My poles are WARPED.. They were delivered that way. It is not because I lean on them or put too much pressure on them by rolling my quilt too tight. It was this way when I put my first quilt on the frame. When I quilt, because the poles are warped, I may get excess fabric on one side because the poles are more warped on the left side than the right side, This is where the poles went up over the seat, then back down to the back corner of the SUV. These poles should have been laid flat.
My last quilt, I started out with a perfectly square quilt. All measurements are the same on each vertically side and horizontally side @ 120". When I am done, the left vertical side is 108.25 Right is 108.25 the center is 107.5. My POLE bowes more on the left side and I have to really watch it. While quilting, I have to make sure my dead bar is turned a certain direction because it is the most warped and it if it is turned the wrong direction, when i get down to the center (horizontal) of the quilt, I will have over 1 inch of excess fullness to deal with , but if I keep the warp going in the right direction I don't have any excess to deal with. I baste and keep my quilt straight as I roll... But when I pull the quilt off the frame, It is always shorter in the center.
My poles are 12 ft. I got them with the machine from the dealer - new. I think I was their first customer, because the next time they came up, they had a metal box made to haul the poles in so they would lay flat and told us how important it was for them to lay flat.
The manufacture is trying to 1.) tell me that warped poles are with in the standard 2.) that I warped them by pulling too tight on my quilt... when I have shown them pictures of my first quilt on the frame and you can see the red snappers pulling up on the ends (because the pole is warped) I can assure you that I do not roll my quilts too tight! I stand at the side and watch the dead bar, if it pulls out any when I am tightening, I loosen the quilt.
They said they would replace the poles, however, I have to pay shipping... which is 350.00 one way and they want me to ship the other poles back. So I am looking at 700.00 in shipping , then they said "if they pass inspection" So I may have to pay for 322.00 for the poles...
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In this picture you can see how much excess I had on the left side at the horizontal center of the quilt. This quilt was measured at the start and was square ! The center ended up 2 inches shorter in the center.. After this quilt, I removed the poles and was able to bend them down some, but still it is warped, just not as bad.
I have thought about getting other poles locally... What do you look for?