michelleslongarm Posted January 31, 2008 Report Share Posted January 31, 2008 oops Tracey already had this posted. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clovismom Posted January 31, 2008 Report Share Posted January 31, 2008 I believe the thread guid referred to at the bottom of the document is specific for the Gammill and will not work on the APQS. The Gammill have a removable foot that this quide can slip on to and the APQS foot is solid. You would be better off using Sherry Rogers suggestion of the Juki guide. Raquel Birch APQS Sales Rep Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
michelleslongarm Posted January 31, 2008 Report Share Posted January 31, 2008 WOW Thank you . . . important to know!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rcck00 Posted February 1, 2008 Report Share Posted February 1, 2008 Hi Sherry, I saw in the first picture you posted when showing your setup that you have a light attached to the side of your Millie. Can you tell me where you got that? I would really like to get one! Thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KathyA Posted February 7, 2008 Report Share Posted February 7, 2008 Have to tell you - went to Dick\'s Sporting Goods to get the fishing guides. Big Burly Fishman guy (another customer) comes over to help me - asks me what I\'m using them for and I tell him, he just lowers his head, shakes it a bit, then helps me pick out a packet. Too funny. Loved it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mary Beth Posted February 7, 2008 Author Report Share Posted February 7, 2008 Cathy, I think I can answer that...Sherry got the light at Ikea. There is a post where she gives the web address. You might do a search on this site for Ikea - you will probably find it. the bad news is...you need to have an Ikea in your area. We don\'t and you can\'t order this light over the internet:mad: Kathy A. - My DH is worried about his fishing poles right now!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TracyeQ Posted February 7, 2008 Report Share Posted February 7, 2008 Originally posted by Mary Beth Kathy A. - My DH is worried about his fishing poles right now!! Mary Beth, my DH wants me to use ours (he has auction issues and has lots of them I guess) but I said I wanted something w/out the worm parts or fish guts. I went to the only store in our nearby area that had anything like that and they were all really big. It was a fly fishing store and he said I needed to find a spinning rod store. I looked online and found a place www.mudhole.com (if I remember right) that had some really pretty red ones that would look nice on my machine. :cool: But I wanted to talk to DH about them and see if the centers were good. They were, oh here\'s the link.. http://www.mudhole.com/Shop-Our-Catalog/Other-Guides/GNRS-Freshwater-Spinning-Guides I just don\'t know if those gold centers are groove resistant. You\'d think they should be w/fishing line running thru them, but I wasn\'t sure. Also, I got almost all of the "whip"out of my take up lever by threading it backwards so it crosses. This is what I\'m doing until I get some real guides. I need to order the needle bar part Sherry mentions in the other post. There\'s something about my stitches that look "wobbly" in between the two needle holes of one stitch. Someone on another list said it\'s the way the thread has to travel into the eye, or something, and to turn the needle, but I\'m thinking that that guide would do the trick. I had one already on my Proto and never noticed the wobble look so I\'m anxious to see if it helps that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ffq-lar Posted February 7, 2008 Report Share Posted February 7, 2008 Hi Tracye, That is a great site you found! The center of the guides are Titanium coated so they should never get grooves. The wobble you mention I believe is an element of the stitch-forming. The bobbin thread and the top are held together with one "twist" and that will cause the thread to look like it comes out of one end of the stitch slightly to the left and goes onto the fabric slightly to the right. With heavier thread and our big needle, this diagonal is more pronounced. Finer thread and a shorter stitch length will minimize this. I am sure I read this on the Superior Threads site a long time ago. This is why everyone loves the Featherweight machines for piecing. Their stitches are so straight and single-file. We have a brand new Cabela\'s here and I will see if they carry the porcelain fishing pole guides. I will post if I find them and if anyone wants, I can buy some extras and will mail them out to you all--I am sure my shipping charge will be less than Cabela\'s! I will keep everyone posted. