Ever heard of a Juki longarm?
 

I was looking around the internet at longarm machines and found a Juki TL 2200 QVP. Does anyone have one of these? Has anyone heard of it? It is $9,000 for a 18 inch longarm and a frame. I've pretty good luck with my industrial Juki and thought this might be a good one to look seriously at.

I have heard of them, do not know anything about them. Maybe someone who has this will be of help. I have a Babylock Crown jewel and love it.

I strongly considered this machine when I got my long arm. I believe it has an 18 inch throat, like many models, but the throat is higher than others so there is more room for the quilt to roll. It has automatic scissors and excellent lighting. It has the additional take up bar (I think they call it a dead bar) so you don't have to adjust as you roll the quilt.

They were originally supposed to be released last fall, but they postponed for each issue that they didn't think was perfect, so I believe it was February before they finally hit the market.

here's a video on the machine http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hi6UkoTwz74

and here's the price of the machine and frame http://www.amazon.com/TL-2200QVP-Vir.../dp/B00CF0KMUG
and the price of the computerized quilting system to use on the Juki set up http://www.kathyquilts.com/Juki-Quil...uilts.com.html

I would also check into Innova. The price for the 18" setup is the same, and Innova's 24/7 telephone support can't be beat. Woops...just looked at Innova site and theirs is on sale for less than that right now.

You can get a Bailey 17" with frame for almost half of that. They also have a great reputation. The Bailey will be the machine I get, when we build our new home in a few years.

I test drove the Juki ... it was a nice machine, had excellent lighting, a very nice frame, moved freely. Stitch quality was not bad, but not the best - this could very well be due to the fact that I am not an experienced long arm operator (I used the machine for 5 minutes to put it through it's paces). Regular stitching was OK ... micro stitching was not as nice.

I test drove a lot of machines that day and one of the things I discovered is that all of the machines "felt" different. You really DO need to test drive them, as many as possible.

In the end, while the Juki was a nice machine AND the dealer is my local LQS ... it still is not the machine I would choose. I fell in love with the Innova, and I also have a weird unexplained predjudice against Juki (I think it's all the machines I see advertised as "long arms" that are nothing more than straight stitch domestic machines with 9" (or less) harp space).

Love mine! First time LA quilter and so happy with this purchase! Easy to set up once you level, stitch regulators nice, basting stitch super, had the thing assembled and a quilt on it in less than a day! Finally have the freedom to play creatively with over-taxing my poor Bernina!

Juki is also coming out with a sit down long arm sometime in 2014. I was told in the spring hopefully.
I really liked the Juki longarm. I'm a sit down quilter with a Tin Lizzie but had the Juki been out I think I would have gotten that instead. For the money, I just like the Juki a lot.
I have a friend who is planning to get the Juki sit down hopefully this spring if they're available at Paducah this year. We'll see :)

In my guild we have 4 big machine quilters... me with my sit down (I used to have a Bailey 15" on a frame. They didn't offer a table option when I wanted to switch to sitting down), one lady has a big HQ with all the electronics. She quilts for others for a living but only does pantographs, one lady has an Innova and loves it and the last has a 15" Bailey and she likes it as well.

I suggest going to a big quilt show and trying out as many machines as you can back to back. Narrow it down to the two you like and then quilt for a bit on one then go directly to the other one and quilt on that one so that you can really compare them side by side as best as you can.
It's a big decision with a big price tag. You really want to do what is best for you. Everyone has a favorite. Mine's my Lizzie for now :)

I test drove the Juki long arm and didn't care for it. The machine had a lot of vibration, hard to control while quilting a straight line. I also test drove the Handi Quilter Avante, and the Pfaff power quilter p3. All are 18 inch longarms. I liked both the HQ and the Pfaff, and bought the Pfaff because of a special price they were offering. I've had it about a month and love it!

Juki 2200 or Handi Quilter Avante
 

I am buying a long arm machine. Any recommendations on the Handi Quilter Avante or the Juki 2200.

Could the vibration be coming from the table holding the Juki?

Thread tension issues on Juki long arm
 

Has anyone had thread tension issues with their Juki Long arm? If so what solved your tension issues? What size needle and thread do you recommend. I don't get much help from my dealer because they don't sell very many Jukis. Should this happen with a machine that is 2 months old?