Used starter machine

[inthesignbiz]

We've been farming out our embroidery for a few years.
The results are sketchy at best.
Looking to bring it in house and are in need of a solid
used machine. Preferably, in Texas.

All help is appreciated!

 

[WildWestDesigns]

If you are going to get used, be sure to take files that are correctly setup specifically for hats and for flats (typically what we call logo crests (left breast area designs)). Not all brands have the same quality and there are fluctuations among brands as well. For hats, be sure to do structured and unstructured hats. Not all machines can do both of those well either. All machines have different min/max abilities as well (with regard to satin stitch width especially).

Stick with a name brand (Barudan, Brother, Tajima, Melco, SWF etc). Because what you can do with functions on the Barudan machines (you have to use their native file and not DST files to take advantage of that, DST files don't support it), I much prefer those to the other brands, plus they are built like tanks. Problem is, you will be hard pressed to find a relatively "young" machine sold used and there is a reason for that.

Whatever you do, make sure you can see/hear the machine run since you are buying used.

Are you looking at single or multi-head? Desktop or Bridge?

If you have any questions as to what to look for etc, just drop me an email (in siggy).

 

[WildWestDesigns]

The results are sketchy at best.

I forgot to add this. I'm always looking at machines to add to capacity and that's just what reminded me of this.

Don't get caught up in how fast these machines go (stitches per minute (or SPM)). I always see a selling point of SPM this or that (nowadays it's 1,300 or 1,400 spm depending on the machine). Don't get caught up in that. I rarely use 750 spm (on a 1,000 spm max machines). You sacrifice quality the faster you go (and you use up consumables like needles quicker as well). This is actually the biggest reason why I recommend Barudan machines over others, is that you can control speed on the new(er) machines directly in their native file format and don't have to babysit the machine.

I know a lot of shops that run as fast as they can and that could be a reason that results are sketchy, but certainly not the only one. It could have been something else (another biggie is digitizing quality and there is a lot of shoddy work out there), or combination of things.

I just thought I would mention that higher SPM doesn't really mean squat with this machines. Some designs I have run as slow as 200 spm, so don't get caught up on that "selling point".

 

[inthesignbiz]

Thanks for the information. That helps a lot.

 

[WildWestDesigns]

Thanks for the information. That helps a lot.

Not a problem, glad that I could help.

I should mention also though, since I don't know what caused the sketchy quality that you are talking about. Bare in mind that not all designs translate exactly into embroidery and not all digitized patterns will work for all different substrates (microfiber shirt versus blend shirt, versus silk etc). A lot of people like to do one design that fits everything, just doesn't work out that way in every instance. Sometimes you get lucky, most of the time you do not, you have to compensate (usually with machine speed and/or stabilizer (amount, type etc)).

I know when I digitize, I will usually mention areas of concern to my clients, but not all do and some try to give the client exactly what they want and giving them exactly what they want might give them that sketchy quality and if that's the case, it will be sketchy quality rather you outsource or do it in house.

This has to be approached differently then any type of print process that you might be used to.

Don't get me wrong, you can do a lot within embroidery, but you have to do them within constraints and it doesn't always work out that way (in fact, most of the time it doesn't).

Sorry about bombarding you with that digression. Just not many people are aware of that until they get into it (or they never get it, some really don't).

 

[Dennis422]

Whatever the Wild said, but I would also narrow it down even more.
Tajima and Barudan and maybe SWF.

I do not remember when I ran faster than 700-750. Sometimes I would go to 800 with big fill areas, but that is about it.
Also, look who has the closest tech in your area. If there is a SWF guy, I would go with them, if there is Barudan guy, go with them. Same for Tajima.

I have Tajima and Toyota machines (Pretty much the same machine) and I love them. Barudan was also on a top of my list, But when I got my first one, Tajima gave me a better deal.
If you have room, look into 4 or a 6 head. if you want to go smaller, remember that 3 single head machines could possible do more than one 4 head machine. One has a thread break, the rest of them keep running, reloading the machine while the rest of them are running. You can not do that on a 4 head machine, one of them has a thread break, all 4 heads stop.

Good luck

 

[WildWestDesigns]

One thing to keep in mind between desktop and bridge (you can get the bridge style in single or multi-head configurations) is limitations on design size. Some desktop models (not all and some that do have OEM restrictions might have a 3rd party solution) only allow you to do so big on the height of a hat, while some allow you to do as tall as what can physically fit on a hat, but they also have the 14" wide restriction.

I know some desktop Toyotas, Tajimas and I think even the older multi-head SWFs have a height limit on hats.

I'm not surprised that DK said that Barudan was the more expensive, I do firmly believe that they are the Rolex of these machines, but they just don't have the marketing presence that brands like Tajima and even Brother with their entry level PR series has.

I wouldn't go further then a 5 hr radius for techs (I know of a Barudan tech in San Antone ( I think 3-4 hrs from you) that comes highly recommended), I just wouldn't limit yourself to only the closest tech. That has it's pros and cons to it.

The tech that I use is out of Birmingham.

 

[binki]

Your local distributors will have or know about used equipment as well as the funding sources such as Beacon funding. Give them a call. Beacon will also know if the equipment is financed. One thing you don't want to is purchase a machine, go to get it serviced in a year and it gets repo'd because you don't legally own it.

 

[WildWestDesigns]

Your local distributors will have or know about used equipment as well as the funding sources such as Beacon funding. Give them a call. Beacon will also know if the equipment is financed. One thing you don't want to is purchase a machine, go to get it serviced in a year and it gets repo'd because you don't legally own it.

If you buy from a first time owner, companies like Barudan (I don't know about the others, if they do now or not), actually have a lock on it, so if someone that owes money tries to sell it and you buy that machine, you'll get locked out long before you'll need servicing. The timer (at least with Barudan) is based on hrs. I heard stories from techs that had to repo the control panel from other other machines and that wasn't fun.

 

[binki]

Yeah, I have had people tell me they got their machine repo'd after they purchased it used. When I was looking for another machine I called Beacon to get a value and to check to see if it had been refinanced. I wanted to make sure we were not buying something that was 'hot'. In the end we purchased new because we couldn't work out a deal.

There is a local place to us that sells used but that is in SoCal. I don't have experience with them though. The dealers sometimes have repo units available.

also http://lmgtfy.com/?q=used+embroidery+machines