Brother PR670E Review for Home-Based Embroidery Businesses: Lease vs Buy, Built-In Features, and the Consumables You’ll Actually Need

Introduction to the Brother PR670E

If you’re building a small embroidery business from home, the machine decision is rarely just “Can it stitch?”—it’s “Can it stitch reliably, fast enough, with predictable costs, while I’m learning and taking orders?” In the video, Alan Bamber introduces the Brother PR670E as a 6-needle embroidery machine aimed at exactly that early business stage, and he frames it around real-world buying options, support, and the consumables you’ll burn through.

What you’ll learn in this post:

• Strategic Positioning: What the PR670E handles best (names, logos, sportswear).
• Financial Reality: The lease vs. buy numbers shown in the video—and what they imply for your cash flow.
• Workflow Mastery: How the touchscreen and built-in fonts fit into a “pro workflow” vs. a hobbyist mindset.
• Business Continuity: Why service turnaround and a loaner machine are your insurance policy against refunds.
• The "Hidden Layer": The prep items, stabilization physics, and hooping decisions that prevent the most common beginner failures.

Throughout, I will add the necessary "experience layer" that new owners usually discover the hard way: hooping physics, consumables planning, and how to think about upgrades (threads, stabilizers, magnetic hoops, and eventually multi-needle productivity) without buying the wrong thing first.

Buying vs. Leasing: The £199/Month Model

In the video, the leasing offer is presented very clearly: £199 per month over 12 months for a Brother PR670E, with eligibility requirements (you must be a homeowner and pass a credit check). The key operational point is not just the monthly payment—it’s that the package is positioned as “supported,” meaning you’re not left alone after delivery.

From a business-operator perspective, leasing is a strategic tool, not just a financing options. It becomes attractive when:

• Cash Conservation: You need to preserve cash for inventory (blanks), threads, stabilizers, packaging, and marketing.
• Market Validation: You’re still validating demand (teamwear, baby wear, pet wear, horse tack) and don’t want to lock £6,000+ of capital into one asset immediately.
• Support Dependence: You value predictable support while you’re learning production habits.

The video also states the 12-month guarantee includes parts, labor, and transport. That “transport” detail is easy to overlook, but it matters immensely: shipping an industrial machine for repair can cost hundreds. Having collection covered converts an expensive crisis into a manageable delay.

Practical cash-flow lens (how to avoid a common startup trap):

• A multi-needle machine increases potential throughput, but your actual throughput is limited by your workflow stability.
• If you are still wasting garments due to puckering, shifting, or thread breaks, your real bottleneck is process, not needle count.

That’s why I recommend treating the first 30 days of a lease as a “process proof” period. Your goal is to build a repeatable hooping + stabilizing routine.

The Golden Rule: If you can’t confidently hoop the same garment 10 times and get the exact same placement result, you are not ready to price for speed yet. Focus on consistency first.

The Ex-Lease Opportunity: Getting Value for Money

The video explains a rotation cycle: most lease customers (Alan says 99%) renew after 12 months, the shop collects the original machine, and then sells that 12-month-old ex-lease machine for £4,495. He also notes that no finance is offered on the ex-lease machines—it’s a straight sale.

A detail that matters operationally: Alan mentions ex-lease machines often come back with around 500 hours of use on average, and he emphasizes these machines are sturdy with regular service.

Expert Context: In the industrial embroidery world, 500 hours is barely the "break-in" period. These machines are designed to run for thousands of hours. Buying a machine with 500 hours is like buying a car that has just had its first oil change—it is often a smarter buy than brand new if the maintenance log is clean.

How to evaluate an ex-lease deal without guessing:

1. Inventory Audit: Ask exactly what frames/hoops are included. The video shows the shop is hands-on, but verify you aren't missing the Cap Frame or Table if those are critical to your plan.
2. Warranty Confirmation: In the video, the same 12-month parts/labor/transport guarantee is described for both new and ex-lease. This is your safety net.
3. Consumables Budgeting: Since you save £1,500 on the machine, allocate £200 immediately to "Grade A" consumables. A cheaper machine doesn't help if you feed it cheap thread and unstable backing.

