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1. What kind of voltage do I need? Our machines use standard 110 voltage. A regular wall outlet is all that is needed. 2. How long does it take to complete a king-size quilt? Length of time to complete a king-size quilt would depend on the style of quilting and complexity of the pattern (i.e., number of stitches), as well as the experience of the operator. For example, if doing an overall pantograph pattern of average complexity, the operator could complete the quilt in just a couple of hours, whereas a custom quilt requiring various machine quilting techniques and/or close stippling could take a full day. 3. Why would I want a 14' stand instead of a 12'? A king-size quilt can be completed on a 12' stand. A 14' stand would be needed to complete a king-size bedspread due to its larger size. 4. How big does my room need to be? All models come on stands that are either 12 or 14 feet in length. (With Classic and Optimum size machines, you have your choice.) Your room should be long enough to allow passage around at least one end of the stand, taking into account an additional 6 inches for handwheels/hardware. (The other end of the stand can be put against a wall, if necessary.) As for width, since long-arm models can be operated from both the front and back of the machine, your room should be wide enough to allow you to comfortably work from either side of the stand. We would recommend having a minimum of about 8 feet in width for most models. (If your room is not wide enough, you could add our optional castors to the stand legs, allowing you to reposition the stand closer to one wall or the other, depending on which side of the machine you're using.) 5. Can you make a custom size stand to fit my room? Yes, we can make custom stand lengths to your specification if standard sizes are too long. (There is a nominal customization fee to make an odd size stand.) Of course, the shorter the stand, the smaller the maximum size of the quilt you can complete on it. We would not suggest going any shorter than 10' in length, unless you plan to do only baby quilts or wall-hangings. 6. If another brand machine is more expensive than yours, does that mean it is better quality? We believe that our machine is the best quality and value on the market. There are other brand machines priced higher than ours that do not match ours in quality of materials, workmanship and features. Because we are familiar with most every brand available (since we are often asked to accept them as trade-ins), we can state with confidence that higher price does not equate to better quality. We would strongly encourage anyone shopping for a quilting machine to try out the various brands before making a decision. All manufacturers are represented at the major quilt shows. We would suggest you attend one of these shows, stop by each manufacturer's booth and ask to operate the machine for yourself. (Our machines can also be tried at our authorized dealer locations, although dealers generally do not accept other brands as trade-ins.)
Yes, we sometimes get used Gammills when customers trade in their machines for larger or more current models. We, and most of our dealers, maintain waiting lists for used Gammill machines as they become available
Like every professional and industrial sewing machine manufacturer, we have our heads molded rather than welded. We believe a molded head provides more precision in parts alignment than welding ever could, since welding involves heating and cooling (expansion and contraction) of materials. (Until 1989, we too had a welded machine before switching to the more professional and improved molded aluminum method.) 9. Why don't you have your machine head made in the U.S.? At the present time, the industrial factories where aluminum molding is done are located abroad. However, ask any manufacturer where the important sewing mechanism parts for their machines are made (i.e., sewing hook, bobbin case, tensions, needle bar, take-up lever, etc.), and they should all answer "Asia" - even if the shell of their machine is made in the U.S.A. Our all-steel stands are built locally. Motors, electronics and many parts on our machines are installed here in West Plains, Missouri. Since the majority of our total product is made in the U.S., and enough work is done to the heads stateside, our machines are NAFTA certified. 10. Is the weight of the machine an issue I should care about? Not in our estimation. Our best-selling long-arm heads weigh from 45 to 68 pounds. Although there are machines on the market that weigh less than ours, we consider our machines the proper weight to give the operator the stability needed when the machine is moved to the widest point in the carriage -- without having to use an awkwardly designed track system in an effort to provide more stability. With our incomparably smooth wheel and track system, an operator can guide our machine with only two fingers. At any rate, there are very few occasions when the head would need to be removed from the stand. 11. What are ergonomically designed handles? Ergonomic design means conditions best suited to the worker. Our
handles are positioned for the most comfortable operation of the
