TracyeQ Posted March 8, 2008 Report Share Posted March 8, 2008 Okay, I ordered the GB needles w/my thread order the day from Superior. Never tried them before, but this was the perfect time. I\'m doing a bright flower applique quilt and the applique is like cardboard. I do a whole flower in different designs, hate them, rip them, then :Frustrated: joy of joys, start having thread breaking, change needle size. I bought 16,18,19 which say they are 3.0,3.5,& 4.0 on the packages. Break, break, break, finally go back to the Singer needles and break a needle. Decide it\'s time to open it up and make sure it\'s all hunky dory in side and TA DA :Rolling Eyes: find out I have junk in the trunk (not that trunk :Tounge: ) my bobbin case has a broken thread stuck in it. Whew. I thought I was gonna have to go exercise. I\'d tried everyting. I\'m running Rainbows, my #1 thread. I kicked off my Crocs and put sewers aid on the thread in case it was static, I thought I was going to have to rip out what I\'d done and leave the appliques blank. Would NOT have made me happy. I expect my machine to do ANYTHING I say, unlike my children or my dog. Someone has to mind me!!!! :Cry: Thank goodness the machine always comes thru. Okay, I tell you all that to encourage any new folks to always check for the junk in the trunk when you\'re having problems. It\'s sometimes an easy fix. Here\'s my question, these GB needles are duller than my Singers. They have a hard time, in all 3 sizes, going thru this applique compared to the Singers. Does this hurt anything? Has anyone else noticed this? Did I get the wrong ones? Are their righter ones? Thank you in advance for sharing your experience and thoughts on these. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RitaR Posted March 8, 2008 Report Share Posted March 8, 2008 Hi Tracye, Penny doesn\'t seem to care which I use.. she just chugs along. Wish It were more helpful to you. RitaR Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ffq-lar Posted March 8, 2008 Report Share Posted March 8, 2008 Hi Tracye-- I have to ask--you didn\'t mention if these GB needles were the titanium ones. I have used the titanium needles with good results for a couple of years. I have no trouble with sharpness (in fact, they last through more tops than I care to admit) nor do I have timing problems which have been reported recently. I wonder if you received ball-points instead of sharps. My package says 10 Nm 110/18 134 SAN 11 I don\'t know if this helps you--hopefully you have the wrong size and will love the right ones! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TracyeQ Posted March 8, 2008 Author Report Share Posted March 8, 2008 Linda, they are gold. They don\'t say titanium. The numbers are the same as yours. It\'s fine on the regular part of the quilt, it\'s just on the appique the needle gets locked up going down like the #8 screw was set too slow, but it\'s not. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SandraC Posted March 8, 2008 Report Share Posted March 8, 2008 Love the "junk in the trunk" analogy...haven\'t heard this in reference to the bobbin before! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeanette Posted March 8, 2008 Report Share Posted March 8, 2008 GBs are my favorite needle, been using them for several years. I was also thinking you may have not gotten the \'sharps\' titanium. There are a couple of different ones including that ballpoint needle. I think that the only \'gold\' one they make is intended for embroidery and has a slightly rounded point. Here is a URL describing all of their needles, very informative. http://www.schmetzneedles.com/Schmetz_Sales_Guide.pdf Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TracyeQ Posted March 8, 2008 Author Report Share Posted March 8, 2008 That\'s a cool site Jeanette, are the GB needles the same as the Schmetz descriptions I wonder? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeanette Posted March 9, 2008 Report Share Posted March 9, 2008 I use the Schmetz when I don\'t have the GBs and find them to be the same. The info on the site is excellent if you are confused on needles. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TracyeQ Posted March 9, 2008 Author Report Share Posted March 9, 2008 Well, I\'m thankful I have them, at least they don\'t break in this applique I\'m doing. I keep having random thread breakage. Did a whole row, no problems after the junk in the trunk discovery. Then whammo! Can\'t go more than 3 inches thread breaks. Switch back the Singer needles, same problem. Finally run out of the bobbin I was using, switch bobbins (was the likely culprit, poorly wound at the end/start), loosen the tension to just less than 100 on new Towa gage (9-10 on old one) and loosen the top to compensate and ta da - no more breaking. Until I get to the next applique and break the Singer needle. Switch to the GB I\'d been using and all\'s well w/the world. I\'m ready for an easy lessons/quilts, this one\'s been hard. <waaaaaaahh> I guess that\'s what I get for being so hard headed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yeoldeforest Posted March 9, 2008 Report Share Posted March 9, 2008 Hi Tracye, I am finding that the GB needles are having a difficult time going through the corners that have a lot of fabric. It\'s like they get stuck going down...which is not good. I\'m going to try to find the needles that came with my machine and order more of those needles...maybe they are the Singer needles... I have a CQ and when