Decision Matrix:

• Lease: Best for Cash Flow Sensitivity + Support Needs.
• Ex-Lease: Best for ROI maximization + Users with some capital reserves.

When readers ask me “Which is better?” my answer is: The better option is the one that leaves you with enough budget to buy high-quality blanks and stabilizers for the next 90 days.

Service and Support: The Loan Machine Guarantee

The video includes a behind-the-scenes look at service workflow. Alan explains that when a customer’s PR machine comes in for repair/service, the average turnaround is around one week, and customers are generally provided a loan machine to minimize downtime.

This is not a small perk—it’s a business continuity plan. In the embroidery business, downtime is the silent killer of profit margins.

Why downtime is expensive:

• Reputation Damage: You break delivery promises.
• Irreplaceable Goods: You might have customer-supplied items (expensive horse blankets, team kits) trapped in a broken workflow.
• Fixed timelines: Events (weddings, tournaments) don't move just because your hook timing is off.

The "Downtime Protocol" (Setup this BEFORE you need it):

1. Buffer Stock: Keep 5-10 pre-stitched popular items (if you sell generic goods) to ship during maintenance.
2. The "Flight Black Box": Maintain a notebook recording the exact Needle Type (e.g., 75/11 Ballpoint), Thread Brand, and Stabilizer stack for every recurring job. If you get a loaner machine, you need these recipes to replicate your quality instantly.
3. Spare Parts Kit: Keep a spare Bobbin Case and a Rotory Hook lubrication pen. Sometimes a "breakdown" is just lint or dryness that you can fix in 5 minutes.

Warning: Mechanical Safety. Always power off the machine before changing needles, cleaning around the hook assembly, or reaching near the needle bars. A 1000 SPM (stitch per minute) needle strike can shatter metal and send shrapnel flying towards your eyes. Never bypass safety guards.

Essential Consumables for Your Embroidery Business

The video ends with a consumables tour: walls of thread (Marathon/Madeira are shown), rolls of stabilizer/backing, plus needles and bobbin supplies. This is the part many beginners underestimate—because consumables are where quality and consistency actually come from.

If you’re researching a brother pr670e embroidery machine, you must treat consumables as components of the machine, not optional accessories.

Hidden consumables & prep checks (The "Missing Layer")

While the video highlights the basics, here is the verified list of items that prevent "beginner panic":

• Needles (Organ/Schmetz): Stock 75/11 BP (Ballpoint for knits), 75/11 Sharp (wovens), and 90/14 (heavy canvas/caps). Rule of thumb: Change your needle every 8 hours of stitching time or whenever you hear a "thud" sound instead of a crisp "click."
• Bobbin Fill: Buy pre-wound magnetic core bobbins if possible; they feed smoother than self-wound ones.
• Temporary Spray Adhesive (505 Spray): Essential for floating fabrics (sticking fabric to hooped stabilizer without hooping the fabric itself).
• Precision Tweezers: For threading needles and grabbing jump stitches.
• Double-Curved Scissors: The offset handle allows you to trim threads flush against the fabric without snipping a hole in the shirt.
• Test Fabric (Felt/Calico): Never run a new design on a customer's expensive jacket first.

Decision Tree: Fabric → Stabilizer Choice (The "Sweet Spot" Logic)

Use this logic flow to stop guessing. This prevents 90% of puckering issues.

1. Is the fabric stretchy? (T-shirts, Polos, Hoodies, Performance Wear)

• YES: You MUST use Cutaway stabilizer.
  • Why: Knits stretch. If you use Tearaway, the stitches will pull the fabric out of shape, and the design will distort after the first wash.
  • Action: Hoop the stabilizer + garment tight (Drum bit tension).
• NO: Go to step 2.

2. Is the fabric white or sheer?

• YES: Use No-Show Mesh (a type of soft Cutaway) or heavy Tearaway if the stitch count is low.
  • Why: You don't want a thick white square visible through the shirt.
• NO: Go to step 3.

