sell you with the software, and put down 7,000 on the machine finance or lease with
buyout on the rest. Reserve 2,000 for thread set, sizing, and blanks to practice with.

What you need to start is a single head machine with six colors or more, 300x500 hoop
or bigger, hooping station like hoopmaster, Cap driver, Cap hoops, and Cap Guage, 36 main color
king cones, a selection backing stabilizer, topcoat stabilizer, prewound bobbins. 
Creation software, to digitize customer logos with, basic professional design collection
display book for the designs, 10,000 designs on the computer mean nothing.

I am in midwest us, so don't know good suppliers in your area. But I bought my first machine off
of ebay got lucky and got everything listed above for 5,000 us. Had to upgrade the software
that cost me additional 1500 upgrade from wilcom. Paid a local tech 300 to tune and oil the machine
I took notes and was able to tune my own machine after that. Took another 50 hours of destroying
shirts to understand what could be done with the machine, and how to setup the software to give
a good design.

I wish you the best of luck


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## danikasdad (Jun 19, 2014)

I just received my first ZSK Sprint so far I love it. No training and ease of use and quality of sewing as good if not better than my Barudan. But thing I like most about the Sprint is the textra width from the bridge style design.


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## customemb1 (Mar 2, 2012)

You might struggle to get a new one for 9K though but certainly a good used will fall into budget - I might even consider selling one of mine!![/QUOTE]

Hello Simon, If you are considering selling a machine I would be interested as I am looking to add to our machines due to workload


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## gardenhillemb (Oct 29, 2015)

Amaya. I've owned one since 2004 and another since 2006 and both are still going strong. Added benefit is that if you expand and get more machines, you just network the new one in. You can embroider the same design on both or different on each one. They have worked really well for us.


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## danikasdad (Jun 19, 2014)

I currently own One ZSK Sprint and 7 month Old Melco and if I could afford to give away the Melco I would. No comparison at all the Melco can run at 1200 stitches but with all the thread breaks I get, the ZSK running at 1000 stitches per minute with no thread break is much more productive. I have owns Brothers back 1992 and Tajimas and Barudan's,. I would recommend ZSK, Barudan's and Tajima's but I will never recommend a Melco.


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## smo (May 1, 2015)

danikasdad said:


> I currently own One ZSK Sprint and 7 month Old Melco and if I could afford to give away the Melco I would. No comparison at all the Melco can run at 1200 stitches but with all the thread breaks I get, the ZSK running at 1000 stitches per minute with no thread break is much more productive. I have owns Brothers back 1992 and Tajimas and Barudan's,. I would recommend ZSK, Barudan's and Tajima's but I will never recommend a Melco.


Clearly down to user error then as I have 4 Melco Amaya XTS's and run them all day every day without issue and have done for years!


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## danikasdad (Jun 19, 2014)

you probably never owned anything other than a Melco and have don't know how other machine brands work.


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## 539162 (Jun 12, 2015)

While Melco may not be the best machine(it's a good machine) it does have the best support. That is a Absolute Fact! Melco's phone support, free training you get with the machine and extended warranty are better then any other machine brand out there. Melco also = Assembled in the USA! 

I have worked with Hirsch and ZSk and many other companies and I can tell you for a Absolute Fact that Melco is the most honest company I have been in contact with. They do business the right way and you would be hard pressed to ever find a Melco Customer who is unsatisfied with the support they get from Melco.

I could tell you things about ZSK, Hirsch(Tajima) and a few others that would make your head spin.


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## danikasdad (Jun 19, 2014)

Well I am in Canada and support from I think is different I called Melco in USA a few months ago and I am still waiting for a phone call back


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## smo (May 1, 2015)

danikasdad said:


> Well I am in Canada and support from I think is different I called Melco in USA a few months ago and I am still waiting for a phone call back


You're clearly not serious about sorting it out then are you, who would wait months for a call back - surely you would call again and again until its sorted....

As I said user error.


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## danikasdad (Jun 19, 2014)

not user erroe I could do two shirts no thread breaks works great then next shirt 30 thread breaks the new EMT 16 has a new rotary hook that cuts thread and is Engineering failure and I think melco is just figuring this out now. I know many users now threw this forum and others that are experiencing the same problems.


