Excessive thread breaks on cap

[levelbest]

Just adding one more thing on the big reds - we personally found using the raised needleplate of little value and discovered things worked just as well for us with the standard plate two clicks up.

Your mileage may vary. I havn't put a raised needle plate on my reds since the first month I owned them and we do hats all the time.

Best for you to experiment to see what works for you - but speed wise - 900 seems to be a groove for us hat wise.

[Rod or Sharon]

Thanks john,

I had not forgotten to mention that little tid-bit of info, as we do the same with our Big Red....fell into the "over loading" information part of the discussion and I am pretty sure that Cynthia did not or would not have taught that technique on the Big Reds......

Rod Springer
Amaya Tech & Trainer

[Frecklebelly]

It's always a pleasure reading your posts, Rod. Your sage advice and your patience explaining things, technical and otherwise, is very much appreciated.

Regarding "starting slow", when we were starting out with our first Big Red, my husband and I were, well, more than a little bit intimidated by the machine. We'd hit the start button and back up waaaay across the room as the machine rumbled along at (what we felt was) a fast speed of 500 spm! LOL

Our first machine gave us some trouble that first year in business, but, thanks to the help of the Melco Techs who serviced the machine, we gained a wealth of knowledge that has served us well over the years. Gradually, we gained confidence as our understanding grew and worked our way up to a faster operating speed.

To Rod and all the Techs and members of this forum who freely share their wisdom... Thank you all for your generosity of time and talent!

[sschroed2]

Rod, I agree with most everything you are saying. Especially it's best to start slow. I started off thinkin (based on the sales pitch) that I should be able to sew everything at 1200 plus, this was before training.it was a frustrating time. I also thought all Dakota designs would sew out well (ha, ha). I found starting out slower and watching how things sew I learned a lot.

I also met a man who worked for Melco for years, even back when they built huge machines. He's been in the business on his own for over 20 years & is awesome. He's been helpful to me.

My original point in responding to the first post was to point out that as a newbie one should not be expected to take off sewing everything at the same level as a well experienced person. Most of the posts are very helpful & used many of the tips myself. But I use to think what's wrong with me or my machine that I can't do everything the way many users were saying to. It can be belittling. Not being a production type I really could never afford to risk damaged items, but it has happened. But when I slowed things down stopped assuming certain things & paid attention to what was happening things got better.

I don't know why 600 & 2clicks down works for me on hats but it does & it doesn't matter who digitized the design. Sorry that goes against the grain, but it is what it is.