machine, as well as to allow for visibility of the needle. We encourage you to request a written copy of the manufacturer's warranty before making any purchase. Effective 8/1/04, our warranty is FOUR years against mechanical or electrical defect (excludes normal wear parts), with FOUR years free in-shop service (our service center or a dealer location). This is the most comprehensive warranty in the industry! Our warranty against mechanical or electrical defect is for one year because any manufactured defect would exhibit itself during that time period. If you'll read the fine print on some of our competitors' warranties, you'll find their deceptively generous warranty is only on the external shell of the machine - not on the mechanics or electrical, which at the time of this writing, is comparable to ours. We see no reputable or valid reason to warranty the shell of our machine "10" or "20" years, even though we could. 13. Do you ever have any specials? Due to our pricing philosophy and policy to treat all customers the same, we do not offer discounts on our machines. We price our machines to stay in business and make a fair profit. We do not believe in elevating prices so we can give customers a so-called discount, or offer a reduced price "floor model" -- just to make the sale. Regarding show specials, some Gammill dealers might offer extra equipment, patterns, etc., as a "special" for orders placed at shows, but machine prices are not discounted. 14. How does your double-capacity bobbin work? Our patented Automatic Thread Escapement system allows us to use the double-capacity "M" style bobbin in our machines. Since it releases all stress on the thread as it passes through the escapement, superior stitch quality is achieved regardless of speed. 15. How is bobbin thread trimming accomplished on your machine? If the thread trimmer only trims the bobbin thread, it is only doing half the job. Since the operator must trim the top thread, we feel it is better to simply push the single stitch button on our machine and bring the bobbin thread to the top side, where both top and bobbin threads can be trimmed simultaneously. This method also eliminates the need to go back later and trim all the tags of thread left by all bobbin thread trimmers. 16. How do I know which model best suits my needs? The throat space on each model determines capacity for piece size, batting thickness, and pattern width. Since we offer four long-arm sizes and a short-arm model, there's a Gammill machine to fit every need and budget. If you're planning to machine quilt as a business, we would recommend either the Classic or Optimum size machine. The Classic's 26" by 10" throat space is large enough to handle any quilt a client might ask you to do. The Optimum's larger 30" by 12" throat would be better suited to the quilter who also does bedspreads (which are larger than quilts and use thicker batting), the quilter who prefers wider patterns and a larger work area, or the quilter who simply wants to roll up the fabric less often. Our smallest long-arm, the Premier 18-8, is generally sufficient for the person who's just quilting for family and friends, or doing limited business. (A king-size quilt can be done on the Premier if thin batting is used.) However, if quilting as a business, you would encounter some limitations with this model with regard to pattern width, piece size and batting thickness, due to its smaller 18" by 8" throat space. Our largest long-arm models, the Supreme 36-14 and Supreme Plus, are designed for the large decorator workroom doing mass production bedspreads (channel, outline or simple pantograph). Their extra large 36" by 14" throats are greater than someone making quilts would need or want for doing the intricate patterns usually desired on quilts. Our short-arm model, the Homecraft, is designed for doing narrow (6" wide) pantograph patterns on up to queen-size quilts. Its throat space is that of a standard industrial sewing machine - 11" by 5.5". This machine does not have nearly the capacity or versatility of a long-arm model, but it does an excellent job at what it can do, and is a comparably inexpensive way to start machine quilting. 17. Do you have a trade-up program? Yes. If a customer purchases a new Gammill machine and is ready to trade up to a larger model within or at one year of ownership, our headquarters (West Plains) office will offer 75% of the purchase price back as a trade-in allowance (assuming the machine and stand are in good condition). The percentage we can offer as a trade-in allowance decreases with additional years of ownership. Note: Independent dealers set their own trade-in allowances. 18. If my machine should ever need service, where do I take it? We and/or our dealers offer toll-free technical support six days a week. Part of the training we provide with personal delivery is on the maintenance of the machine, and our machines come with an easy-to-follow Technician's Service Manual. If you were ever to encounter a service issue we couldn't address by phone (which would be unusual), we would ask you to bring or ship the head to our service center or to your dealer's shop for service. Otherwise, because our machines are made with standard industrial sewing machine parts, anyone knowledgeable in working on industrial sewing machines should have the know-how to work on ours. (If you ever took the machine to a local repairman, our Lead Technician would want to speak with him first.) 19. Should I buy from a dealer or direct? Customers can purchase from any authorized Gammill dealer or direct from our Company. Machine prices are the same whether you buy from a dealer or direct. (There could be differences in charges for shipping and/or delivery, set-up and training.) Due to the specialized nature of our product, our dealers are generally quite distant from one another and are willing to cover broad areas for delivery. If you live near a dealer, it could be advantageous for you to purchase through this dealer for convenience, future training opportunities, or service availability, if ever needed. But if you prefer the services offered by another dealer or want to purchase direct for any reason, you are free to do so. 20. How can you offer personal delivery, set-up and training, instead of just shipping by truck line like most other manufacturers? Due to the number of machines we sell nationwide, we are able to offer personal delivery for a reasonable charge by batching our deliveries by direction. With personal delivery, our Delivery Technicians (or dealers) will set up the machine and stand for the customer and provide on-site training on the basic operation of the machine. To supplement the training we provide upon delivery, we invite our direct customers to come to our showroom for an intermediate class at no charge. (We require our dealers to offer personal delivery to their customers, as well, and provide them training opportunities.) Although our machines come with an excellent instructional video for reference, we find that nothing can beat some hands-on training when someone is first getting started. 