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## 539162 (Jun 12, 2015)

danikasdad said:


> Well I am in Canada and support from I think is different I called Melco in USA a few months ago and I am still waiting for a phone call back


Well I am sure your ZSk came from someone in the midwest(won't mention names) and just wait til you need it fixed is all I am saying. A old ZSK dealer is here in my state and the stories I could tell you would make you sick to your stomach. The stories my SWF customers have from the same dealer as well.

I am not saying you don't have a great machine because ZSK is the best machine and I will never dispute that. All I am saying is I like to work with people who are honest and forthcoming and so far Melco is the only company who has demonstrated that to me.


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## danikasdad (Jun 19, 2014)

Well maybe you can ask Melco to call me. But I think by next summer I will be able to sell this machine at greatly reduced price and I can't wait. I will probably loose anywhere from 3-5 thousand dollars but I can't wait


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## wilks42 (Nov 20, 2014)

danikasdad said:


> I currently own One ZSK Sprint and 7 month Old Melco and if I could afford to give away the Melco I would. No comparison at all the Melco can run at 1200 stitches but with all the thread breaks I get, the ZSK running at 1000 stitches per minute with no thread break is much more productive. I have owns Brothers back 1992 and Tajimas and Barudan's,. I would recommend ZSK, Barudan's and Tajima's but I will never recommend a Melco.



Must be user error. We have 4 xts units. Just finished 150 unstructured hats in 6 hours myself on 7k design. Only thing stopping the machine was empty bobbins and me not keeping up on hooping. They all work very well but the best is the one with over 60 mil stitch count.


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## John Wilson (Jul 28, 2007)

Don't buy a SWF lol I got one many years ago from YES, worst decision in my life, yes i use my machine daily but my god what a pile of **** with support! Considering i bought new and for a good bit of money(£12k+) for a single head machine i could've got a lot more for my money in a machine never mind support 

Stocks always gets a good rep, i'd phone them


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## EMB2714 (Sep 16, 2016)

EmbroidTek said:


> Well I am sure your ZSk came from someone in the midwest(won't mention names) and just wait til you need it fixed is all I am saying. A old ZSK dealer is here in my state and the stories I could tell you would make you sick to your stomach. The stories my SWF customers have from the same dealer as well.
> 
> I am not saying you don't have a great machine because ZSK is the best machine and I will never dispute that. All I am saying is I like to work with people who are honest and forthcoming and so far Melco is the only company who has demonstrated that to me.


I'm so confused, on some post you are referring people to ZSK and the Mattina's and on other post you are saying how bad the customer service is and the Midwest distributor is terrible to deal with. So did you change your mind or what's the real story?


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## ride22 (Aug 31, 2016)

EMB2714 said:


> I'm so confused, on some post you are referring people to ZSK and the Mattina's and on other post you are saying how bad the customer service is and the Midwest distributor is terrible to deal with. So did you change your mind or what's the real story?



Glad I'm not the only one who got lost.


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## tfalk (Apr 3, 2008)

Do we really need to add coments to a thread that has been dead for almost a year without adding anything?


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## Bruins4 (Jul 29, 2016)

tfalk said:


> Do we really need to add coments to a thread that has been dead for almost a year without adding anything?


I agree. The 2 posters are harassing someone who had deleted their account apparently since their name is now a number. Why start a argument with someone who left the forum? The EMB guy is some sort of plant put here my Stitch It.


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## Hotpuppy (Sep 21, 2016)

I would recommend that you contract out your digitizing and embroidery. Find someone to do it for you while you build up the business. Embroidery sales are relationship based for the most part and it's a tough nut to crack. You do not want a machine sitting around with no work for it. 

Contracting the design work out lets you see how it's done and then you own the files. You can buy software and master this part of the process next.

Contracting the embroidery work out lets you focus on building volume to pay for your machine when you buy it. That way you aren't "gambling" on the machine but instead of having it earn it's keep once you buy one.

As for brand you buy.... consider your local support options. You will need someone to work on it, and you will need parts. There are essentially two paths... Melco is highly digitized, and everything else is mostly mechanical. They both stitch about the same. Talk to other shops in your area and ask them what they like and why.

DO NOT buy on price or put much stock in what the sales person tells you. They are all going to puff smoke at you to make you think their machine is the best.

Embroidery is a hard, technical business with high margins once you master the basics.


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## Rodney (Nov 3, 2004)

Bruins4 said:


> I agree. The 2 posters are harassing someone who had deleted their account apparently since their name is now a number. Why start a argument with someone who left the forum? The EMB guy is some sort of plant put here my Stitch It.


Wait. Aren't you the person with the number as the userid?


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