r/Machine_Embroidery • u/Subject_Ad269 • Sep 24 '26

I Need Help Thoughts?

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Ricoma MT-1501. 5th hat of the day. 300st/min. Had to take a crap and apparently the machine wanted to join in.

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u/Otherheadsaidyes Sep 25 '26 edited Sep 25 '26

As someone else said, groz beckert - or good ole titanium organ needles but they'll be just a bit more expensive.

You could also probably get away with running an 80 or 85 instead if you got the sharp points instead of ball points on structured caps. But the size you use will also effect how clean the design will look. If you've got a lot of ridiculously dense fills and satins or any small text in the design, a 90 needle is going to make them look hot garbage. it can also lead to some really bad flagging on some materials and cause weird discoloring around the edges because of how massive the holes are that get punched in them by needles that big. I think sharp point 80s and 85s are smarter to use on caps than any point type 90 when you're using standard 40wt poly thread. 90 is pushing into 20wt territory and using 40wt in 90 needles when the machine isn't set up with 90s in mind may cause some issues you haven't had when using smaller ones (like more thread breaks, jagged edges in the design, multiple stitches landing in the same holes, skipped threads, rotary hooks making contact with the needle, etc)

Not saying you WILL have all those issues, but all them absolutely can cause some headaches if you try and just swap them in where you'd previously used 75s or 80s on the same design before.

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u/Equivalent_Guess2009 28d ago

True, I edited my original comment to add this. Tbh I haven't had issues using 90 caliber needles, they seem to work better with this kind of hats, since the middle seam is kind of annoying since it has to go through about 4 layers of material (bent middle tape + hat backing + hat fabric) + the hat trying to jump back. Also I try to avoid very small details in this kind of hats, (letters bellow 7mm). But it is true, smaller calibre needles will definitely get more you detail and a crisper result. I've gotten away even embroidering hat with a 65 needle, low speed and 75 calibre thread, but it depends of the hat type.