What should i buy?? SWF or Avance

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I want to buy a 4 head embroidery machine I have 5 years in the biz with a 6 head swf now down sizing to a 4 head so I can work from home. not sure if I should go Chinese, Korean or even German???? German they say is the best but you pay for it. Korean swf had a few issues in the past but I guess they got through it??? the German machine new had a chance to work with them. I am going to the show in Ohio next month the check things out if you

 

[Nuagedesigns]

Speaking as a current SWF 4 Head and SWF 2Head Dual function owner I have had great success with these machines. However from my dealings with SWF directly and my repair technician I would look down a different avenue in my future purchase. SWF has had issues in Korea and parts are becoming hard to come by. I am looking to upgrade I the next year or so to a 6 head and I am leaning towards a Barudan or Tajima.

Best of luck

 

[WildWestDesigns]

Out of the 2 that you mentioned SWF.

However, personal preference is Barudan. Barudan you can just do more then even with the Tajimas. Tajimas are better known by most people, but Barudans have more functionality, especially when coupled with digitizing software like Wilcom.

Although, any name brand machine should serve your right if you keep up with everything.

We use Barudans and Brothers, don't have complaints for either, but being able to even control the machine speed from within the file is a huge production saver and while still having quality output depending on design concerns. For me anyway. Little stuff like that. Support is also top notch when I've had to call it.

 

[Dennis422]

You should buy Barudan or Tajima.
I heard great and awful stories about SWF. Even the ones with great stories say that they wish they bought Tajimas

That tells me something

 

[scott pagan]

happy w our 6-head SWF here too. no problems other than minor fix it here stuff.

 

[Split76]

sorry for borrowing topic, I have had only Melco (xts / bravo), how is those compared to these others?
Any opinions? I really don't have a clue, so i'm interested

edit: ****, mine are single head. Sorry

 

[WildWestDesigns]

sorry for borrowing topic, I have had only Melco (xts / bravo), how is those compared to these others?
Any opinions? I really don't have a clue, so i'm interested

edit: ****, mine are single head. Sorry

I want to start off with the caveat that I haven't ever personally dealt with a Melco machine. All the feedback that I have received is over the years from my digitizing customers that have had those machines.


Biggest Pro that most people talk about is "auto tension". I put it in quotes, because it's not totally auto. Let's say you have it set at 7 for tension, but the computer senses that it more or less tension, so it might move down to 5 or up to 9. But any more then that range and you'll have to go through the software and change it that way. They just no longer have the manual tensioners as well. By the way, those numbers are just for this discussion only, they aren't "hard" numbers.

Biggest Con to those machines is vibration. Now all machines (depending on upkeep) will get this to one degree or another over the years. However, I believe that it happens quicker with Melcos due to high spms that they hock. Personally, I think stitching faster then 800 spm you start to get into "diminished marginal utility" and upkeep schedule (both for the machine and the consumables) is accelerated (which I have to wonder how many actually do that). I actually don't go faster then 750 spm for hats or for flats and depending on the design, I'll go slower (this is where I like the Barudans, because I can control speed within the file itself using their native U?? files to where I don't have to babysit the machine).

 

[Split76]

I want to start off with the caveat that I haven't ever personally dealt with a Melco machine. All the feedback that I have received is over the years from my digitizing customers that have had those machines.


Biggest Pro that most people talk about is "auto tension". I put it in quotes, because it's not totally auto. Let's say you have it set at 7 for tension, but the computer senses that it more or less tension, so it might move down to 5 or up to 9. But any more then that range and you'll have to go through the software and change it that way. They just no longer have the manual tensioners as well. By the way, those numbers are just for this discussion only, they aren't "hard" numbers.

Biggest Con to those machines is vibration. Now all machines (depending on upkeep) will get this to one degree or another over the years. However, I believe that it happens quicker with Melcos due to high spms that they hock. Personally, I think stitching faster then 800 spm you start to get into "diminished marginal utility" and upkeep schedule (both for the machine and the consumables) is accelerated (which I have to wonder how many actually do that). I actually don't go faster then 750 spm for hats or for flats and depending on the design, I'll go slower (this is where I like the Barudans, because I can control speed within the file itself using their native U?? files to where I don't have to babysit the machine).

Hi!

That tension value seems to change all the time when the machine is sawing. Many time / sec.. My bravo's max is 1100 but xts is 1500 spm .. honestly, that 1500 sounds too much. With caps, my max is 800, with flats i use max. Quite often that 1500 spm machine does only 1100-1200.
I bought my first embroidery machine 4 years ago by accident and really haven't used any other machines than melcos.
Here at finland emroidery is like.. pain in *** .. too much hassle for way too small profit. I'll try to sell heat pressing for all garments. At the same time i'll stitch 10 caps, my employee presses 60 beanies.
This is quite off-topic but..

 

[WildWestDesigns]

Here at finland emroidery is like.. pain in *** .. too much hassle for way too small profit.

It's getting that way everywhere. It's a lot like signs in some respects, people treat it like a commodity. Some of it is due to a lack of education on the customer's side of things, but some of it is due to the inexperienced people in the trade. And I do blame some machine manufacturers for that perception as well, as they do sell it as relatively easy push button business in a box type of mentality.

I can't tell you how many people want me to not charge for digitizing (and it's surprising who tries to get that taken off the bill) when that is a crucial part of the process (ironically in the grand scheme of things, the cheapest part as it is) and it will be for files that I might have 3 or more hours (sometimes it doesn't depend on size, but complexity, those dog designs I posted a month or two back would easily take that long for realism and those were for logo crest and hat size designs) invested in digitizing it properly that they want for free.

And that just flows on downward through the rest of the process.

 

[Suz]

Hi there,

I haven't read all the responses yet, but I will tell you I own (2) single head SWF's. I love the quick change cap attachment on these machines. I own a 6 needle, and a 15 needle compact. I guess they are almost 10 years old now, they were purchased new. Yikes! Cannot believe that it's been that long ago. Anyhow, I have only had one of the machines ever get a "Technician" visit, and that is when I hit a hoop and it was under warranty. We had a SWF in Tukwila, WA then, so it was not a big deal. Well, SWF is no longer in WA State, I hit a hoop with the other SWF machine, and we replaced the reciprocator ourselves. But she isn't working, so I need a real Technician now. Having a hard time finding one. So I guess my answer would be, look for Customer Support and and available Technicians in your area. They do charge for travel time, so it ain't cheap! Good luck with whatever decision you make.