3. Is the item structured/heavy? (Caps, Canvas bags, Denim)

• YES: Use Tearaway (Medium to Heavy weight).
  • Why: The fabric supports itself; the stabilizer just anchors the edges.

Where our product line fits naturally as an upgrade path: If you strictly follow only the basic manual hooping process, you will eventually encounter "Hoop Burn" (shiny ring marks on fabric) or struggle to hoop thick items (Carpal Tunnel risk). This is when magnetic hoops/frames become a necessary tool upgrade. They clamp without friction, eliminating burn marks and saving your wrists.

Why hooping consistency matters more than beginners think

Most "machine problems" are actually physics problems.

• Sound Check: When you tap the hooped fabric, it should sound like a drum (thump-thump). If it sounds loose or creates ripples when you push it, the embroidery will fail (pucker).
• Tactile Check: Pull the fabric gently at the corners. It should be immovable. If it slides, your hoop tension screw is too loose.

Touchscreen Interface Demonstration

In the video, Alan demonstrates the PR670E’s LCD touchscreen by tapping through built-in design categories (flowers, animals, etc.) and then showing the built-in font menu. He also makes an important point: most pros won’t rely on built-in designs—they’ll use their own customized designs (Digitized files).

How to use built-in designs/fonts the “smart” way

Built-in content is your training ground, not your business foundation. Use it for:

• Quick Personalization: Adding a name or monogram below a custom logo.
• Tension Testing: Run the built-in "Block" font on a scrap of your target fabric. If the letter 'I' looks like a 'V' or thread is looping, adjust your tension before loading the client's logo.

The Pro Workflow: If you’re planning to sell, your long-term success relies on Digitizing. Poor digitizing (wrong stitch angles, lack of underlay) causes thread breaks. New users often blame the machine when the file is the culprit.

Hooping workflow upgrades (when the touchscreen isn’t the bottleneck)

Once you master the screen, your bottleneck moves to the physical world: Hooping. Hooping takes 2-5 minutes per shirt manually. Stitching takes 5-10 minutes. If you speed up hooping, you double your profit.

This is where specialized tools like hooping stations change the game. A station allows you to pre-measure exactly where the logo lands (e.g., 7 inches down from the shoulder seam) and repeat it for 50 shirts instantly.

For high-volume orders, a hoop master embroidery hooping station style setup ensures that "Shirt #1" and "Shirt #50" look identical. Consistency is what gets you repeat corporate contracts.

Step-by-step: From “Shop Demo” to a Real Startup Workflow

The video is a review and shop tour rather than a full sew-along, so below is a practical, production-ready workflow effectively "filling in the blanks" of the video.

Step 1 — Choose your acquisition path

Checkpoints

• Lease: £199/mo (Homeowner/Credit check). Verdict: Low risk, preserves capital.
• Buy New: £6,000. Verdict: Maximum asset value, high initial drain.
• Ex-Lease: £4,495. Verdict: Best ROI if you budget for consumables.
• Warranty: Verify transport is included (crucial for heavy machinery).

Step 2 — Build your “first jobs” list

Alan lists typical categories: baby wear, horse tack, sportswear. Checkpoints

• Don't start with everything. Pick ONE difficult category (e.g., Horse Saddle Pads) and ONE easy category (e.g., Cotton Totes).
• Master the stabilization for these two before expanding.

Step 3 — Validate workflow via Touchscreen

Checkpoints

• Use built-in fonts to test your "Center Point" logic.
• Can you rotate a design 180 degrees? (Essential for items hooped upside down, like tote bags).
• Can you trace the design area? (Always hit the "Trace" button to ensure the needle won't hit the hoop frame).

Step 4 — Lock in consumables

Checkpoints

• Thread: Pick one brand (e.g., Madeira or Marathon) and stick to it. Mixing brands messes up tension settings.
• Backing: Buy a roll of 2.5oz Cutaway and 2.0oz Tearaway. Avoid pre-cut squares initially; rolls give you more flexibility.

