FAQs
Browse below for answers to some of our most commonly asked questions. Don’t see your question? Contact us for answers.
SHOPPING & SETUP
Gammill and its financial partners offer several options to assist you in financing your equipment purchase. Both American Financial Partners and Arvest Bank offer plans that preserve cash, asks only for the Gammill machine as collateral, are available to residents of the contiguous 48 states and Alaska, have minimal up-front costs; and include financing of tax, delivery, set-up and training. Alternately, customers often obtain financing through their bank or credit union. Work with your local authorized Gammill dealer to include appropriate charges. Click here for more information on financing.
All models come on tables that are 12 feet in length. (With the 18-8 machine, you have your choice of 10′ or 12′ tables.) Your room should be long enough to allow passage around at least one end of the table, taking into account an additional 6 inches for handwheels/hardware. The other end of the table can be put against a wall, if necessary. Therefore, for a 12-foot table you would need approximately a space of 15-feet long by 8-feet wide. For a 10-foot table you would require a space 13-feet long by 8-feet wide. Click here to learn more about selecting a table size.
Yes, for a nominal charge we can make you a table in 8’, 10’, 11’, 13’ or 14’ if the standard size is not correct for your space.
All Gammill machines are sold through our network of professionally trained dealers. Due to our pricing philosophy and policy to treat all customers the same, prices do not differ at different dealerships. We continually review our pricing to ensure the customer receives the highest quality machine at the lowest possible price.
The throat space on each model determines capacity for piece size, batting thickness, and pattern width. Since we offer four machine sizes, there is a Gammill machine to fit every need and budget. If you’re planning to machine quilt as a business, we would recommend either the 26-10 or 30-12 size machine. The larger the throat size the less often you have to advance the quilt thus allowing for quicker completion.
We and/or our Dealers offer phone-based technical support five days a week. Many dealers also provide support on weekends. Part of the training we provided with personal delivery is on the basic maintenance of the machine; and, many basic maintenance issues are covered in the manual that comes with your machine, which is also available at www.Gammill.com.
Much of the basic maintenance you can do yourself, but we also recommend that you have your machine serviced by a technician from your local dealer on a periodic basis to keep your machine in top running condition. You can bring your machine into the dealer’s shop but our dealers also provide on-site service calls. (Quilting machines are large appliances. When your refrigerator needs repair do they ask you to ship it to the factory or haul it into the local dealer?) On-site service is also preferable as then the technician can service your entire machine not just the sewing head. If you use your machine all day every day for business you may want to have this done annually. If you are a home quilter once every five years is probably sufficient. We believe that our network of professionally trained dealers is one of our greatest advantages. Unlike with any other brands you do not have to box up and ship your machine back to the factory for service or rely on local sewing machine technicians who are not familiar with your machine. Our dealer technicians work extensively on Gammill machines and will service your machine on-site.
Our machines use standard 110 voltage. A regular wall outlet is all that is needed; however, it is recommended you plug your machine into a high-quality surge protector.
THE QUILTING PROCESS
The amount of money a person can make machine quilting will vary due to their location, the type of work clients are willing to pay for, and how many hours a longarm quilter can devote to their business. Our customers tell us consistently they are booked ahead weeks or even months with orders. Quilting in general has steadily increased in popularity over the years — and continues to do so as more folks decorate with quilts and pursue quilting as a hobby. So, the more pieced tops done, the more there are to be machine quilted! In addition, longarm quilters are not restricted to just their own geographic area for their client base. Many people are willing to send their quilt tops great distances to be quilted due to a longarm quilter’s reputation for creative work, the lack of longarm quilters in their area or too long a waiting period. Many longarm quilters rely on machine quilting as their primary source of income. We have numerous customers who’ve left professions to stay at home for one reason or another, yet still needed to generate some degree of income. As a cottage industry, machine quilting is an ideal pursuit to allow someone to “be their own boss”, and take on as much or as little workload as they want to stay busy.
Length of time to complete a king-size quilt would depend on the style of quilting and complexity of the pattern (i.e., number of stitches), as well as the experience of the operator. For example, if doing an overall pantograph pattern of average complexity, the operator could complete the quilt in just a few hours, whereas a custom quilt requiring various machine quilting techniques and/or close stippling could take a day or more.
A 12-foot table has 126 inches of canvas to attach to and a 14-foot table has 151 inches. For comparison, a standard king-size quilt is 100″ by 120″, which would fit on either size. A king-size bedspread that drops all the way to the floor would require a 14-foot table.
ABOUT OUR MACHINES
We consider experience one of our greatest assets. We employ the expertise of world-renowned electronics and computer engineers to keep our brand at the forefront of new technological developments. We know the mechanics of quilting machines better than anyone, having been manufacturing quilting machine systems since the late 1970s and computerized machines since 1990.
We have our machine heads molded rather than welded. We believe a molded head provides more precision in parts alignment than can be achieved by welding, since welding involves heating and cooling (expansion and contraction) of materials. Until 1989, we too had a welded machine before switching to the improved molded aluminum method.
The majority of our total product is made in the U.S. and our machines are NAFTA certified as made in America. At the present time, the industrial factories where aluminum molding is done are located abroad. However, ask any manufacturer where the important sewing mechanism parts for their machines are made (i.e., sewing hook, bobbin case, tension assemblies, needle bar, take-up lever, etc.), and they should all answer “Asia” – even if the shell of their machine is made in the U.S.A. Our all-steel stands are built locally. Motors, electronics and many parts on our machines are installed in West Plains and Columbia, Missouri. Since the majority of our total product is made in the U.S., and enough work is done to the heads in the US, our machines are NAFTA certified.
Our best-selling longarm heads weigh from 45 to 68 pounds. Although there are machines on the market that weigh less than ours, we consider our machines the proper weight to give the operator the stability needed when the machine is moved to the widest point in the carriage. With our incomparably smooth wheel and track system, an operator can guide our machine with only two fingers.
Ergonomic design means conditions best suited to the worker. Our handles are positioned for the most comfortable operation of the machine, as well as to allow for visibility of the needle.
Our patented Automatic Thread Escapement system allows us to use the double-capacity “M” style bobbin in our machines. Since it releases all stress on the thread as it passes through the escapement, superior stitch quality is achieved regardless of speed.
We have chosen not to incorporate a thread trimming mechanism in our machines as we feel it does not produce a desirable end product for the quilter. We feel it is better to simply push the single stitch button on our machine and bring the bobbin thread to the top side, where both top and bobbin threads can be trimmed simultaneously. This method also eliminates the need to go back later and trim all the tags of thread left by all bobbin thread trimmers.
Yes. We have several patents on our machines, such as our Automatic Thread Escapement, Variable-Stroke Hopping Foot, and Auxiliary Intermittent Tension.
Find the right machine with help from our quilting experts.
For over 35 years, we’ve built high quality, innovative longarm quilting machines that are still running today so quilters can create beautiful quilts with confidence.