Hi Bob, Rod is out of the computer room right now so I will say that the Amaya was designed to sew with Organ needles. We use the DBX K5 size75/11 BP for most things. If sewing heavy items such as a Carhart coat, we will change to an 80/12 sharp. If we want nice, crisp small lettering, we will use a 65/9 and a 60 weight thread. Ball points for knits and sharps for woven fabrics. However, do we ALWAYS change our needles---no, not always. Should we? Yes, to get the very best stitchouts from all we have been taught. I don't want a nice knit shirt leaving here looking great then have it laundered by the customer and a "run" in the shirt happen because we used a sharp needle and cut a thread. We are careful to check needles for burrs just to avoid problems with any fraying or breaking of thread. So, with all that being said, if I had to choose just one needle as our most used needle, it would be a DBX K5 size 75/11 BP. Sharon ----- Original Message ----- From: "Kushnerick" <bkushner@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> To: <amayausers@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> Sent: Saturday, October 28, 2006 2:09 PM Subject: [amayausers] Re: Amaya Specific Digitizers > Rod > > Certainly not wishy - washy at all and no arguments from me on anything > you said. > > For many of us, caps [along with other things like very light nylon or > knits, leather, silk, etc.] certainly do offer challenges. I think we > all have learned new words of one sort or another when stitching these > items. > > There are always many variables in embroidery plus I know different > brands, models and even individual machines can stitch differently but > as someone who does not have an Amaya, I was just wondering what > constitutes a good Amaya design as compared to the same design for a > SWF, Tajima or Barudan ? If it is something like removal of unnecessary > short stitches [perhaps less than 1mm - 1.5mm], to me that should be > done in all designs for all machines. If its a matter of a good Amaya > design trying to avoid long column stitching [for example 12mm], then > again I think all brands of machines would benefit from shorter column > stitching. > > Just out of curiosity, is there a needle[s] which is favored by the > Amaya. Over the years we have tried a number of different types, points > and brands of needles but in the end, found a single needle that we now > use for virtually all our stitching. Seldom do we have a need to change > to a different needle type or size anymore. > > Have a great day > > Bob > > > . > > Rod or Sharon wrote: > >>John, Bob, >>My personal opinion on "Amaya specific" digitizing....... I do believe >>that >>the digitizer who "owns an Amaya, and who verifies the digitized designs >>on >>the Amaya is a definite plus for the customer. That is not to say that >>there >>are not some really good digitizers out there that are savy to the >>different >>quirks of the different embroidery machines on the market. >> >>It is very difficult to digitize for caps with some designs....How do you >>as >>the digitizer quote a fair price and not verify a complex design on a cap >>or >>two or three. Do we throw in the cost of these caps on the digitizing >>cost, >>thereby raising the price of the digitized design? Do we come up with a >>make >>shift, make believe cap to put on the cap driver to verify the >>design......? >>It is a time consuming affair at best and usually not very profitable, >>taking into consideration the time factor. Those people that choose to sub >>out their digitizing are not completely dumb. Sure, the simple, easy to >>put >>together logo or name, etc.......those are things that you can take care >>of >>yourself, but throw in a complicated, complex design and it very quickly >>gets to the point of ridiculous with the time factor. >> >>Digitizing for flats is always a challenge by it's self and then CAPS!!! I >>have found I can now do pretty fair at digitizing most designs for a cap >>but still struggle with oval and/or circular borders pulling, stretching, >>distorting and God only knows what else. Each brand and style of cap can >>exhibit a different characteristic with the same design, making it >>necessary >>to then, "edit" the design slightly. >> >>Using good underlay techniques is critical to getting some caps to sew out >>well. Nailing down the center seam on a cap by adding a manual double >>zigzag across the seam and/or filling the seam line with vertical >>stitching >>and then using a wider manual cross hatch underlay over the rest of the >>design, will help tack the cap down and not allow for the cap to move or >>shift or whatever it does to mess up the sew out. Oh, and then given a >>perfectly digitized design......nothing can correct for an improperly >>hooped >>cap. If it is loose and floppy, ,,,,, well, kind of like the old computer >>programmer saying,,,,,,,,,,garbage in, garbage out!!! >> >>Now having said all that, does the Amaya need to be digitized for >>specifically? I would say there are some "ifs" involved in that question. >>The biggest "if" is the speed at which you want to operate at. The faster >>the speed, the more the different materials are going to "pull/push." So >>digitizing and being able to verify at high speed is a plus. The fact >>that >>the Amaya is more precise in its needle placement will create narrower >>columns making it necessary for the operator to add some extra pull comp >>in >>these areas...... >> >>The technology introduced into the Amaya software and the design of the >>machine has just made it necessary for the operator to "learn" new ways to >>embroidery. The Amaya/Design Shop software has given the operator >>tremendous >>flexibility ,but, only "if" ( there is that "if" word again), they are >>open >>and willing to take on this new learning curve. >> >>I would hesitate going so far as to say that the Amaya "must" be digitized >>for specifically. If this were the case, you would not be able to sew out >>any of the pre-digitized designs from , Dakota, Great Notions, Embroidery >>Library, etc......with success. Will editing these designs by reducing the >>stitch counts, tweaking the densities, stitch lengths, etc, help them to >>sew >>better on the Amaya...you bet. But even a good digitizer will send >>someone >>a design that has been digitized on his Amaya, will need some minor >>tweaking >>on the customers machine. The differences in machines, the different >>materials, backings, hooping techniques, needles, threads...the list goes >>on.......it just means that the digitizer hopes to get it "right" as close >>as they can.....regardless of the machine used. >> >>Was that ...wishy---washy enough for a long winded answer ;-)). >> >>Rod Springer >>Melco Certified Tech >> >> > > > =========================================================== > > The AmayaUsers Mailing List > Website: http://www.amayausers.com > Discussion Board: http://www.amayausers.com/boards > Subscribe/Unsubscribe: http://www.amayausers.com/list > > =========================================================== =========================================================== The AmayaUsers Mailing List Website: http://www.amayausers.com Discussion Board: http://www.amayausers.com/boards Subscribe/Unsubscribe: http://www.amayausers.com/list ===========================================================