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clovismom Posted February 7, 2008 Report Share Posted February 7, 2008 For any one looking for the needle bar guide juki part # 103-08401 that Sherry had in her post. They have it in stock at Orange County Industrial Sewing Machines 714-953-0977 Ask for Marty. And yes they ship ! Raquel APQS Sales Rep Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mary Beth Posted February 7, 2008 Author Report Share Posted February 7, 2008 Okay, try this site below....I think it has what we are looking for. If I am correct, we want eyes that are ceramic or that create less friction. DH says there are newer materials than the ceramic that work as well or better.... http://www.cabelas.com/cabelas/en/templates/index/index-display.jsp?id=cat410035&navAction=jump&navCount=1&cmCat=MainCatcat20166&parentType=category&parentId=cat20166 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clovismom Posted February 8, 2008 Report Share Posted February 8, 2008 juki needle bar guide For any one looking for the needle bar guide juki part # 103-08401 that Sherry had in her post. They have it in stock at Orange County Industrial Sewing Machines 714-953-0977 Ask for Marty. And yes they ship ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lovetwoquilt Posted February 11, 2008 Report Share Posted February 11, 2008 FYI Raicherts carries the Juki needle bar thread guide too. I just ordered that, the ceramic thread guides, some schmetz needles to try and the stuff to stick the guides on with. Jason Raichert was really nice and helpful. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
catsigler Posted February 12, 2008 Report Share Posted February 12, 2008 This has been such a great thread. Thanks for starting it Mary Beth. I learned many helpful things from it, but maybe the MOST helpful of all was learning that Sharon\'s machine isn\'t light as a feather; she just makes it look that way because she is strong. Did anyone else notice the women\'s comments about how heavy her machine is? When I started exercising with weights at the gym a few weeks ago, I had no idea that it might help me gain control of the longarm! I can\'t wait to finish implementing all the changes I\'ve learned about from these posts. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mary Beth Posted February 12, 2008 Author Report Share Posted February 12, 2008 I agree Cathey, I too have learned a ton of information. I have a list going of things I need to tweak! I have started to lift weights too, to help my shoulders. I have no upper body strength so my shoulders get tired quickly, weights should help - and we all should be doing it any way. Someday we will be quilting in our body builder bikinis:D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TracyeQ Posted February 12, 2008 Report Share Posted February 12, 2008 Thank you for the info Linda! I switched to a 3.5 needle but should shorten my stitch length too. So do you think those guides are as good as ceramic? If so I think they are really pretty. LOL You know, I\'ve been threading my take up lever backwards since I did it accidently after having a thread break and it making such a difference on the "whip" going on there. When I first got my machine my thread kept shredding right at the light switch knob. It would actually catch on it. DH pushed it in hard and it stopped, but it let me know that as it flew by it was flinging itself over on that knob. I think the backwards threading is keeping it in line until I get a thread guide there. DH said the perfect thing would be a longer tubular guide if you could just find one that didn\'t have any rough edges. Yeah Cathey I did notice the weight thing, and that\'s the only thing I haven\'t been sold on yet. I just switched machine brands to have LESS drag, now I supposed to ADD drag? I guess my machine just doesn\'t feel TOO freewheeling for me. I have felt that in some brands, but I just don\'t have a problem w/my movement one way or the other. I haven\'t had a chance to do anything extremely dense or detailed on it yet though, so maybe I\'ll "get it" on the drag then. On the upper body stuff. I was having some shoulder pain and was pretty sure it was not rotator related and a PT friend suggested standing nex to a wall facing it about arms lenth away. Leaning onto it and doing push ups off the wall. Not as strenuous as on the floor. It got rid of the pain and I gained some strength as well. I second the thanks on this thread, it has been so helpful! Angels on your bodies. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FrammaJoy Posted February 13, 2008 Report Share Posted February 13, 2008 WOW! I\'ve spent the last hour reading all this stuff about needles, guides, big*** bases, etc. I was actually trying to find out "how to remove the light bar". My question, after all this information, is this: Do you leave that big*** base on ALL THE TIME??? I don\'t leave the extended base that came with my Millie on all the time because it bumps in to everything. I read that one lady had attached hers with super sticky tape, so I assume she leaves it on. Thank you so much for all this info. I thought it was just for Gammills or that other machine (?) that Sharon uses. Glad to know this all works on the Millie too! Hugs, Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quilting Heidi Posted February 13, 2008 Report Share Posted February 13, 2008 Joy, I usually leave my bases on. I have the extended base and the Big A** base. I moved my bars up a little so they don\'t bump into anything. