Originally Posted by
Prism99
I think the dead bar depends a lot on personal preference in combination with how many quilts you do. I do not have a dead bar on my Voyager/Hinty setup and do not miss it. I did install Bower lifts so it is easy for me to adjust takeup bar height when I need to, which is not for every roll. However, I do not quilt for long periods of time. I quilt just 2 or 3 hours per day when I have a quilt in the frame, which is not every week, and quilt only for myself. If you quilt for others or do a lot of quilting every day, a dead bar eliminates the step of adjusting height when rolling a quilt.
The type of batting you use can affect whether or not you can roll a king size quilt in a given area. My Voyager has a 17" throat and I have had no trouble rolling an oversized queen on it using Warm'n'Natural batting.
It would help if you could narrow down a list to the specific machines you are considering. Every machine/frame setup seems to have its own quirks.
Thanks Prism ... I will not make a dead bar a major qualifyer in my decision.
I don't plan on quilting for others, and I don't see myself at the machine for more than 1-2 hours at a time, perhaps more on weekends on occasion - but not often. Very similar to yourself I guess.
I have already narrowed down my machines, and one of them is the Tin Lizzy which has a lower harp area. An 18" Tin Lizzy has less total harp area than the 18" Innova because the harp on the TL is not as high. If the lower harp area on the TL is going to present a problem with a larger size quilt using a fairly lofty batt (wool probably), then I can scratch the TL off my list and concentrate on the others that I liked. So far I've narrowed it down to Innova, APQS, Tin Lizzy, Baby Lock and Juki.
My final decision will be based on all these factors: the machine itself, the frame, and the local dealer/support. Price will play a role only if it's the deciding factor all else being equal.
At this moment in time ... if someone said I MUST choose a machine this moment, it would be the Innova with the Lightning stitch. Looooved that Lightning stitch!!! The fact that I could walk up to that machine and immediately micro-stiple at a fairly slow pace, with nicely formed uniform shaped loops, with consistent stitch length and no eyelashes ... blew me away. From what I understand it's one of the more difficult things to get master on a long arm. It's quite possible that my initial knee-jerk choice will be my end result, but I would be remiss if I didn't give everything my full consideration, as you know it's a pretty big decision.