Step 5 — Plan for uptime

Checkpoints

• Save the service center number in your phone.
• Ask: "If I drop off my machine on Tuesday, when do I get the loaner?" Know this before you break down.

Operation checklist (end-of-section)

• Design Check: Is the design rotated correctly for how I hooped the shirt?
• Obstruction Check: trace the boundary. Did the presser foot hit the hoop?
• Bobbin Check: visual inspection. is the bobbin at least 20% full? (Don't start a large jacket back with a low bobbin).
• Needle Check: Is the needle straight? (Roll it on a flat table to check).
• Safety Check: Are scissors/tweezers cleared from the sewing table?

Quality Checks (What to Inspect Before You Deliver)

The video shows a finished sample embroidery (eagle with text). For paid work, your quality checks must be rigorous.

Visual quality checks (The "1/3 Rule")

Flip the garment over and look at the back of the satin stitching (the letters or borders).

• Correct: You should see 1/3 top thread color on the left, 1/3 white bobbin thread in the center, and 1/3 top thread on the right.
• Issue: If you see only top color (no bobbin white), your top tension is too loose.
• Issue: If you see only white bobbin thread (cigar shape), your top tension is too tight.

“Feel” checks (sensory feedback)

• Scratch Test: Run your fingernail over the back of the embroidery. If it feels excessively knotty or "birdnested," trim it clean. Customers judge the inside of the shirt against their skin.
• Stretch Test: Gently stretch the fabric around the logo. If gaps appear between the border and the fill (gapping), you need more stabilizer or pull-compensation in your design file next time.

When magnetic hoops become a quality tool

If you struggle with "Hoop Burn" (the shiny ring left by standard plastic hoops clamping too hard on velvet, fleece, or delicate poly-performance wear), this is often solved by tool selection, not skill.

Many shops transition to magnetic embroidery hoops for brother specifically for sensitive fabrics. Because magnets hold by vertical force rather than friction/rubbing, they eliminate the burn ring. If you are evaluating options, a magnetic hoop for brother is a practical upgrade when your rejection rate due to fabric marks exceeds 5%.

Warning: Magnetic Safety. Industrial magnetic hoops use N52 Neodymium magnets. They are incredibly strong.
1. Pinch Hazard: Keep fingers clear of the snapping zone.
2. Medical Safety: Keep away from pacemakers users (maintain 6-12 inch distance).
3. Electronics: Keep phones/credit cards away from the magnets.

Troubleshooting (Symptoms → Likely Cause → Fix)

The video doesn’t include a troubleshooting segment, but new business owners will face these issues. Here is your "Low Cost First" triage chart.

Symptom: “My design looks fine on felt, but puckers on garments.”

Likely cause

• Physics mismatch. The garment fibers are shifting under the needle because they aren't glued to the stabilizer.

Fix

1. Immediate: Use Cutaway stabilizer, not Tearaway.
2. Technique: Use Temporary Spray Adhesive (505) to bond the fabric to the stabilizer.
3. Tooling: If the fabric is slippery, a magnetic embroidery hoop allows you to adjust the fabric smooth while the hoop is magnetically closed, something impossible with standard screw hoops.

Symptom: “Thread breaks constantly every 2 minutes.”

Likely cause

• Usually NOT the machine. It's the "Thread Path."

Fix

1. Re-thread: Complete un-thread and re-thread. Ensure the thread is clicked into the tension disks (Floss Check: pull thread, feel resistance).
2. Needle: Replace the needle. A microscopic burr shreds thread.
3. Speed: Lower speed from 1000 SPM to 600 SPM. Does it stop breaking? If yes, it's a friction/heat issue (use a larger needle eye or lubricant).

Symptom: “I’m slow at hooping and my hands/wrists get tired.”

Likely cause

• Repetitive Strain (RSI) from tightening the hoop screw hundreds of times.

Fix

• Ergonomics: Use a hooping station to keep wrists neutral.
• Upgrade: Switch to Magnetic Frames. Zero scrolling/screwing required. This is an investment in your physical health if you plan to embroider for 5+ years.

Symptom: “What’s the largest hoop/frame size?”

