About us
Welcome to Longarm-Tech.com, where: “Our mission is to delight discerning quilters by helping them optimize the performance of their longarm machines & frames.”
I am Keith Hayes, and got involved in the technology of longarm quilting machines through my wife Pam’s hobby – longarm free-motion quilting – check out some of her work at Down South Quilting. I first started doing self-taught troubleshooting on her machines, and in early 2019 went to Handi-Quilter tech training in Salt Lake City, Utah, followed up later in the year by completing APQS Maintenance Training in Des Moines, Iowa.
After making around 100 visits to install, service, repair, or upgrade longarms in the last year or so, helping hundreds of longarmers all over the world through online communications, and networking at numerous quilting shows, it became clear there was a gap that needed to be filled.
Longarmers needed a website with answers to technical questions about how their machines operate, that archived troubleshooting and optimization information, and that would provide an open environment not tied to a particular application or brand of machine. I really appreciate the words of encouragement from the hundreds of longarmers, longarm retailers, and longarm technicians who supported the creation of this portal.
When I first got involved with longarm tech support I was running a part-time broadband telecom consultancy. My career to that point encompassed more than 35 years in telecom, with a decade+ in executive leadership working in a VP or SVP role for companies such as Adelphia Communications and Charter Communications, and the part-time consultancy enabled lots of time to devote to longarm quilt machine technology issues. Late in 2019 one of my consultancy clients, IMMCO, Inc. asked me to come back to full-time employment and join their company as CEO, which I did in early 2020. This has slowed but not stopped my longarm tech support activities.
There are several sections in this website – some available day one and some that will be added over time – all of them focused on providing technical information and support to longarmers – but we won’t be covering questions on technique – if you want to know about Feathers or Appliqué there are plenty of Facebook and Website resources – check out our resource guide for some options.
what you’ll find at Longarm-Tech.com
Knowledge Base
Write-ups with detailed pictures and/or links to video on common technical issues, setup tips, and routine maintenance the average longarmers can perform.
Longarm Technology Forum
A searchable database of tech tips posted by longarm technicians, retailers, manufacturers, and – best of all – longarmers like you! No longarm-related topic is out-of-line, but you will be required to be polite and non-judgmental in discussing problems and asking for assistance. This forum will be patterned after several I use in MY hobby – motorcycling – where you can find anything you need from how to plug a tire to how to set up your fuel injection system from enthusiasts who share your interest.
The two best things about it are:
Since it will be on a website it is accessible to all – including those who don’t use or have access to Facebook.
As a neutral site not associated with or accepting advertising from any longarm brand or retailer there is no risk of suppression of manufacturing, design, or performance problems. Manufacturers will be encouraged to participate to learn firsthand what their customers are experiencing and engage with support to assist in resolving issues. When an issue appears to be manufacturer-related but there is no engagement, we will escalate where executive access has been developed to get the longarmers(s) the support they need.
Longarm Retailer/Technician Lookup Database
One of the areas I noticed in helping longarmers online is many were frustrated that they could not find resources nearby to help them with repairs or service – sometimes I was able to find a business that they were not aware of, but the searching was difficult as some of the retailer sites don’t let you search for more than 100 miles from a location – when you get in sparsely populated areas you need a bigger range. There was also no resource for independent or multi-brand searches, which the database on this site enables.
As of launch, after months of tedious research and data verification, we have identified nearly 1,000 resources, mostly in the US and Canada, but there are a few in Australia, Europe, South America, and even one in Africa. I encourage you to try the tool and make sure your favorite retailer and/or longarm tech is listed – if not, please use the form at the bottom of the lookup page to send the information to get them included and we will add as soon as possible.
Longarm Links
A repository with dozens of Longarm manufacturers, Longarm educational resources, Quilting Supplies, and Facebook groups from both manufacturers and longarm enthusiasts.
Longarm Technician Only Forum
This will be open only to those who support longarm machines and will provide a repository for tech info, tech tips, problems and solutions for brands/genres of longarms, tool tips, and more. When topics appear in here that are useful to the general longarm community they will be added either to the Knowledge Base or Longarm Technology Forum.
This site is for YOU the LONGARM QUILTER, and your input is sought and appreciated to help make this site better, cover topics that we have not yet, or add manufacturers that aren’t included.
Please reach out with your ideas.