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Groz-Beckert sewing machine needles are quite popular and are used by a number of machine quilters.  Earlier this year, Riley posted the following photograph and asked about the differences between the two packages of needles that she had purchased and was wondering if they would both work in her machine.

Quite some time ago, I did some research on Groz-Beckert needles when I couldn't find the ones that I had been using for years. This is what I found out about those letters and numbers on the package, and I thought that I'd share this information with you:

RG and FFG are point styles. RG is a sharper point than the FFG which is slightly rounded. Unfortunately, they are no longer manufacturing the RG point style in the SAN 11 needle. The SAN 11 special application needle was developed specifically for multi-range directional sewing/quilting. SAN 6 is also a special application needle, but your machine may need to be retimed since the scarf is slightly different than the scarf on the SAN 11 needle. (Some machines need retiming, but others don't.)

The "134" is a needle system number. DPx5, 135X5, 135x7, SY1955 are all needle systems that are equivalent to the 134 system.

The "339" is the length (in mm) of the needle from the top of the shank to bottom of the eye. You need to move the decimal one place to the left which in this example would mean the length is 33.9mm.

The "200" is the diameter of the shank; you need to move the decimal one place to the right. In this example, the diameter would be 2.00mm.

"AD" - The "A" signifies a single groove; and the "D" designates the needle as titanium. If there were a "C" in that position, it would be chrome.

The string of numbers on the bottom line of the label is their internal numbering system and designates the factory, manufacturing date, destination, etc. GEBEDUR is their designation for their titanium needles.

Groz-Beckert purchased the Singer Needle Factory (SNF) several years ago and continued to sell needles under the SNF name for quite some time.  Earlier this year, the decision was made to discontinue the separate packaging/label, so now those SNF needles also come in a Groz-Beckert package.