Some definitions/background:
It seems to me that just like computers users – there are some big buckets that sewing machine users can fall into. For the purposes of this post, I am going to define two:
· Automation: These are users who buy a machine with many, many, stitches and functions. They push buttons to do what is needed, including adjusting tension, setting a stitch, etc.
· Mechanical: These are users who adjust everything on their machine by turning screws, moving knobs, etc.
Me and Wearing Out Machines
I fall into the mechanical definition. While I have two very nice and fancy Viking machines that do beautiful work, I much prefer a machine that requires manual adjustments. I am a power producer with embroidery and quilting and wear out expensive machines.
1. The Viking Rose: my first embroidery machine. I power used this and it started to have tension issues after about 9 months. This was within the Viking trade in period and the Rose was a 4 x 4 (small) embroidery field. In those 9 months, I had moved from novice to advanced intermediate in embroidery and wanted MORE… so I traded to the Platinum with the large embroidery field.
2. The Viking Platinum: after 15 or so months, I had outgrown the large domestic embroidery field and wanted MORE. Additionally, the machine was starting to really have tension issues and other things. When I took it in for services, I was informed that the stitch count on it exceeded machines that had been in service for ten or more years… oooppps…
3. The Viking Quilt Designer II. Wonderful machine, larger throat, and I still use it. However, after about 2 hours of continuous use in stippling a quilt, it WILL blow a fuse. It is not meant to be used solid for hours. I can piece on it all day, but stippling… no.
My husband is a car person and we are both also tool people. He has a TV repair degree, is a good plumber, and has no problems working with gas pipes in the house. I used to work with computer hardware and I am a darned good electrician. One thing that we have full understanding about together is to buy the appropriate tool for the job.
So, when I was looking at trading in my Platinum on a better Viking, to the tune of $2500 plus, and with no guarantee that I could make that last longer than two years at my rate of consumption, we investigated commercial machines. End result – I have a 12 needle, single head Inbro embroidery machine.
Shortly after than replacement (about 2 years actually), I had mastered the machine and learned to stipple in all the time freed up by not switching embroidery colors as often. That is when I started blowing fuses on the Viking QDII. I figured out pretty quickly that I would have to replace / supplement that machine with more commercial equipment as well.
Sharon and the Haunted Juki
One of my friends from my quilt group bought a Juki 1-2 years prior to me starting to look into commercial sewing machines. Actually, she and her daughter each bought one. They bought the same machine, but boy oh boy, they did not act the same.
The one that Sharon got – which she used on a quilting frame – had a tension problem. In the 1.5 – 2 years that she had the machine, she took it to three or four repair people and it never acted right. It would lose bottom tension and create big loops on the backside of quilts. She would not notice until she rolled to the next section on the frame and then have to spend hours unstitching. The other machine, the one that was her daughter’s, and identical in every way, did NOT act up like that.
One day, rather than lobbing the machine through her picture window, she dumped graciously donated it to me. She knew that I was a very hands on technician of sewing equipment and figured that she was at least saving herself garbage fees and at most, giving me a new toy to experiment with.
Success!
I have been using the machine for over two years now and while it cannot fully be called a dream, it certainly is not the nightmare it was for her. It gives me issues, I curse at it sometimes, but I have produced beautiful work on it. It is far more mechanical than my Vikings and operates at 1500 stitches a minute. I can run it for hours at a time and it does not blow fuses. I have had to unstitch, but I have also learned how to feel if the bobbin is correct or not. About one in every ten bobbin loads, I have to take it out and snap it back in just right. It only likes certain threads, and depending upon the weight of the thread, I sometimes put the bobbin into the casing opposite how the manual calls for. That’s a trick that I learned from my commercial embroidery machine – another way to affect tension.
One of my award winning quilts was quilted on that machine. Here is a picture:
And here is a picture of a close up of the quilting on it done with the Juki:
The stitching is much smaller than I can do on the domestic machines (works faster and I do not have much patience) and turns out very even. After having the machine for 6/8 months, I took a class at a local quilt shop – Bear Patch Quilting (shout out to them – great shop!) and learned fancy stipples.
This one is a "snail trail"
This one is harder to see, bad example as it blends into the fabric - it is a flower pattern
The Table
I am not using the Juki with a quilt frame and there is not a table made for it. Not a worry – remember, I told you, we are tool people here! I got a 2 x 2 sheet of .25 inch plywood, cut out an area matching the bed/throat of the Juki, cut up a dowel for legs, covered it in sticky backed Teflon and we are good to go. Another shout out here – AxMan surplus in Saint Paul, MN – fantastic place to find odd things; like sticky back wide sheets of Teflon for pennies on the dollar versus a machine shop.
Now Problems….
Unfortunately, now the poor machine does really seem to be in the need for service. It started slowing down on me today. I turned it off and left it for hours. I figured that it was overheating due to excessive use today and also the weather is pretty warm. However, when I tried again, it also slowed down within minutes and the hand wheel is not turning well. I do not know if it has belts, or if I should be concerned about the motor. Of course, this is all happening on Saturday evening, before Monday, July 4th, so it will be a few days before I can take it anywhere. I will be going through withdrawal folks!
I also worry that if it is something serious, it will be too expensive to consider doing. It is a $900-1100 dollar machine. It has problems to begin with. Do I really want to put $200 plus into a flawed machine? I love the grumpy piece of metal, but I am also a realist.
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