comparative analysis between Happy and Barudan single head

KIFCAT

I'm looking for comparative reviews between these 2 makes. Where/what forum/thread should I ask my question? I'm in South Australia and want to start cottage industry embroidery business. I have no previous experience with any sort of embroidery machine, and thought about the 4 and 6 needle brands before being persauded to get a proper professional machine. I have looked at the 12 needle Happy, but have heard that the equivalent Barudan is superior, though haven't had a 'hands on' yet. Thanking you in anticipation.

SunEmbroidery

I've always heard that Barudan is the cadallic of embroidery machines. What are the model numbers of the two machines? Consider after the sale service and support in your area. Is it equal for both brands?

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Jennifer

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thwills

I assume the 12 needle Happy is the Happy Voyager. My wife has 2 vintage 1999 Barudan BENTs (300 lbs) and a Happy Voyager (85 lbs) at her shop. The Barudans have been very reliable with very minimal maintenance. They are definitely more rugged machines as they were designed to be commercial machines and she prefers to run them most of the time. We got the Happy voyager because we found a used one three years old within driving distance that only had one hour's use for $5800 on the DigitSmith website. For us, cost was the deciding factor. Portability was the main advantage if we were to do the occassional show or sailboat regatta or whatever. The Happy has needed some adjustments which I was able to do myself as they have a very good customer support site with lots of color pictures. The troubles we have had were with timing and after adjusting it a half dozen times, I finally figured out that the timing belt was slipping because the timing belt tension was way too loose. Adjusting the idler wheel on the timing belt has solved the problem. The main disadvantage of the Happy is that there is only one presser foot and that the shape of the presser foot reduces your usable hoop size. If (not if, when) the presser foot hits the hoop, one of two things will happen, either the presser foot will shift just enough that the needle hits it and breaks or the presser foot itself gets bent. We always keep at least 2 spare presser feet on hand. Otherwise, the Happy and the Barudan are both good machines. Keep in mind that I am comparing a commercial-grade Barudan against a lighter-duty Happy. If you were to compare a commercial-grade Happy to a commercial-grade Barudan and both are in the same price range, I would have to believe they are both comparable.

Eric

Go Barudan ... For a million reasons. They're built like a tank, they run forever.