APQS Bliss... initial thoughts

It took Jim and I (mostly Jim, I just kept him entertained!) about three hours to break down the current frame of my APQS Millennium and replace the old rail system with the new Bliss rails, and swap out the encoder wheels on the sewing head.  It was actually much easier than we expected it to be.  Fantastic instructions were included!

Since I have a fourteen foot frame, on the old system there was a support truss that ran under both rails to support the center.  It worked well, but I always had a bit of vibration in the center.  The new rails are much heavier and don’t need a truss… and the center vibration is gone!

See those “tubes”?  They’re solid… not really tubes.  That has to be my favorite part, because I now have an edge or lip on either side of my table, which means I can butt up my big boards, pantos, or as you can see, my plastic grid, and be absolutely positive now that everything is square to the frame, woohoo!  Before I had to measure everything.

The carriage was replaced and no longer has wheels.  It rides the rails on that long rectangular piece you see in the above photo.  Ultra smooth, it glides like me on slick ice… in fact it moves so freely I’m going to have to re-learn how to do a panto!

Freehand is a joy (not that I do much of that) but I’ll be spending a week re-acquainting myself with pantographs!  I am going to love this system… and I have to put another shout of joy in for the new Superior Omni thread… it is so fantastic!