What are the boards and electronics in a commercial embroider machine, and how do they interact with each other?

I get quite a few questions about electronics and boards in embroidery machines. This is some basic information about the boards involved. Your commercial embroidery machine is basically a CNC Sewing machine. CNC stands for 'computer numerical control' which is a system that tells a machine to move to this coordinate and do something. then move tho this location and do something else.

You may use a CNC machine every day and not know it as a cnc machine. Your Printer is a CNC machine. Laser cutters, plasma cutters, 3d printers, and cnc routers are examples of other CNC machines.

Again basically the machine moves to a X - Y Coordinate and then does something. Your embroidery machine moves a shirt or cap to a specific location and does a stitch.

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      Here are some quick links to things you might need as you are running your embroidery business.

Page Links:

• Embroidery Machine Companies
• Parts and Support
• Shirts, Caps, Blanks, and Supplies
• Printed Circuit Board Repair

• Digitizing Software

• Embroidery Digitizing

Rotary hooks rotate twice every time the needle comes down, so if you run your machine at 700 stitches per minute the hook spins at 1400 stitches per minute (SPM). The interior of the Hook has a rail that slides in a raceway and holds the hook together. There are no bearings, so the rail and raceway are metal on metal. This is the only point on the machine that most manufactures recommend you lubricate every four hours of use. ​Rotary hooks may need to be replaced at around 3 to 5 years, depending on use and maintenance of the machine.

People bring you all kinds of things to embroider, and you can get into some real trouble if you mess it up.

People bring you all kinds of things to embroider, and you can get into some real trouble if you mess it up. Stitching the wrong color, in the wrong place and any other various errors can put a real cramp in your paycheck.

When we first started business we were doing some towels for a friend of the wife's. We were sewing one initial on a set of 8 towels, and we gave them the friends and family discount, a whopping $3.00 a piece. Everything was going well until the last towel when my machine became hungry and ate it. The towel slipped and the hoop came apart. I tried to fix the towel and knocked a hole in it. I tried something else and hole got bigger. We finally decided that we had to replace the towel.

The label had a fancy name and informed us that the towel was made of 800 thread count Egyptian cotton. So the search began. Over the next few days Tracee went to Macys, Bed Bath and Beyond, Target, Sears, Neiman Marcus etc.. and could not find a replacement for the Fancy Named, 800 thread count, Egyptian cotton towel. She finally gave up and called her friend.

Her friend told her not to worry about it, she bought the towel at Walmart.

So to recap this sad tale, Tracee spent about three days searching for a towel to replace a 5 dollar towel from Walmart. We only made $3.00 on it.

That is why we have a CUSTOMER SUPPLIED GARMENT WAIVER.

Feel free to copy and use it in your business.

Nothing is worse than having a technician arrive at your business and after a brief look he tells you we must order parts. The repair is delayed, additional expenses of return service, and the lost use of the machine gets expensive. I have created a list of the most common parts and suggested things that may need to be replaced on a machine.

I call it an Emergency Repair Kit. I suggest you order one for each head, but you will probably not need everything in a set for each head. This list of parts is a suggested list. They cover the most common parts that may need replacing when you have a service on the machine. This is also a list of a good set of spare parts to have on hand.

You know your machine so if you don’t have issues with it trimming you may not need to order the knife sets. If you haven’t replaced the rotary hooks since you bought the machine you may want to order all four. If you don’t need a new set of needles you don’t need to order them.

​Consult your parts supplier and parts manual for the correct parts for your machine.