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Dear All,
In the year 2008, My wife stressed me to make a DIY embroidery machine with bigger Hoop and that can do all type of stitch work... .. It was a challenge to me... .. All types of stitches!!!!.. I asked her What do you mean by All type of stitches???...She replied " I need a machine that can compete with modern industrial Machines"... Hmmm..... and the story Begins...and I left Woodwork and tried to look like a embroider..From that day and now, i have a lot of knowledge about embroidery machines and working principal...

I researched on the machines and found that The Following are the few File Formates that Embroidery machine uses..
Brother *.pes
Tajima *.dst
Viking *.hus
Melco *.exp etc

From that day, After a long long time i was able to make a software that can drive my CNC Embroidery Machine with all types of stitches that industrial machines can do. Basically, my intent was to convert low-cost manual sewing machine into embroidery machine that can compete with industrial machines. For this I have to write a software that can convert the DST file into machine readable file.. The DST file is a TAJIMA file format and it is complex binary coded...It was hard for me make a software that can read the file and simulate the design and make the Gcode..Previous experience in visual basic Programming made it possible to write a customised program...

Following is the software that i have written in Visual BAsic Language.. With my this software machine will able to do Straight stitch, Cross-stitch, Zig-zag stitch, Satin stitch, Tatami stitch,chain stitch, Motif-run stitch, triple run stitch, Contour stitch, Perpendicular coil stitch and all types of Alphabets and Pictures...
The functionality of the machine will be..

1- The Large Hoop working area ( 9" x 20")
2- For every new colour in design machine will stop with needle upward condition for colour change.
3- A bulb will lit up so that thread can be easily changed
4- Automatic thread cutting
5-If thread broke machine will stop
Here is the Software related video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5IKwKiq_b7w

The screenshot of the software is attached. Its world first Gcode generator that can be used with any machine control software. Presently i am designing parts for my machine. The idea is to use NEMA17 motors for X-Y axes and a DC servo for rotation of the wheel. One of my internet friend tested the software and here is the link of the video.
https://youtu.be/e9tHP9UnSo8

Printed parts still on PEI bed surface.

side by side.

The software is free of cost and can be downloaded.

My wife has a Brother PE770, amazing what those things can do...

Looking forward to seeing your progress.

KAS wrote:My wife has a Brother PE770, amazing what those things can do...

Looking forward to seeing your progress.

Thanks KAS...
My intentions are to make the controller cheap... I will use RAMPS1.4 with Marlin firmware , two NEMA17 steppers for X-Y axis...One low cost DC motor converted to Servo Motor for wheel rotation. Only SD card shall be used for controlling the machine...

I'd be interested myself to see what you come up with, as someone who owns a really expensive sewing/embroidery machine (I have one of those machines that has the optional embroidery module).

I'm actually at the point where I'm actually seriously considering plunking down $$$$ for one of the professional multi-needle embroidery machines.

One of the things you will have to consider is that the bigger the hoop, the more difficult it is to properly hold the fabric (with stabilizers and topping) and keep it consistently taut throughout the stitching. Another thing is that you need to be able to design the machine so that it can do millions and millions of stitches without breaking down (the last costume that I did that required embroidery required about 700,000 stitches).

If your wife is concerned about the maximum size of what she can hoop, she might consider getting a magnetic hoop, which makes multihooping really easy.

Sounds like you need one of those Brother Dream Frames

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vaIj14Kn1EM[/youtube]

KAS wrote:Sounds like you need one of those Brother Dream Frames

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vaIj14Kn1EM[/youtube]

That's a frame for a longarm quilting sewing machine. You can get variants of these (and their associated longarm sewing machine) that have "CNC quilting" abilities (the one that is at the TechShop location near my home has a tablet that controls the machine along the frame).

It can, in a limited fashion, be used for embroidery, but it's not what I would consider an embroidery machine.