XTS Hats

[Mike Garber]

We have 2 new XTS machines that are struggling when sewing hats.
I am trying to sew a sarif text logo about 3/4 of an inch from the brim. When the machine gets to the bottom of the text closest to the brim we get constant false thread breaks. It is a structured hat with 1pc of 3oz backing. Have tried material thickness of 9-11. We have taken off the wings and adjusted the cap driver several times. We have older red heads (with raised needle plate and wings) that sew the design fine. Anyone have any suggestions?

Thanks,
Mike

[HERB]

Try setting your minimum thickness to six. Run with actifeed on auto.

[Mike Garber]

Hey Herb.

I will try that. I didn't go that low because I assumed the embroidery would get too tight.

[Mike Garber]

I am now sewing a string of text 3/4 inches from the brim of an unstructured hat. Along with false thread breaks, the text is distorted. We are taping the hat brim to keep it from getting wear marks where rubs on the back of the needle case. As soon as we move the design up and the brim does not rub the text is fine. How is everybody keeping the hat brim out of the way? I need to be able to sew closer than an inch from the brim.

Thanks,
Mike

[Greenwing]

I have made covers (shaped like a hat bill) out of canvas, just two layers and sewn on the brim edge place them on every hat we sew. works great and no more ware marks.....

[Mike Garber]

Does the rubbing of the bill effect the sewing on your machine?

[Greenwing]

No
Does the XTS have the clip to keep the bill pulled back?
I am not familiar with the new hat frame as I have the old XT.

We are able to get 1/2 inch above the bill.

I do tend to turn up the lower thread limit on hats to about 5-8

[Mike Garber]

The XTS does not have a bill clip on the cap frames. It seems like it needs it. The bill rubs fairly hard and pushes on the hat. Our older machines have a clip to pull the bill back and we can get pretty close to the bill. I would be happy within 3/4 of an inch.

[Rod or Sharon]

Mike,

Are these caps the Flex Fit style? They are possibly the most difficult to master, low profile unstructured being the next....

With any cap, you must hoop them as tightly as you possibly can. Gathering up the cap material underneath while hand ironing the front of the cap on the ring gauge will help to get the excess loft and looseness out of the top of the cap to prevent flagging. Flagging can be a huge cause of the false/real thread breakage and/or fraying you are experiencing. Having the presser foot as low as you can, as long as it is not leaving a footprint on the material, is also very important.

Another issue is while hooping the cap, "do not" bend the bill of the cap back towards your belly to attempt to get a deeper bite on the cap band. As you place the cap on the hoop, with the cap band exposed,just push it forward until the bill comes in contact with the standoff, gather up the back material of the cap, stretch it tightly and hand iron down the top face of the cap to get it as flat on the ring gauge as possible.

The new XTS cap frames use a "clamping" technique vs a "hooping" technique to hold the cap secure. I like this better than the older XT frame versions . Also the new XTS cap driver is a definite improvement over the older drivers for the Amayas....it has been a process of evolution.

As suggested, use the auto acti-feed and set the auto lower limit, found in Tools, Settings, Threadfeed to the 6-ish area. Getting this figure too high will result in the machine feeding more thread than necessary and can cause false thread break/bobbin break problems. Too low andreal threadbreaks can occur.

As far as the bill rubbing on the back of the grabber trap, it may be that you are bending the bill back in the hooping process or not hooping it tightly enough or a combination of both, etc....make sure the cap driver is installed properly and slid all the way to the rear. As far as removing the wings off of the Red XTS cap driver, I haven't had the opportunity to experiment with that, but do not see that it would be necessary on this particular cap driver/frame version. If anything, it should help stretch the front of the cap and keep it tighter for sewing purposes.

There...you have my 2 cents worth for today ;-)

Rod Springer
Amaya Tech & Trainer

[Mike Garber]

Thanks Rod.
Lowering the lower limit to 6 is helping. I have a line of text at the bottom of a design that sews smaller (height wise) over the middle of the hat when I sew 3/4 of an inch from the bill. I am bending the bill away from me (quit severely now) while hooping to keep it away from the grabber trap. As it sews the bill comes back and hits the trap. I feel as though the text is distorted because it is hitting and pushing on the cap. Do you have the Red XTS cap driver?

[Rod or Sharon]

Bending the bill "severely"away from you against the standoff would tend to spring load the center portion of the cap up off of the ring gauge when what you really want is for the cap to fit as flat as possible to the contour of the gauge cylinder. The incline of the cap close to the bill, if it is not in contact with the cap driver, will cause the presser foot to ride down the incline and try to pull the material backwards towards the bill seam, distorting the embroidery in this area.

Is this lettering being sewen "centerout and sewen as the first thing in the overall design? Center out...bottom up for cap designs...

You mentioned "unstructured cap". I usually use at least two layers of backing and even sometimes will use a lite adhesive spritz to help keep the material from shifting on the backing to keep things from wandering.

No, I personally do not have the Red XTS cap driver, but would take one if someone wanted to give me one ;-)... I have trained many folks that do have them and find them to be superior to the older versions....

Rod Springer
Amaya Tech & Trainer

[Mike Garber]

I only bent the last hat severely trying to get the bill out of the way. The previous hats we hooped normally. They are unstructured hats with 2 layers of backing, but, we have tried structured hats and get the same result. The text is the first thing in the design and sews inside out. When I move the text off to the side on the hat, away from the bill, it sews straight. The sew quality on these XTS machines are definitely better than our older machines, just need to get over this learning curve and or machine issue....