Pro 20
Nolting Pro Series
Delightful Quilting & Sewing 
Authorized Nolting - HInterberg Dealer
5378 Lake Rd, Avon, NY
585-226-2577

Helping To Make Your Quilting Journey A Delightful One
DQS NOLTING LONGARM CLUB
Tips, hints, and information for owners of Nolting longarm quilting machines.
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Why I Purchased My Nolting

Many reasons, but two are adjustable handles on my Pro and the great table design where I can either lift the top up (to easily check batting) or float the top.
                          Margaret
Have a tip you would like to share with other Nolting owners?

To share your Nolting longarm tip or hint, email to Joyce.

January 2014
date book planner

If your pre-holiday season was filled with completing quilted projects along with many other tasks and responsibilities, perhaps it is time to relax and take a few minutes to evaluate your 2014 quilting goals.  Is there a new technique you would like to learn or master?  Do you want to work on your skills and creativity at the longarm?  Do you have a special quilt project to complete for a show, or just for yourself? 

Regardless of what your goals might be, it is best to always write them down along with specific, measurable steps and a time table to help you achieve those goals.  Post your 2014 Goals in a prominent place to keep you reminded.  So often our goals get shoved along because of what must be done every day that we never achieve what we really want to do.  This year plan ahead by writing your quilting time in your daily planner and resolve to keep that date with yourself.  If you do, you will enjoy the reward of growth in your quilting life and more completed projects.

Happy Quilting,

Joyce
History of Nolting - Part 3

Finally Called A "Nolting"

After Fred Nolting's hand guided machine was exposed to the quilting world, it wasn't long before Fred Nolting was asked to build these machines, which he did as a sideline business to his regular job.  He even agreed to build machines for Ken Gammill to brand and sell.  Early improvements to the machines were handles on the front and rear of the machines and the hopping foot.  By 1984, Fred made building hand guided machines a full time business.  Soon these machines were called longarm machines and by 1989 Fred began to put his own name on his machines.

Innovations Found First on Nolting Machines

In response to the quilting community, Fred Nolting worked hard to improve the functionality of longarm machines.  He worked with Paul Statler and offered the first computer driven longarm quilting machine.  Laser pointers and templates became available.  In 1997 Fred contacted Zoltan Kasa, a computer whiz, and asked if an independent stitch regulator was possible.  In about a week Zoltan had the programming ready for demonstration.  Nolting unveiled this new technology at the 1998 Houston Quilt Festival and with that, Nolting machines became the first to offer stitch regulated sewing.  As a result of this major breakthrough in longarm quilting, Zoltan Kasa made Intellistitch his full time business.

More on Nolting in the next issue.

Information courtesy of Nolting Longarm.

Nolting Tech & Maintenance:
pro series encoder
Pro Series Controller

Controllers and Encoders

Have you ever wondered why your stitch regulated Nolting longarm is so easy to  use?  It is because so much effort went into the engineering of the controller.  The controller is that device on the top of the arm on older machines, the box on the top of the arm facing both front and rear on the Fun Quilter, or that face plate with the dial and buttons on both the front and rear of the Pro.

Controllers have evolved over the years from the first one designed for Nolting by Zontan Kasa, owner of Intellistitch.  Nolting was the first longarm company to offer a machine with a stitch regulator. Besides the regulated stitch, the controller accesses adjustment functions to reset the machine defaults or make adjustments to various modes.

Nolting longarm encoder wheel.
Back encoder wheel that rides on top of back frame rail.
The controller functions by analyzing a set of x and y coordinates received moment by moment from the two encoder wheels, one located on the back of the carriage riding on the back frame rail and the other riding inside the channel along the side of the machine on the Nolting commercial frame (photo).  On the Hinterberg frame, the back encoder wheel rides on top of the back rail and the side one on top of the wooden carriage platform. The machine will fire stitches evenly spaced apart depending on the data received from the two encoder wheels.  But who cares about the science behind it.  As quilters, we only know it works and are frantic when it doesn't work.