In the comments, the shop clarifies: The PR670E typically maxes out at 300mm x 200mm (approx 12" x 8").

Symptom: “Do you still sell this machine?” / “Where is the shop?”

The comments include a direct shop address reply: Bamber Sewing Machines, 445–449 Liverpool Rd, Eccles, Manchester, M30 7HY.

Prep (Before You Spend Money or Stitch Your First Paid Order)

This section is where most startups either set themselves up for smooth production—or for constant rework.

If you are currently comparing brother embroidery hoops sizes, stop looking at "size" and start looking at "placement." You need specific hoops for specific jobs.

Strategic Hooping Plan:

• Left Chest Logos: Use the 100x100mm (4x4") hoop. Don't use a giant hoop for a small logo; the fabric will bounce (flagging) and reduce quality.
• Jacket Backs: Use the 300x200mm hoop.
• Caps: Requires the Cap Driver attachment (verify if this is included in your Ex-Lease bundle!).

Prep checklist (end-of-section)

• Acquisition: Validated lease eligibility OR confirmed cash reserve for Ex-lease.
• Environment: Sturdy table (machine weighs ~40kg+). No wobbling allowed.
• Consumables: 10x Spools of basic colors (Black, White, Red, Blue, etc.), 1x Roll Cutaway, 1x Roll Tearaway, Box of 75/11 Needles.
• Digital: Laptop ready for digitizing software (PE Design or similar).

Setup (Hoops, Frames, and the “Tool Upgrade Path” That Actually Makes Sense)

The video focuses on the PR670E machine, but hooping is where the "labor cost" lives. A machine stitches at a fixed speed; you constitute the variable speed.

The "Profitable Growth" Upgrade Path:

1. Level 1: The Learner (Days 1–90)
   • Use the Standard Hoops included with the machine.
   • Focus on learning placement (where the logo goes).
   • Master stabilizer selection (Decision Tree above).
2. Level 2: The Semi-Pro (Months 3–12)
   • Pain Point: Hoop burn on performance polos; wrist pain from screws.
   • Solution: Upgrade to Magnetic Hoops. If you’re considering brother pr magnetic hoop options, this is the time. The ROI comes from zero hoop burn returns and faster load times.
   • Note: SEWTECH offers magnetic hoops/frames for home single-needle machines (if you have a backup machine) and robust magnetic hoops/frames for industrial multi-needle machines like the PR670E.
3. Level 3: The Production House (Year 1+)
   • Pain Point: Capacity. You have more orders than hours.
   • Solution: Add a second machine. This is where you look at scalable options like SEWTECH multi-needle embroidery machines to run alongside your Brother, doubling your output for a fraction of the cost of a new premium brand unit.

Warning: Tool Hygiene. Keep scissors and snippers on a lanyard or a magnet pad. Dropping metal tools into the hook assembly while the machine is running is a £300 mistake.

Setup checklist (end-of-section)

• Inventory: All included hoops accounted for (4x4, 5x7, etc.).
• Consumable Station: Thread rack organized. Stabilizer rolls on a dispenser (or simple rod) for quick cutting.
• Lighting: Added an external LED lamp? (Overhead lighting is rarely enough for threading needles).
• Efficiency Check: Can you hoop the next shirt while the current one is stitching? (This is the secret to profit).

Results (What a Good Startup Outcome Looks Like)

A realistic “win” from the PR670E workflow shown in the video is not just owning a 6-needle machine—it’s building a system:

• Financial Clarity: You chose Lease or Ex-Lease based on your cash flow, not just the sticker price.
• Operational Safety: You have a "Downtime Protocol" with a service center relationship.
• Quality Control: You rely on custom files, not built-in clip art, and you perform the "1/3 Rule" tension check on every job.
• Future Proofing: You understand that while the machine does the stitching, tools like Magnetic Hoops and Hooping Stations do the business scaling.

If you want, tell me what you plan to embroider first (baby wear, sportswear, tack, corporate polos, etc.), and I can recommend a specific stabilization recipe to ensure your first run is a success.