the BG needles go down but not all the way, the CQ timing causes my machine to moves before the needle can make it back up...not good!!! When I see this happening, I have to grab the head of the machine so it doesn\'t rip the quilt and hold on...feels like I\'m wrestlin\' an alligator. Plus, these needles are leaving really big wholes in my quilt. I\'m using Groz-Beckert SAN 11 #18 (MR 3.5) which is recommend for King Tut and Bottom Line and I\'m not happy with them. Superior Threads sells these needles and has decent descriptions for which threads go with which needles but I don\'t think I will order them again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Mitchell Posted March 9, 2008 Report Share Posted March 9, 2008 To my understanding Grotz Becket bought out Singer needles. All APQS machines are shipped with Singer MR Needles. If you will look at the MR needle it has a much deeper scarf. This cuts down on skipped stitches. Here at Country Lane Quilting we only stock and sell Singer MR Needles. Why mess with something that works great. If you time a machine to an MR other needles will change the scarf/hook clearance (they may/may-not work as well). John Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TracyeQ Posted March 9, 2008 Author Report Share Posted March 9, 2008 John, my problem w/this quilt is that the Singer needles are breaking cuz the applique is like cardboard. The GB are *dull* seeming, but at least they don\'t break. Is there anything that\'s a happy medium? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Mitchell Posted March 9, 2008 Report Share Posted March 9, 2008 You might try a MR5.O. We only carry sharps but they make ball point needles. Make sure the needles you have are sharps. Google the # to check. I\'m going to be researching needles for an upcoming article I’m writing. I just finished an article on tension that will be in On Track magazine, look for it. John Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TracyeQ Posted March 9, 2008 Author Report Share Posted March 9, 2008 Thanks John, can\'t wait to read the article! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
quiltmonkey Posted March 9, 2008 Report Share Posted March 9, 2008 I love this chat..... Often, when my DH is walking past me while I\'m on the computer, he notices I am reading the web site with the (all too familiar) sky blue background and immediately recognizes it... he says "You\'re always looking at that APQS site!" And I reply back "This is the best place and I learn something new every day!" Thanks, y\'all.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TracyeQ Posted March 9, 2008 Author Report Share Posted March 9, 2008 Okay, I think I\'ve found my answer. I went back the the post where Sherry had a pic of the GB needles she uses and all the numbers are the same as my package, but there is an R at the bottom of hers where mine has FFG and FFG/SES. Someone on another site told me that they use/love the GB but that they use R and they are REALLY sharp. She thought that the FFG were perhaps ball point. I found some Rs at quilt tech .com, and they are cheaper than Superior by over 2 dollars a 10 pack. I think I\'ll give them a try. I\'m already impressed w/ the fact that the GB don\'t break as easily as the MR needles. I\'ll be interested to see if the Rs are sharper since that\'s my only complaint w/them. I\'ll keep you posted. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Mitchell Posted March 10, 2008 Report Share Posted March 10, 2008 After a little research it seems you want a GB with an R point. The FFG is a ball point for fine knitted fabric. I would think an MR 5.0 would work. You need a stronger needle than a MR4.0. John Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TracyeQ Posted March 10, 2008 Author Report Share Posted March 10, 2008 I bet the 5.0 would have worked John, though I don\'t have any. LOL My problem is I already HATE the 4.0s for the giant needle holes they make in regular fabric I think a 5.0 would put my round the bend. The other day I was quilting w/ Sew Fine using a 4.0 and stood back and it looked like Glitter. I was freaked out until I realized it was the light under my table shining up thru the holes. I just hate that. I\'ve gone back to 3.5 being my norm and w/the GB I was actually running a 3.0. Thank you for your help! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Mitchell Posted March 10, 2008 Report Share Posted March 10, 2008 The holes will close up on first washing. Good Luck. John Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TracyeQ Posted March 12, 2008 Author Report Share Posted March 12, 2008 Okay, I\'ve been talking to Temple at Superior Threads and we\'ve been trying to decipher the meaning of the letters on the GB needles. She found this link on their (GB) USA site I\'m going to see if I can link it here or something. http://www.groz-beckert.de/website/media/e...ter_971_low.pdf go down to page 4 and it deciphers the ffg/r/rg all the letters on the package. The needles I\'ve been using FFG ARE ball point! No wonder! Also this was really interesting in the difference between the Rs and RGs. Temple said that her A1 needles were all sharper than the others. I asked her what they said on them and she ran out to check and they are all RG. http://www.groz-beckert.de/website/media/e...ter_370_low.pdf Nothing like getting an education the long way Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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