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smhowell Posted February 14, 2008 Report Share Posted February 14, 2008 Originally posted by chickenscratch I ordered some needles with my last fabric order. Was going to put one in my machine and noticed it is just a smidge (1/16-1/8") shorter than the MR needles. Is that going to be a problem? There is extensive information concerning the way a longarm makes the stitch correctly on the Nolting site (www.nolting.com). They state that a difference in length that much will mess up your stitches fur sure, and might knock it out of timing, or, worst case scenario, mess up the hook. My best guess is that either the stitch won\'t be formed because the hook doesn\'t catch the thread or the hook will actually hit the needle, breaking the thread, needle or the point of the hook. Personally, I wouldn\'t bother with trying to use the wrong needles. Better to return them or Ebay them. I re-timed my machine for the first time the last time I got on it, and it was a piece of cake (can\'t believe it was still making acceptable stitches as far out as it was). I watched (several times) the Mindy Casperson video, "I\'ve Got A Longarm (and I\'m not afraid to use it!)" which shows the procedure. Only took a couple of tries to get the timing back to perfect. Thank God my hook was ok, although at worst, another one could be bought. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quiltsinmotion Posted February 14, 2008 Report Share Posted February 14, 2008 You know, I\'ve been threading my take up lever backwards since I did it accidently after having a thread break and it making such a difference on the "whip" going on there. When I first got my machine my thread kept shredding right at the light switch knob. It would actually catch on it. DH pushed it in hard and it stopped, but it let me know that as it flew by it was flinging itself over on that knob. I think the backwards threading is keeping it in line until I get a thread guide there. DH said the perfect thing would be a longer tubular guide if you could just find one that didn\'t have any rough edges. do you mind explain this with more details ? How have you been threading backwards ? thanks This has been a great thread I will have to get one of Sharon dvd\'s learn so much here Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TracyeQ Posted February 15, 2008 Report Share Posted February 15, 2008 Carol, here\'s a pic of what I mean. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lovetwoquilt Posted February 15, 2008 Report Share Posted February 15, 2008 Hi All, Another FYI. The Juki needle bar thread guide didn\'t fit my Millie. I spoke with Jason Raichert and he told me that he is working with a Millie owner near him in AZ and they are working on one that will fit the Millie. He has some coming in this next week. He sending me one free of charge to replace the Juki one. They are so very nice and helpful at Raicherts. Thanks........ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
catsigler Posted February 15, 2008 Report Share Posted February 15, 2008 Thanks for the info, Lani. I ordered from them and haven\'t received my order or even heard back from them all week. Maybe that\'s what\'s causing the delay. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
michelleslongarm Posted February 15, 2008 Report Share Posted February 15, 2008 I placed an order and it took about 10 days. Not the norm, they were on back order. They are very helpful and return calls quickly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quiltsinmotion Posted February 16, 2008 Report Share Posted February 16, 2008 Tracye thank you for posting a picture Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clovismom Posted February 18, 2008 Report Share Posted February 18, 2008 Lani Did you order juki part # 103-08401 ? That is the one I ordered from Orange County Industrial and what I did was just open it a little and then slide it on the bottom of the needle bar. Slide it up until it touches the needle set screw. This however places it quite low. When Sharon is in Central California teaching on my machine in April I will see if she thinks it is to low. I dont think so as the idea is to have the thread track straight down to the needle eye. Raquel Birch APQS Sales Representative California Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.