Hat trouble

By Ultimatestitch12 on Feb. 07, 2013
Forums: 
Embroidery and Digitizing

Hi everybody,
I have been sewing on flexfit hats and I am having a problem with the design shrinking in the center. So when I look at my design the outsides are taller than the center. I am using a double band cap frame. And I have raised the design so it's not too close to the band and its not helping. I have a new tajima 4 head and 6 head and does the same on both. I don't know what else to do! Please help!

Location: 
United States
DKgrafix's picture
Submitted by DKgrafix on Thu, 02/07/2013 - 08:10

Did you switch your machine from Flats to a Cap setting?
Is it digitized properly? Do you have proper cap backing?

Dennis
dkgrafix.com

Submitted by Ultimatestitch12 on Thu, 02/07/2013 - 08:42

Is there a cap setting you have to set on the computer? I know it's digitized right for caps. I use year away cap backing. I think what may be happening is the brim of the hat is touching the back of the hat guard on the machine which may be moving th hat? I tried to bend the brim but it goes back to its shape quickly. Should I get different cap frames?

Submitted by BJ24 on Mon, 02/11/2013 - 21:34

Also make sure your design is digitized center out. It makes a huge difference.

Submitted by jthompson on Tue, 04/02/2013 - 12:02

I too have a 1504 Tajima and was having the same problem on hats. Setting the machine to hats instead of flats makes no difference at all, all that does is limit the travel of the machine to stay within the limits of a hat hoop. I contacted Hirsh and Tajimas tech department all to no avail. I had a local embroidery machine tech come over and he watched what the machine was doing. He adjusted the little black "wheels" under each sewing arm that connects the hat driver to the machine, they were adjusted too tight and not allowing free movement of the pantograph....hope this helps

Submitted by LogoAdvantage on Wed, 04/03/2013 - 22:12

jthompson wrote:
I too have a 1504 Tajima and was having the same problem on hats. Setting the machine to hats instead of flats makes no difference at all, all that does is limit the travel of the machine to stay within the limits of a hat hoop. I contacted Hirsh and Tajimas tech department all to no avail. I had a local embroidery machine tech come over and he watched what the machine was doing. He adjusted the little black "wheels" under each sewing arm that connects the hat driver to the machine, they were adjusted too tight and not allowing free movement of the pantograph....hope this helps

Not totally true.
In some (maybe not all) machines when you change to hat settings it also increases the power output to the main motor and it also delays the pantograph movement until the needle is higher in the stroke. Not sure on your machine if this is true but on my ZSKs I know that it is true and it sometimes does make a difference in production by simply using the proper pantorgraph settings.

Submitted by Nemodogdad on Tue, 04/02/2013 - 13:13

Just out of curiosity, is your design punched so that the entire embroidery area is tied down BEFORE it starts sewing fill or column stitches? If you or your digitizer is using auto letter fonts, you are screwed. For the best result, have the entire design underlaid in the color closest to the hat color. Even have that added to your punching if it isn't doing so now, and let me know if you still experience these same problems. Also, I suggest using a 2.25 to 2.5 oz. cut away backing (it can be torn out anyway, it just isn't as clean a tear). I'd be willing to bet money that it would improve your output, and maybe even solve your problem.

If you have enough volume, Flexfit has embroidery production in Vietnam in the same location they make some of their hat styles, and the will run on parts BEFORE they assemble the hats if you have 100+ dozen runs.

Let me know if the punching helps.

Jamie

Submitted by LogoAdvantage on Tue, 04/02/2013 - 21:31

Some machines have angles on the back of the heads that are lower than others which actually causes the hat to hit the back of the head of the machine and this effects the embroidery. If this is the case then you have to really watch your placement and pushing the design too close to the bill. The closer you get to the bill the more of an issue it will have with dragging the bill on the back of the head which can cause distortion in the embroidery. Watch the cap running and see if this is the case. You may be able to adjust the cap driver to relieve some of this as well.

Submitted by obemb on Thu, 04/04/2013 - 11:23

Your Tajima settings do not need to be changed. For best results have your designs digitized from the bottom up and from the center out. Be sure the bottom of your design is at least .5" from the brim on all hats and because all Flexfit hats are structured, they sometimes ramp up a little from the bill to the crown. As Jamie said, be sure you have significant underlay to help eliminate the trampoline effect on the thick, structured, six panel Flexfits that don't like to lay flat after they're hooped. Also, 2.3" should be your max design height for best results.

Submitted by jthompson on Fri, 04/05/2013 - 12:13

obemb wrote:
Your Tajima settings do not need to be changed. For best results have your designs digitized from the bottom up and from the center out. Be sure the bottom of your design is at least .5" from the brim on all hats and because all Flexfit hats are structured, they sometimes ramp up a little from the bill to the crown. As Jamie said, be sure you have significant underlay to help eliminate the trampoline effect on the thick, structured, six panel Flexfits that don't like to lay flat after they're hooped. Also, 2.3" should be your max design height for best results.

obemb is totally correct on this. I have been doing embroidery since 1991 and hundreds of thousands of hats. They are unique to say the least! The pantograph setting on a Tajima however, does not change the power of the motor, it merely helps you not to exceed a hat hoops limits!

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