Help Attach-EEK!

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Framar

Framar

WOW Framer
Joined
Jul 24, 2001
Posts
26,420
Loc
Buffalo, New York, USA/Fort Erie, Ontario, Canada
I have a Fine fabric Attach-EZ tool, which I drag out once in a while for those jersey kind of projects. Last time I bought new needles I got the stainless steel ones because I figured they wouldn't break.

Now I am stretching a bunch of really soft old T-shirts and it is not the needles that are breaking it is the tags! I can shoot one successful tag for every 10 or 12 tries. Somehow going through 2-3 layers of this soft old cotton is cutting the tags right in half.

I tried a new needle and it only breaks 2 out of 3 tags. I have gone through a whole clip of tags (100?) with only a handful of successful tags.

What is with this thing? :confused:

What am I doing wrong? :icon45:

And of course, Pat is at the danged show!

Anybody have any ideas??? :icon19:
 
This may sound stupid but I am gonna ask....are you sure you have the correct tagger thingy in the correct tool.

I went threw a half a thingy of thingies before I realized that that I had the wrong size in the for the attacher I was using....I have the pink attacher and the green and the attacherers are different for each tool...

It would have been easier to webcam that instead of typing it....:osorry!
 
I had the same problem. What you need to do is push the point through, and the BACK IT OUT just a little before shooting.
 
Thanks for the correct terminology Chickie! LOL! i only have one gun and only the (presumably) correct tags that Pat sold to me for it.

And I'll try backing the thing out a tad - that may explain why some of them work and some don't.
 
I was thinking about buying one of those thingys, but Im a little skeered now.
 
I was thinking maybe if you're going through 2-3 layers, that is more than you usually do, or maybe you're using 3/16" foam board instead of 1/8" or some such thing so that you're going through a thicker distance with the tag. Sometimes I push the gun hard into the board to squish things together a bit to make the distance a little less.

Also, it seems to help to squeeze the handle very slowly.

One of us has to be right, either back it out a little or push it in more.
 
After you push it through, squeeze the handle slowly, and then turn the gun slowly to the right. It is important to slowly turn it after you shoot that tag through.
 
Candy is right - after you get the tag through rotate the gun before you release the trigger. I rotate both ways and actually if you listen closely you can hear a very faint "pop" or "snap". After you twist about 90 degrees both right and left you can release the trigger and slowly remove the needle. Joe
 
I am only going through fabric - not board. Using the gun to secure the shirt material around the back of the insert board.

Luckily I have a LOT of clips of tags. So I will just keep experimenting. Seems to me when I first bought the thing and had those plastic needles I never had a single problem. Hmmmmm - will have to rummage through my box of stuff - maybe there is a left-over plastic needle.

Or hey - for the amount of time I have spent trying to get the danged thing to work - I could have stitched everything in place and be done with it!

Really though, when I first bought it the gun worked brilliantly and I loved it. With matboard and foam board and fabric and everything. No problems.

*sigh*
 
Aha - twisting the needle seems to help - the bottom end of the tag was getting caught in the slot and that what was ripping it off. Hmmmmm.....
 
You also need to place the tip of your tongue to the left corner of your lips.....or was that the right??:icon11:

I love my attach-eze but hate using it for the first time after a break from it. Glad you got it working again.
 
I’ve only broken or bent a few needles since I started using the Attach-EZ. I primarily use the one with the short tags.

I found that if you slightly twist the needle as you are driving it through the fabric and backing, this greatly reduces the risk of bending it.
 
I also find i I haven't used my Attacher in awhile I am less proficient with it...and twisting does help when I remember, have broken a needle when forgetting.

Incidently, I just got a new bunch of clips of attachers from Pat last week that are longer for the micro tool , where they no longer just go into the foamcoare but all the way through...these are FAB. Just tried them out yesterday.

ANd I find I can identify objects better in the morning better instead of late at night...I didn't use the word thingy once in this post. (well just there)
 
how come I feel like I need a cigarette and a shower?

Anywho! Yeah I usually twist and backout a bit to avoid breakage.
 
I would think that twisting would be counter productive as you have a straight channel that the tag's "wire" has to run through. I would (over)think that twisting would put a kink in the channel and cause a burr to form that would then cut the "wire".

But then I broke so many needles that I gave up using the device. I got a new one (from Avery Dennison) for the tagging of merchandise and am itching to try it out again for framing.
 
Plastic needles????? Never heard of that.

If you're only going through fabric, I can't imagine why the tags would break...
unless, could there possibly be a little bend, kink or something in the needle? Or something that caused the opening to narrow slightly?
Are you holding the layers of fabric together tightly against the gun so that the tag can go all the way through all of the layers?

Definitely when going through board, I find that twisting the gun back and forth as I push the needle through keeps the needle from breaking.
 
..and you have to hold your tongue just right too
 
Agreed, you have to have the right touch.
If you ever get a chance to attend one of
Pat's demonstrations and learn how to use
it the right way, you'll never look back. I
can't remember the last time I broke a needle.
There is a feel for it, you do you a twisting
motion and the release has to be gentle.

Has been awhile since I've watched the DVD
but that would almost be as good as a live
demo. As always (when not on the road) you
can call Pat and she will walk you through any
of the issues you have. It is almost always
operator error. ;)
 
make sure you are using the right length tags... if they are to small they will break every time.

i haven't read this yet anywhere so if its somewhere else sorry. :)
 
I have never broken a needle - the tags were getting caught in the channel and breaking that way. When I say "plastic needle" I mean the original ones that came with the gun - steel needles in a white plastic base. The needles I have now are all metal.

Managed to finish the shirts with twisting and shouting and such.

Going back to sewing methinks.
 
As a coda to my story - I finally managed to master the implement well enough to finish stretching the shirts.

But then I started squirming around and itching and finally came to the conclusion that there must be something inside my bra that was making me itch. On my voyage of discovery I found a half a tag inside my bra! I knew they went everywhere in my shop but I did not expect to find one on my person! LOL!
 
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