Re: CNC Embroidery?

--- In CAD_CAM_EDM_DRO@yahoogroups.com, "montanaaardvark"
<boblombardi@c...> wrote:

>
> Hi, All,
>
>
> I'm a lurker, and rare poster on this group.
>
> A few years ago, I saw CNC sewing machines for embroidery. That

was

> years before I CNC'ed my Sherline and knew nothing about CNC. Now

I

> got interested in making one to embroider shirts for a club I'm

in.

> I have a couple of light duty (120 in-oz) motors and a stepper
> controller just sitting around and I'm considering making one.
>
> Can anybody point me to info on CNC'ing a sewing machine for
> embroidery? I would think a 2 dimensional table approach would be
> okay, since the head goes up and down so little. I'm thinking
> steppers driving chain cogs and chains - something I can take from
> my spare bike parts. I'm sure there's lots of embroidery stuff I
> don't know (like, say, just about all of it) and I would hate to do
> something so non-standard that nothing worked with it. I don't

even

> have a sewing machine around the house to play with.
>
> I searched around the last 10,000 posts on this group and didn't

see

> anything.
>
>
>
> Thanks,
> Bob
> Montana_Aardvark

Yup, that was my idea about 15 years ago. Seemed so easy to do with
steppers. And I thought it would be a real money maker. After
thinking about it for a while I realized the mechanical part was no
problem but the software was way beyond me. I have kept my eyes open
over all these years on CNC sewing machines and they are now common
place in the home. Many mfg sell them. The internet is full of
patterns to sew, you can find darn near any pattern you can imagine.
And usually they are free for the download. You can also buy
patterns on a memory cards. Each mfg sells there own proprietary
system. Patterns can be created generically but the processed
pattern is made into code specifically for each mfg. There is no
standard Gcode type language.

If you want to build one and not buy one Go to a sewing machine store
for some ideas but basically all it is, is a X, Y table under the
needle. The fabric is held in different size hoops depending on how
large you want to make the pattern and the hoop connects to the X,Y
table. On the store bought sewing machines the X,Y table is under
the sewing machine top and only a lever sticks up in a slot to
connect to the hoop. Other than that you need to time the X,Y
movements with the needle at the top of its stroke.

There is one big mfg into generic software to design patterns and
output the proper code for just about any sewing machine, and think
in megabucks for price. The software is sold in modules and the last
time I checked started at a thousand or so USD and from there it gets
expensive. Creating a pattern is almost like using a paint program,
draw and fill. Various modules let you do useful things like
resize. The sewing machines have a little lcd display that prompts
you to change thread color.

http://www.husqvarnavikingsoftware.com/web/index.htm

Assuming you bought the software and built the X,Y mechanism to move
the cloth all you would need is a conversion program to convert one
of the mfg code files into step and direction.

I just remembered something. You can get mfg specific software much
cheaper like $400 USD. But it is usually very limited in what it can
do. I think it will let you view the patterns and resize only 10 or
20%. I do not think it lets you design. But as I said before, one
trip to a sewing machine center will give you a lot of information.


Wally