Because the controller has a computer chip in it, it can be affected in the same way as your computer by magnets and power surges.  Keep magnets away from the machine controller.
Nolting Fun Quilter Controller
Fun Quilter Controller
 

Your controller is also sensitive to fluctuations in electrical current, such as power surges or power draws.  As a result, it is best to always unplug your machine cord from the wall when not in use to prevent damage to the electronics in case of a power surge.  (Damage to your machine's electronics is not covered under warranty)  A power draw down from another source calling for more power, such as an air conditioner, may cause your machine mechanism to get out of sync.  This will be noticed by "needle drag" where the needle does not rise high enough to clear the quilt top when pressing the stop button.  As a result, the needle will drag across the quilt top when you move the machine head.  Another symptom of this is when the bobbin thread can not be pulled to the top of the quilt because the hook is not quite in the correct spot.    

Fortunately Nolting controllers are designed with a number of adjustment modes to correct these issues by yourself.  Information on making adjustments is included in your machine owner's manual.  Before making any type of adjustment, the machine must be put into the adjustment mode following the directions in the manual.  (See the tips below) The first time a situation happens, please give me a call so that we can correctly diagnose the issue and I can walk you through the adjustment procedure.  It is quite easy once you know what to do.  This is just one more example of Nolting thinking about their customers to create a machine that is easy for the owner to take care of.

If you are not sure what controller your older machine has, click to print the flier on Nolting Controllers.
Nolting longarm encoder wheels.
Encoder Wheels on Nolting Commercial Frame
Tips for Nolting Controllers and Encoder Wheels





  • To enter the adjustment mode (note: if experiencing a problem, contact your dealer to see if or what adjustments might need to be done):
    • Pro Series - manual pg. 27 
    • Fun Quilter - manual pg. 21 
  • Clean the encoder wheel rubber tires regularly using rubbing alcohol which removes the lint and dust and helps preserve the rubber material.
  • Cracked or checked encoder wheels should be replaced as they may not be making good contact with the track which would affect the stitch length consistency.  DQS keeps encoder wheel rubber tires in stock.  They are inexpensive and can be mailed to you.  They are easy to replace by "rolling" the old tire off and rolling the new tire on.
  • Wipe down the top of the back track and the inside of the carriage tracks to remove any  build up of lint, dust and thread that can interfere with the encoder wheels reading x and y correctly.  
  • No machine manual?  Click this link to the Nolting website where you can print out copy of your machine manual. 

Made in USA logo
Did You Know?
  • In 2001 Fred Nolting retired and sold Nolting Mfg. to Dan Terrill.
  • Nolting is located in Hiawatha, Iowa.
  • Nolting machines and fabricates both the machine bodies and frames, assembles all machines and frames, then tests every machine at its Iowa factory before it is shipped. 
piggy bank
What's In Your Piggy Bank?
What's In Your Quilting Piggy Bank? 
A Referral Fee Could Be Coming Your Way

You have told us that you love your Nolting.  You enjoy the fact it is easy to use, simple to maintain, and wonderful to quilt on.  It is only natural that you have told your quilting friends how much you enjoy your Nolting.

When Delightful Quilting & Sewing sells a Nolting because of your endorsement, make sure your friend tells us it is because of you.  As a token of our appreciation, you will receive a gift certificate to purchase anything from our fine line of Made in USA products or purchase items of your choice directly from the Nolting catalog, which could include batting, thread, pantos or Nolting items.

Quilters are interested in hearing your story, why you love your Nolting, why you chose Nolting, and about the service you have received from your dealer.  Don't be shy, let your friends know.  We appreciate you and want to reward you with this token of our appreciation.

Thank You.

Delightful Quilting & Sewing | 585-226-2577
joyce@delightful-qs.com                 http://delightful-qs.com
5378 Lake Rd.
Avon, NY 14414

Authorized Dealer for
Nolting Longarm Quilting Machines
A Quilter's Eye
Quilter's Rule Templates & Rulers
TopAnchor Quilting Tools


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