Does anyone know if the Juki TL98@ can be stretched and if so who does it?

I never thought about this... what a GREAT question!!! :D:D:D

You must be joking.

I have seen other machines madified, not sure about a Juki

Sewing machine pilates, LOL!

What do you mean by stretched????

I belong to the yahoo juki group and they have all the info....They talk about a waiting line but those that have had it done love it....I'll see if I can find a picture

heres what I found

Rick at Wow Quilts is the person they normally talk about stretching their Juki, Brother, & Babylock machines. He may do others. The website is: http://wowquilts.com/

They build their own industrial looking quilters also.

I can't find any place on their site that talks about Juki.

Gee, I didn't know that could be done!

This is an awesome idea. I am sure it would cut WAY down on cost! hmmm something to think about. I love my brother but I'm sure I would love it more if it was stretched! lol

Oh I found this today! I was looking for a service manual, not a user manual for my machine.

http://carusew.com/JUKI/TL/

if you belong to yahoo groups its
[email protected]

those that have had it stretched seemed to like them...I wonder if it would fit on my Grace frame????

that is cool

I have been reading a lot about this on the home quilting system yahoo group and it seems that it costs about 18-1900 and Rick is the one that everyone turns to to get it done. There is a waiting list that seems to be be several months long. I also seems that you can sign up on the list and if you change you mind just remove your self from "the list". I have not read one bad comment about getting either machine, a Juki or a Brother stretched. Everyone that I have read that has had it done loves it and wouldn't change it for the world.

They seem to all have anm 18 inch maching, and Rick will move the needle position button and the thread cutter button to the nose of the machine! The only down side for those that already have a frame for their machine is after the machine is stretched it no longer fits the frame.

I think I might take my mom up on the offer to help her out at her business to make a little money just so I can get my machine stretched.

i'm not sure i understand the concept. if you want a stretched machine (i have seen them) how do they compare in price? the tin lizzie AND several others are below $8,000 and are made to fit exactly in themselves on their custom frames.
furthermore, you can see and try them at shows, and make your own deals for shipping. i did not pay any shipping for mine. you can also deal for loads of extras, especially in a poor economy.

since they haven't been fiddled with at the head or needle, everything is as it was built to work. will the factory stand behind the machine once it's stretched? or are you protected only as long as this company exists. who gives you phone support?

I love it!!! Thank you for posting the picture of one stretched :D:D:D

That is a whole lot of stretching going on :shock:

some frames do not need to be replaced - if your frame can take an 18 inch machine you can still use it.

the grace pinnacle is designed for an 18 inch throat machine.

http://www.westchestersewing.com/
This place carries stretched Jukis, but they are only table models. You can either buy the head separately or the head with the table. These, I believe can be used for free motion quilting on a table where you sit, not a frame like what most of you have. If I am wrong, please correct me. I checked them out once before. One lady who demonstrates her free motion quilting on youtube uses this.

$8,000 is still a lot of money considering you can buy a new Juki for under $1,000 and even if Rick charges $1,800 to stretch it you've got plenty left over to buy all those other goodies that are supposedly "free" with the more expensive setups.

I believe many of the machines are stretched domestic or even shortened industrial machines. If support is a major concern for you, I would suggest Nolting & Hinterberg machines and frames. Their support is fantastic according to the owners groups.

Some of the biggest hurdles to frame machine quilting can't be helped with "tech support." Only practice, practice, practice can help. If you think you're going to load a king size quilt and get it all done with perfectly tensioned stitches the same day your setup is delivered--you are in for a very rude awakening! You're going to have thread breaks, pokies, loopies, eyelashes, puckers, broken needles, defective bobbins, etc. Learning to deal with all these events is part of the practice, practice, practice. Owning a machine quilting system and playing with them at quilt shops are 2 completely different animals. The best support in the world is not going to come to your house every time you run out of bobbin thread or you discover your backing is 2 inches too short.

Now that I am completely off topic, I guess I should mention that I have a Voyager 17 SLR from Hinterberg which is a stretched machine on a Superquilter Pro-Flex frame and even if I had bought the entire setup brand new (I got it off ebay for a super-low price that they really shouldn't have been accepted) it would only be half of that $8,000.

I, personally, have only had one issue I couldn't fix myself while frame quilting. A big lint ball got sucked up into the tension disks on the computerized domestic machine that I used to quilt with and I couldn't get it out so it had to go to the hospital. On the Voyager, there are very clear instructions for removing the tension assembly should the need arise and being strictly mechanical, it's a lot easier to work on myself.

I've got a Juki 98QE and I'm on the list to be stretched. It ends up a LOT cheaper than the Mid/LA's. I got my frame separate (John Watts). I like the Juki b/c it's an industrial machine. Sharon Shamler uses a Juki for piecing and it goes like 60 I also have a SR on it. I'm waiting for the call to ship it to Rick at WOWquilts. I know I am going to like it. I saved a lot of money doing it this way.