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Embroidery => General Embroidery => Topic started by: Inkworks on April 20, 2016, 01:02:32 PM
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Looking at taking the plunge on a new 4 head, will be used 90% for left chest and hats, Barudan is quoting at about 15% more than Tajima, they say they are a heavier, tougher, better built machine.
Are they worth it over a Tajima?
All feedback appreciated, not interested in other brands at this point.
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last time i checked they were the same price...i guess that's changed.
I don't think you could go wrong with either. It's like Honda vs. Toyota. They are both great machines.
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We have Barudan machines and are happy with their performance. But it is a coin flip for sure. I might base it on the closest service/distributor.
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Can't go wrong either way, I went Barudan and I am thrilled with them. They say the Barudans do better on small text but most would say almost no differences between the machines past that.
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Tajima here. Biased opinion as I used to work for Hirsch. Both are great but I would go Tajima. We do a lot of hats now and I have seen some from the vendor who did them before we brought them in house. Ours looked tighter and cleaner. The other vendor used Barudan. Could be user abilities as there are adjustments for a crisper tighter look.
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Barudan here, and I have used both! Better lettering with Barudan, and they will match the price. Pressure them.
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The biggest problem with Tajima is Hirsch. That being said, you shouldn't need much service after the sale and there are so many techs that work on Tajimas that you don't ever need to call Hirsch
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I tried to buy a Tajima. Hirsch did not call me back to make the sale. They were not that interested in selling a 4 head I guess. Not only that when I was looking at both a Tajima Tech even said that a Barudan does small lettering better. We do a lot of that so the choice was easy. Tajima is still an awesome machine and a lot of it boils down to goo digitizing. Sh!tty digitizing can be made to look worse the more accurate the machine is and thats why you need to digitize to the brand of machine you use. There are subtle differences between them.
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I do agree about Hirsch hurting Tajima. However, we have had our for 10yrs now and had a tech come out to service our machine last year just because. We had the machine at that time for 9yrs, replaced one nylon bevel gear and a reciprocator (which I replaced both). Other than that it was just usual maintenance on our part. The tech said the machine was in great shape, everything looked good. He did update the machines software which made a huge difference. Tajima's are easy to work on. They run and run and run. No complaints here. Either Tajima or Baradun would be a good choice.
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Hirsch is reason enough for me to make a point not to purchase one.
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Whoever has the closest service center to you.
I have Tajima since 2009, never an issue. Barudan is also great machine. When I bought it, it came down to the price. At that time, Tajima was lightly in trouble so they had a much better deal than Barudan was offering.
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We are having ours tuned up today, we ran it hard the last couple of months and the tech will be in the area, so I figured why not. Never a bad idea to get a great tech in to look a machine over.
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We are having ours tuned up today, we ran it hard the last couple of months and the tech will be in the area, so I figured why not. Never a bad idea to get a great tech in to look a machine over.
Jay?
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We are having ours tuned up today, we ran it hard the last couple of months and the tech will be in the area, so I figured why not. Never a bad idea to get a great tech in to look a machine over.
Jay?
Yup...I doubt I will ever pass on a chance to have him tune the machine. His work is just phenomenal.
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We are having ours tuned up today, we ran it hard the last couple of months and the tech will be in the area, so I figured why not. Never a bad idea to get a great tech in to look a machine over.
Jay?
Yup...I doubt I will ever pass on a chance to have him tune the machine. His work is just phenomenal.
He is the man! I gave Shellys parents our SWF single head, her mom had some issues with it pretty serious ones. He was here like 2hrs and that machine runs like new again.
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In all fairness, SWF's need so much work that every tech should be experts on them...
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In all fairness, SWF's need so much work that every tech should be experts on them...
We had several work on ours over the years and it was never with much success. Jay made them sing.
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You're right - Jay is the man. Fixed some issues that two seasoned factory techs couldn't figure out. He'll be here tomorrow & Saturday to work his magic.
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Looking at taking the plunge on a new 4 head, will be used 90% for left chest and hats, Barudan is quoting at about 15% more than Tajima, they say they are a heavier, tougher, better built machine.
Are they worth it over a Tajima?
All feedback appreciated, not interested in other brands at this point.
For the Barudan, would that be coming from Toronto? Or you are dealing with someone in the States?
The one reason I didn't buy a Barudan when I bought new was because the only place that sold them was in Toronto. That can add up for freight, tech support. etc. (and didn't need one at the western imprint show )
For me it came down to closeness to my door. I went Tajima because their Edmonton office is way closer than Toronto.
Good Luck :)
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Tech is out Kamloops I believe, sales rep is out of Vancouver. Shipping, Install and training are included in both machines pricing.
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Soooo, how much should I budget for thread/backing/solvy etc. to get started? I'd want to have like 90% of the colors I'd eventually need, I know there will always be that unique color for certain customers you always have to bring in. 4 spools each of course, and who are good suppliers?
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sheesh..that's a tough one since it's been so long since i've purchased enough thread for a new machine instead of pulling from stock...
I would say probably around $200-300 in backing. I get mine from bobbincentral.com I also get magna glides there, they have very good prices on them. They poly thread is pretty good too, I think Madeira is better though.
Thread is a tough one, you might need around $1000 in thread. A 6 head 15 needle machine takes around $700 in thread to load up with no spares or extra colors. Personally I would pick a thread supplier that is a day shipping or local so you can get threads quickly when you are in a bind.
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You have a few options.
Gunhold (Gunhold Thread)
http://www.gunold.ca/ (http://www.gunold.ca/)
Cansew (Madeira Thread)
http://www.cansew.com/default.aspx (http://www.cansew.com/default.aspx)
Embroidery Systems Canada (Coats Thread)
http://www.embroiderysystemscanada.com/ (http://www.embroiderysystemscanada.com/)
Cansew carries Madeira and other stuff related to embroidery.
RB Digital is a distributor for Gunhold in Alberta.
I use Cansew a quite a bit because they have a warehouse in Calgary. Next day ship if I don't have time to drive into town.
But I'm not sure which would be closer for you. Calgary or Vancouver. You're kind of in the middle.
Poly thread will cost you approx. $10-$12 per cone. Depending on who you use.
Backing will depend on how wide of a roll you want. Some come up to 48-51 inches wide. Some only come in 20-24 inch rolls.
Lots to learn..... good luck :)