21. What is a stitch regulator and how is yours different than others on the market? A stitch regulator is a device that gives the operator even stitch length regardless of their skill level -- essentially reducing the learning curve for someone who is brand new to machine quilting. On a conventional hand-guided machine, the operator must learn to move the machine in a fluid, consistent motion to get even stitch length. While this is something anyone can achieve with varying degrees of practice, a stitch regulator allows more professional work to be done with less experience. Even seasoned machine quilters find a stitch regulator beneficial, particularly for handling patterns and designs with points. Our stitch regulator is a built-in feature on our "Plus" line of machines introduced in Spring 2001. The Classic Plus, Optimum Plus and Supreme Plus are essentially stitch-regulated versions of our conventional deluxe line, but with a few extra features in addition to the stitch regulator. On our Plus machines, stitch length (i.e., number of stitches per inch) is selected from a display panel at either end of the machine. Encoders in the wheels signal the motor to speed up or slow down based on the operator's movement, so relatively even stitch length is achieved regardless of whether the operator is moving the machine at a perfectly consistent speed. There were other stitch regulators on the market before ours. We worked with several electronics engineers before finding the one who was able to design and develop the product we wanted for our machine. We could have introduced a stitch-regulated machine sooner that would have been similar to others, but we wanted to wait until we had a stitch regulator that was superior in performance, simplicity of operation and noise level, and had some added features to further distinguish ours from the rest. These added features unique to our Plus line include a low bobbin alert, "stop-sew" sensor, run-time clock and dual channel locking system (horizontal and vertical). 22. Does your machine have any patented features? Yes. We have several patents on our machines, three of which are our Automatic Thread Escapement, Variable-Stroke Hopping Foot and Auxiliary Intermittent Tension. 23. How long does it take to get the fabric pinned and set up to quilt? Initially, it takes a new machine quilter 45-50 minutes to get the fabric pinned. Speed and agility come with repetition and reduce the prep time to 30-45 minutes. 24. What are Zippered Leaders and how do they work? "Leaders" are the pieces of canvas attached to the fabric-handling rollers. The quilter pins their top and backing fabric to these leaders in preparation to quilt. We offer Leaders with Zippered Edges as an option. The zippered edge simply allows the quilter to pin their fabric to the removed leader edge from another location (such as seated in a chair) rather than at the stand. Then the edge can be zipped to the rest of the canvas leader with the fabric already pinned. With this option, each zippered leader comes with two edges, one of which could be in use while the other could be pre-pinned (to expedite set-up for the next quilt). Zippered leaders also allow a work-in-progress to be easily removed and put back on later, in the event another job takes priority over the one loaded on the stand. 25. In choosing a quilting machine, how important should a manufacturer's experience be in making my decision? We consider experience one of our greatest assets. While employing the expertise of world-renowned electronics engineers to keep our brand at the forefront of new technological developments, we feel we know the mechanics of quilting machines better than anyone, having been manufacturing quilting machines since the late 1970s. 26. How much money can I make machine quilting? The amount of money a person can make machine quilting will vary due to their location, the type of work clients are willing to pay for, and how many hours a long-arm quilter can devote to their business. Our customers tell us consistently they are booked ahead weeks or
even months with orders. Quilting in general has steadily increased in
popularity over the years -- and continues to do so as more folks
decorate with quilts and pursue quilting as a hobby. So, the more pieced
tops done, the more there are to be machine quilted! In addition,
long-arm quilters are not restricted to just their own geographic area
for their client base. Many people are willing to send their quilt tops
great distances to be quilted due to a long-arm quilter's reputation for
creative work, the lack of long-arm quilters in their area or too long a
waiting period. Many long-arm quilters rely on machine quilting as their primary source of income. We have numerous customers who've left professions to stay at home for one reason or another, yet still needed to generate some degree of income. As a cottage industry, machine quilting is an ideal pursuit to allow someone to "be their own boss", and take on as much or as little workload as they want to stay busy. 27. Do you offer financing? We do not offer in-house financing. Our customers often get financing through their bank or credit union. To facilitate financing, we can provide you a proforma invoice listing what charges would be if you were to purchase a specific model. (There is no obligation to purchase. You would need to activate the proforma to place an order.) Your bank might wish to see this type of official document from our Company (or from an authorized dealer's business) listing model, options and pricing for the machine you're interested in purchasing. We can also sell through a leasing company of your choice, if you prefer. We accept all major credit cards, cash, (USD funds) for supply
purchases
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