Tech Sunday - Needles

There is a debate about whether or not to use titanium coated needles.  I personally do not use them in my longarm, but do use them in my domestic machine.  I have used them in my longarm with any issue.  I actually did not realize that they were titanium.  I went to load a needle and realized that the package did not look like I remember and compared it to another pack.  There are 2 needles missing from the pack so I know that I used them.   The pack on the left is a the type of needles that APQS is timed to use; the one on the right is the same type of needles but is titanium and ball point.  I apologize for the picture it is I could not get a clear picture that you could read with the flash and the flash is shining on the glossy paper.  

First off notice the difference in the the way the name of the brand looks.  On the steel needle, it is dark print on white and on the titanium it is white print on gold.  The word Gebedur tells you that the pack on the right is titanium.  But I also want you to notice that they pack on the left has an R, and the one of the right has FFG/SES.  The pack on the right is a Sharp, that is what the R means.  FFG/SES means that they pack on the left is a ball point.  This is really important because I don't want to use ball points on most of my quilts.  They might want one if you where quilting a double knit quilt from the 70s or possibly a T-Shirt quilt.  That being said I usually use sharps on T-Shirt quilts.  Without getting into the whole debate about titanium needles.  I will say that they are dipped in titanium nitrate which makes them stronger and means they have less flex.  When timing a machine you are looking for that flex to get the perfect stitch.  So, for now, I will be staying with the needles on the left.