# Embroidery start up question



## John Wilson (Jul 28, 2007)

OK I'm really thinking wisely before spending more money on equipment

Either a new large format printer or an embroidery machine

I know which printer I'd get but looking into the embroidery side of things first

My budget is £10k 


I'm sure that limits my options hugely

Apart from clothing what other things can I use an embroidery machine for..... if i'm way off here then let me know

Can it be used to make garment labels? Badges with heat fixing on the back

?


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## lizziemaxine (Nov 14, 2007)

I would suggest that you get the large format printer first. You can do a lot more with the printer and it is a little easier to learn how to use. When you have recouped your money on the printer and made some profit then look into getting an embroidery machine.

There are a lot of things you can do with an embroidery machine other than just garments. You can do hats, tote bags, badges. If you can hoop it and get it on the machine you should be able to embroider it.


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## John Wilson (Jul 28, 2007)

I have a vercacamm at the moment so printing i can do...... just limited to the size


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## MagnumGrafX (Nov 6, 2007)

You answered your question. You can already do printing just limited to size. But if you offer more services you can reap the benefits. I do vinyl, embroidery & screenprinting, busy all year. If you offer more services you'll get more different customers who end up buying different things once they are your customer. Good Luck


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## John Wilson (Jul 28, 2007)

I've been offered a Melco EM-1 second hand (obviously) for £500 so not sure if I should take it for the sake of learning or just splash out on a decent one as I'm sure I'd get more training with the new one


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## MagnumGrafX (Nov 6, 2007)

If you buy a new Melco I believe you get a weeks training at one of their facilities. When I bought my second machine they told me I could go back for a refresher week. I personally like to buy new, not saying the seller is selling junk but sometimes thier is a problem & that's why they are dumping it, unless you know what your looking at & see it run, my advice is buy new. Where are you located?


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## John Wilson (Jul 28, 2007)

I like to buy new too funny enough for the support side of things and the problem free or the first year or two at least


I'm based in Glasgow, Scotland, UK


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## MagnumGrafX (Nov 6, 2007)

I guess the training thing might be a bit much...  They do have good tech support as I have used them twice.


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## John Wilson (Jul 28, 2007)

Cheers for the replies so far

What should I look out for when buying a new embroidery machine?

Make/Models??

Features??


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## MagnumGrafX (Nov 6, 2007)

I would say tech support & availability would be the biggest. Find one you like & search the forums to see if anyone has the same model before you purchase it. Good luck.


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## TPrintDesigner (Sep 16, 2007)

John, 10k will not be enough for embroidery. You also need the software and it is a steep learning curve to get good results. 10k buys a single head and will be a waste of time because you will not be competitive on price. The melco is not just a single head but also a single needle. Save your £500.

My advice is to subcontract your embroidery orders. Find a company who knows what they are doing and produces quality work.







John Wilson said:


> Cheers for the replies so far
> 
> What should I look out for when buying a new embroidery machine?
> 
> ...


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## John Wilson (Jul 28, 2007)

Cheers Dean

Sadly I can't find anyone to sub my work to as most of my clients book a day with me and I sort out all there order that day if I can and alot of my work is one-off' jobs and low runs so subbing really isn't an option

Software isn't mainly a problem as I have software for running my signage business that Ive been told I can use for embroidery

I'm not looking to do large order runs but just fill in the missing jobs that I'm turning away

I'm not going with the melco as I feel it will be a waste space and money


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## lizziemaxine (Nov 14, 2007)

John Wilson said:


> Software isn't mainly a problem as I have software for running my signage business that Ive been told I can use for embroidery


Stick with the major brands, Barudan, Tajima, Toyota, Happy, Brother. 
Look for a used machine that has been well maintained and you can probably stay within your budget.

The software you use for your signage business I don't believe will work for embroidery. Embroidery software is not just a graphics program. There are embroidery software programs that work with graphics programs Corel Draw or Adobe Illustrator.


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## John Wilson (Jul 28, 2007)

lizziemaxine said:


> Stick with the major brands, Barudan, Tajima, Toyota, Happy, Brother.
> Look for a used machine that has been well maintained and you can probably stay within your budget.
> 
> The software you use for your signage business I don't believe will work for embroidery. Embroidery software is not just a graphics program. There are embroidery software programs that work with graphics programs Corel Draw or Adobe Illustrator.


Cheers Lizzie

I've seen machines in action for the £4k to £10k range that are multi needle but only single head.... seen a multi head(4) for £10k from china but i'd rather get a decent single head to be honest as I don't think i need the multi head

Software wise I have Corel Draw X4 on my PC's and Illustrator on the Macs so I know I can get plugins for Embroidery.... I understand vectorizing as I do it daily for vinyl cut tee's and I know it's a different method of vectorizing but still on the same slope

Printwear and Promotion is coming up in the next few months so might just hold off for that and buy something then when I see all the options together


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## John Wilson (Jul 28, 2007)

Looking at the ZSK Sprint 4 now, £8995 + vat

Anyone got or seen one of these working?


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## tfalk (Apr 3, 2008)

John Wilson said:


> Software wise I have Corel Draw X4 on my PC's and Illustrator on the Macs so I know I can get plugins for Embroidery....


You can get plugins that will show you on the screen what the image might look like embroidered. That will not convert them to an actual embroidery file the machine will understand. 2 totally different things...

Corel had a product called Wings that would actually create an embroidery file but it was $$$$$$. Now it's called Wilcom Decostudio and it's even more $$$$$.


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## John Wilson (Jul 28, 2007)

tfalk said:


> You can get plugins that will show you on the screen what the image might look like embroidered. That will not convert them to an actual embroidery file the machine will understand. 2 totally different things...
> 
> Corel had a product called Wings that would actually create an embroidery file but it was $$$$$$. Now it's called Wilcom Decostudio and it's even more $$$$$.


The machine i'm looking at has a start up package which includes Decostudio but not sure yet if I should go for it or not


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## Amberdee75 (Jan 18, 2009)

I have a SWF embroidery machine and I love it, but there is a big learning curve with these machines. It was about 15k with software and machine with two days training. The training was ok, but tech support is great b/c you will run into problems at first. 

A year and a half later I'm pleased with the purchase, but still learning things. Now I'm doing heat press vinyl also...much easier to learn.


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## John Wilson (Jul 28, 2007)

OK Just thought i'd update this thread with some info

I bought a SWF E-T1501 the other week and it was installed last week

Tradeshow coming up this weekend for Printwear so I'm sure I'll see lots there to get my started properly with the machine... ie software and essentials


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## Patches (Oct 13, 2008)

John.. It took me 4 months to find a machine but I now own a 12 needle toyota (which works great!) for ~$3000US... Add on to that your possible supplies (thread, backing, apparel to get you started) ~$600, software (~$0-$3000)..

You could potentially get an embroidery company started for around ~$4000-6000US.. 

As far as I'm concerned, if you're starting up, why bother with a NEW machine when you can find one for 1/4 the price used, and for the most part these machines are damn durable and parts are relatively cheap to fix IF you need to get it back to 'like new' working condition...

One thing I can apreciate about some of the comments in this thread is the time it takes to learn your machine, embroidery, and digitizing of images.. I've been practicing for about 2 months now (doing my own digitizing as well), and am now getting the quality of products that I am willing to sell and to start advertising....

I'd say, do whatever you think is cooler!!!

Peace,
Patches


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