A commercial single-head multi-needle machine. It sews 1,000 to 1,200 spm, changes colors automatically, runs caps and finished garments and is rated for continuous duty. At Buckets of Ink the small business picks are the Happy Japan Journey HCH-701 (7 needles, $5,800), Voyager HCS3-1201 (12 needles, $9,700) and HCD3e-1501 (15 needles, cap frames included, $14,700), all delivered, installed and trained from Tempe, Arizona.

Single-head commercial machines at Buckets of Ink run $5,800 to $14,700. Add a wide-angle cap frame on the Journey and Voyager, and $350 to $800 in startup thread, backing, needles, bobbins and tools. Multi-head machines start at $42,700 for the 4-head HCR3-1504-45 and are quoted with financing.

It can get a hobby started, but home machines sew 400 to 800 spm, stop for every color change, cannot hoop a finished shirt on a tubular arm and cannot embroider caps. Most shops that start on a home machine replace it within a year. A commercial single-head costs more up front and pays back faster because it runs all day.

On a 7,000-stitch left-chest logo the HCD3e-1501 finishes a piece every 8 to 9 minutes including hooping, roughly 40 to 45 pieces in a six-hour day. Smaller logos run faster; caps run at 1,000 spm. Use the profit calculator on this page with your own designs.

7 needles covers most logos with a couple of spare needles and costs the least. 12 keeps a full palette loaded for mixed orders. 15 runs full-color designs and personalization without rethreading and, on the HCD3e-1501, adds 1,200 spm, a 20.5 x 15.7 inch field and included cap frames. If you plan to grow, start at 15.

Yes. Buckets of Ink delivers and installs every Happy Japan machine, threads it, loads your designs and trains your operator on hooping, caps, tension and thread breaks at your shop in the Phoenix metro, with phone support for shops that have machines shipped elsewhere.

A thread palette (Madeira Polyneon 40 is the workhorse), cut-away and tear-away backing, cap backing if you do hats, 75/11 and 80/12 needles, prewound L bobbins, curved snips, a needle changer, machine oil and spray adhesive. The startup kits on this page list a first order for each machine, and everything is stocked in Tempe.

Yes. Every Happy Japan machine on this page has a cylinder bed and takes a wide-angle cap frame; the HCD3e-1501 includes two. Caps are the highest-margin product most small shops sell.

Add a Happy Japan HCR3 multi-head with 4 to 12 heads. It uses the same 15-needle head, hoops, cap frames, thread, needles and bobbins as the HCD3e-1501, so the second machine does not change your supplies or your training.

Financing and multi-head pricing are handled by the equipment team. Request a quote from any machine card and Brad Carter or Amber Anderson will follow up with options.

Buckets of Ink has Happy Japan machines running in the showroom at 906 S Priest Dr #101, Tempe, AZ 85281, Monday to Friday 7:30 AM to 4:00 PM. Bring a garment and your logo and we will sew it while you watch; call 480-229-7806.