DigitSmith Embroidery and Screen Printing

[ripready]

Hi,

I am a newbie to embroidery and have a few questions regarding commercial embroidery machines.

1. It seems 40weight or 120d x 2 thread is most common for commercial embroidery. But I have also see you can use 50 weight (finer) thread. Is 50weight common for use in commercial embroidery machines?

2. Who makes 50 weight thread for commercial machines. I see companies like DMC make 50weight thread but not sure if this is for the small home machines or for the commercial ones.

3. What advantages does a finer thread offer? If you are trying to make a solid background in a logo, would it look better with finer thread with a higher stitch count?

Thanks for the help in advance.

Henry

[SkyLinePrints]

40 weight is what all my machines run. I do have some 30 for specific applications/customers but I cant imagine running 50 weight. Its thinner so I can only imagine all the thread breaks you would have if your tensions were off. Yikes!

As a newbie, you need to limit your variables. Pick one thread weight and use it exclusively. The largest or at least one of the largest learning curves of embroidery machines is obtaining and MAINTIAINING the proper tension. You need to learn that before you start swapping variables like thread density.

Just my .02. :-)

[ripready]

Thanks for the information. So I managed to get the reference sample back from the customer and three things I noticed:

1. I know with most standard embroidery you will have some sort of weaving pattern. See the image I have linked (I highlighted the weave with red lines)

You can see the image here:

http://img161.imageshack.us/my.php?i...tandardwt1.jpg

2. Oddly enough, the reference sample, you can't see it. When I did do a high resolution scan, it sort of looks like the weave is at 45 degrees but with the naked eye it is very difficult to tell. This is what I am trying to match.

You can see the image here:

http://img140.imageshack.us/my.php?image=goodle7.jpg

3. I'm not sure if this matters or not but the sample I am trying to match doesn't feel as stiff. You can sort of bend it easier and it is relatively soft. Whereas the standard embroidery is hard (as expected).

Anyone have any ideas? I thought it was thread weight but could it be anything else? Everyone that tries to digitize the logo uses the same weaving method as #1 but I haven't seen anyone do something similar to #2.

Thank you in advance for all the help.

Henry

[PacCoDist]

My favorite is Ackermann, Isacord 40 weight poly.
around a 5 pound breakage test, will not bleach out and
emense amount of color choices