[TheForge] now for something completely different

[Bob]

My wife has a mid-arm quilting frame - machine throat is only 18". It is 
manually driven and not computer controlled. It does have sensors that 
determine how fast the operator is moving the machine in each axis and 
controls the motor speed in order to keep the stitch length the same 
regardless of which direction the machine is being moved. The stitch 
length is also adjustable via electronic controls.
The fully automatic Gammill brand with 30" throat depth will set one 
back over $30,000 including the computer, software, X-Y servo drive 
mechanism and a goody box of accessories. I have not seen any that drive 
the rollers but I have not looked at them recently. The sewing machines 
on these quilting frames appear to be built somewhat tougher than normal 
sewing machines and have no feed dogs to feed the fabric because the 
machine can sew in any direction at any time.
I suspect that a lot of time and energy has been spent perfecting the 
systems at a high development cost. I can speak from experience that 
when the machine is not doing what the operator expects it to do, it 
will ruin the whole day or days for the operator and anyone in close 
proximity to the operator.

Trust me on this!

Bob Willman	
The Eagle's Anvil
Bowling Green, Ohio
WB8NQW

At the time of the adoption of the Constitution and the amendments,
The universal sentiment was that Christianity should be encouraged…
In this age there can be no substitute for Christianity…
That was the religion of the founders of the republic and they
expected it to remain the religion of their descendants.

House Judiciary Committee Report – March 27, 1854

On 1/2/2014 10:45 AM, terry l. ridder wrote:
> hello;
>
> For several months I have been observing people who quilt spend in my
> opinion far too much money and time on something that should not be
> overly expensive nor complicated; a quilting frame.
>
> quilting frame is basically a laminating frame. there is a top, a
> middle and a bottom. normally, there are four rollers. the take-up
> roller, the top supply roller, the middle supply roller and the bottom
> supply roller. These layers are secured together with thread sewn with a
> long-arm sewing machine. the take-up roller is generally located to the
> right of the needle above the free-arm. originally, the quilting was
> perfomed by hand with needle and thread. somewhere along the line the
> meaning of simple and simplicity have been lost in building quilting
> frames.
>
> i have seen two models of quilting frames which have servo motors
> driving the rollers, acme screws driven by servo motors which drive the
> long arm sewing machine back and forth, fore and aft. all under the
> control of a computer running a CNC program.
>
> there are many intelligent people on theforge from many different
> careers and occupations. in the spirit of the Junk-Yard-Hammer, could we
> brainstorm to come up with a simple design for a quilting frame that is
> inexpensive to build, simple to operate and fullfills the original
> purpose of the quilting frame, sew three layers together.
>
> to start off my first thoughts were to use a gantry type frame. instead
> of rollers the layers are laid out flat and held in place either by
> metal clips or clips on bungee cords. the draw back is the long arm
> sewing machine.
>
> the cost of long arm sewing machines is another area that needs to be
> addressed at a different time.
>
> anyway, there it is. comments, flames, hints, suggestions, etc welcome.
>