SUPPLIES

[penelopefabric]

Good Morning Ladies and Gentleman! It has been a couple years since i have been on the forum. I am planning on spending a lot more time in my studiio. I have not tried the titanium coated needles in my Millie. I have used them in my bernina. Has anyone here liked them? Also i notice a micro thread at Superior(my favorite threads!) anyone here tried it?

[jimerickson]

I've used the Gross Beckert titanium coated needles a lot, and they have performed well for me.  APQS claims they are more prone to breakage, where as the chrome plated ones bend.  In my experience, I have not found that to be the case.

I no longer use MR needles of any kind.  Two or three years ago, I switched to Schmetz SERV 7 needles, which only come in chrome.  If they were offered in titanium, I'd buy them.  I like the Schmetz because they seem to be stiffer than the MR needles, and don't miss stitches as often.  I would have to say the life of the chrome ones is quite long, so I'm not sure there is any benefit to using titanium coated needles for long arms.  When I was using MR needles, I damaged the tip long before the needles were worn dull.  The damaged tips were mostly caused by deflection and the needle striking the hook assembly.  The Schmetz needles I now use, have pretty much eliminated that problem.  I hardly ever have to change needles now.  Jim

[penelopefabric]

Thank you!

 

[LisaC]

I love the Micro Quilter thread by Superior for ditching; it is almost invisible and the basic colors are all you need. I have been told the Titanium needles can cause problems in the APQS machines because titanium is a harder metal than the parts in the bobbin area are made of. If you break a needle and a piece of it gets caught it can score the metal and then catch thread. I used the titanium needles for a while but then reverted back to the regular Gross Beckert needles. I bet if you do a search on this forum for the titanium needles you will find more information.

[Cagey]

The manager at Diamond Needle Corp.http://www.diamondneedle.com/about_diamond_needle.htm; the largest distributer or sewing machine needles in the world,  told me that titanium needles for normal sewers and quilters was all hype to sell more needles.  He said titanium needles were more for industrialized situations where the machine was going to run at thousands of RPMs continuously for hours, if not days on end and the manufacturer could not afford even a few minutes of assembly line shutdown for needle replacement.  

He went on to tell me that most "manufacturer" needles are actually Organ needles.  He suggested sewing and quilting on your DSM with top-stitch needles.  Superior Thread makes this same suggestion.  You can order from Diamond needle, though I believe the minimum order is 100 needles of each type.

[Kueser]

Love the Micro thread. Used it to stipple an antique baby quilt.