Hat hoop design size

[Juli in Kona]

What is the max size design that will fit in the hat hoop? I thought it was 3 x 14. That is what is advertised. But all my 3" tall designs don't fit by enough to not work at all. And I can't seem to find how to reduce the size after it is in the OS. I don't have DesignWorks.

Juli in Kona

[HERB]

I beleive you are correct in your dimensions, BUT, the a factor in the design size is also the type of cap. There is no way you are going to sew a 3 inch tall design on most low profile caps. It would be tough to get one to work on a mid profile.
Scaling in OS is not possible. This should be done prior to sending the design to the machine.

[Juli in Kona]

When I make a design 2.9" tall and bring it into OS in the hat hoop, it is outside the allowed area on both the top and bottom. So right there it i not going to work, no matter what cap I put in (or if I just hoop a flat piece of material).

So, how do I get a sewing area with the full 3" height? The design I am working with has arched lettering on the top with just the "l" sticking up. o the design will work if I can just figure out how to get the ful 3". Is it possible that somehow the size got changed. There is only one hat hoop in the list of hoops.

I am a rank beginner with this machine/OS so am reluctant to change defaults. And Murphy has taken up residence in my sewing room! I have had a power failure in the middle of a design, lousy thread, designs that are susposed to fit but don't, millions of thread breaks, ad nausium. And I have gotten an error message that I can't find any explinaton for.

I can really see the need for the training. I am starting to make a list of questions.

What do you do about that seam down the front of the hat? I am getting lots of thread breaks there, And what actifeed setting do you use for reg structured denim caps?

Juli in Kona

[levelbest]

Reposting Beverly's response....

You can only go about 2.25" in height on a cap.

Regards,
Beverly Thompson
Perdido Beach embroidery

[HERB]

Okee Dokee, I have to assume, since you state you are new, that you are running an XT. If so and you are selecting the WACF for your hoop this could be part of the issue. The XT needs to run on the Extended WACF. Go to your hoop setup and uncheck the WACF and check the Extended WACF (I think that is what it is called). This gives you the larger sewing field. The WACF is used on the pre-XT machines. There is a formula for figuring the maximum design size for a given cap. I beleive it is in the Design Shop manual, but it has been a while since I have been in there.

I can sense the building of frustration and can only tell you from experience to hang in there. Pop your questions out one at a time, be specific. There will be someone (or many) that can and will help you get where you need to be.

[Aaron]

As a general rule you can sew up to 2.25" tall on most any cap. Now, with the XT you can go taller, as tall as 3.5" I have heard but any logo taller than 2.25" will depend on the hat style and also the design.

I was told to use the XT WACF setting for my XT not the XT Extended WACF. Not sure what the difference is there.

You can actually turn off your hoop limits if you need to go outside the box but I would be very careful and make sure to trace if you do that.

[HERB]

Had to get some stuff confirmed so here is the scoop.
The XT WACF is the one piece driver. The extended WACF is the 2 piece driver. (Can leave the bottom rails on the machine.) So set your hoop according to what driver you have.

[Juli in Kona]

THANK YOU, Herb! That was it. Found the XT Extended Wacf and intalled it. My first hat yesterday took all day! Today my first hat took just about half a day, but I am now down to 17 minutes! Yes!!

Love it

Juli in Kona

[signman]

One thing they won't tell you...if you have your window in Design Shop set to 'display' hoop, there is a faint gray line inside the actual
hoop outline. This is your 'real' maximum area. The 'hoop' may be 6 x 6.5" (a speedframe) but the gray line shows how close the pressor foot can get before it bangs into the hoop-you lose about 1/4" all the way around. So your 'real' area is going to be 5.5 x 6 or so. If you always plan on 1/4" less than they 'say' you can get for an area you should be safe. I learned to ALWAYS trace first-on each piece, no matter what. If you moved the hoop with the controls to center the image, and don't do a new trace-you could end up damaging the pressor foot.