Knitting machine news

Good for you! The passap is the one beast I have yet to tame, I'm still learning about my silver reed

Jane

I did get a bit of tuition so I know now how to cast on for single-bed knitting.

The main thing I learned is that my trouble getting the thing going stems from it being dirty++. So I am armed with instructions for taking out the pushers and needles and for cleaning all the moving bits. Today I'll hie me off to the hardware store for some quality paint brushes and a half gallon of paint thinner. If the thing was all metal I'd take it to my friend's car shop and have him dip it in the parts cleaning tank - that's what I did with the two Japanese machines and they came out sparkly clean and ready to knit.

In message , WoolyGooly writes

I have a Toyota knitting machine and was advised to clean it with surgical spirit before re-oiling. Surgical spirit evaporates easily. Shirley

WoolyGooly,

Once you get it cleaned and oiled, make sure to run a couple of inches of waste yarn through the machine, as there is bound to be leftover oils on it, and waste yarn will get dirty with oil and dirt coming off the machine.

If once you clean it, you still have problems, you may need a new sponge bar (AKA needle retainer, needle retaining bar), the thing that holds down the needles, especially if the machine sat for a year or two before you got it. First you can try moving the sponge bar a little bit, as it may only be mashed down where the needles have sat on it, but if after trying that it still won't knit easily, you probably need a new bar. Passap isn't made anymore, but you can still find sponges on the net and info on how to properly change needles w/out damaging your machine spring. If someone was trying to force the carriage over the needles, some of them may have gotten bent, so if you change the sponge bar and still have problems, check for bent needles where the carriage gets stuck.

Also, if you heard that a "cattail/rattail" brush was good for getting broken pieces of sponge bar out of the machine, you were informed wrong. Those can get caught in the machine and really jam up the works, though many places still sell them. They are very tricky to use, and if not done right you'll have problems.

Hope that helps!

Leah

My late ,other used to have a real Knitting machine , i think i still got the info booklet ,[i will see], i know i saw it and it baffled me as she sold years before. I think it was a passap ,,,,,with a carriage for ribbing etc... i have a small frame of ESM , which i use rarely.

mirjam