Problems - Questions - Opinions

Ribber help:

Firstly thank-you for bringing a smile to my face this after noon with your wit. It's wonderful.
 
I came across your site whilst looking for an answer to my question.
I have a Brother 891 and an 850 ribber bed. Both are maintained well, regularly and oiled. Why is it that as soon as I connect the ribber carriage to the main bed carriage 'it drags'? By 'drags' I mean it feels heavy and sluggish. I have tried knitting with and with out yarn and when the yarn is in I'm almost having to force the carriages to and fro which isn't good for my back or the machine. Any idea please?
Cheers, Rachael.

Hi Rachael,
 
I have had this problem before and found there was only one thing to do - take the whole lot apart, ribber and main bed, unfix it all from the table.
 
But - saying that - first of all unscrew the ribber connection off the main carriage and put it back on again making sure that it falls into the right position. It is easy to screw it on so it sets too high.
 
When putting the machine together, it is very easy to fix the screws slightly wrong (even though the experts will tell you that you need to oil, replace the sponge bar, set the needles and so on) and this can upset the whole carriage motions.  By taking the whole lot apart and starting again this invariably fixes the problem - the problem being that your main bed carriage and the ribber carriage are too far apart and are therefore dragging.
     - The tilting table clamps fixed to the main bed - make sure that they are screwed in ok to the main bed and make sure they are pushed back tight against the table edge.
     - Make sure the reinforcing arms of the ribber are flat on the table and clamped down.
     - Make sure that before fixing the ribber on that the racking is at the middle/normal position - not that this should make any difference, but who knows.
     - It says in the KR-850 manual that the setter plates have a Left and a Right - maybe that was what I did wrong and accidentally got it right when I fixed it back together, I will never know! Either way, make sure you fix the setter plate screws on properly and on the correct side. 
     - When you push the ribber up towards the main bed I find that I need to shove it once more and it clicks a fraction higher.
I hope this helps you

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Hi,

Me again. May I ask a question?

I've had a quick look through the manual. And the K-carriage is shown as having a KC setting - good so far - but mine has a KC-I and a KC-II. Is there something I am missing here? Or do these just correspond to the I and II buttons on the comp panel?

Sorry to be a bother - very last question, I promise!

Best regards, Helen

Hi,

Its ok - ask away ...
 
Gawd - I had to go out to my knitting shed (the garage down the garden - and it is raining!) to see what you are asking by looking at the machine.
KC1 is for fairisle knitting where you want the end needles selected to knit the last stitch in the main yarn at each end of each row.
KC11 is for when you are knitting a centralised motif or intarsia, and do not want the main yarn to be picked up at each end as you would have big floats at the back of your piece of knitting.
The top of the knob (CR I think) is to release the carriage from the main bed when you have got the whole lot snagged up & all the needles caught.
 
When you knit fairisle/motif, on the middle on the carriage under tha handle you will see 2 square central buttons. Only press the top one in for fairisle & motifs.  Press them both in for threadlace patterns which is used with main yarn 4 ply and thin 2/30's or thinner contrast yarn.

Jo

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PPD & Cartridge

In your knitting machine manual, does it have a page where it tells you how to install patterns from a cartridge? It is very important that you switch the knitting machine computer on and off, when to put the cartridge in, exactly as the instructions tell you to.
The Japs don't make anything easy - finding the pattern number is a task & makes you wonder why they didn't just number them consecutively. Every time you want to install a pattern to your machine ALWAYS use the instructions as one little mistake screws the whole works up - FOLLOW EXACTLY WHEN TO TURN ON AND TURN OFF THE POWER.
 
I found a lovely pattern with lots of cats on it size 60 stitches x 150 rows.  I did try to put it all on a PPD120 (pattern programming device) to transfer it to my machine, but I lost patience with the length of time it took to `draw` the pattern on to the PPD device - after 2 years I realised I would never finish `drawing` it (dot dot dot dot up left left dot dot up right dot right dot dot and all the time this awful ping - try that some 9000 times). I found it a lot quicker to buy a second-hand KH-950i and draw the pattern on a mylar sheet which took about half an hour & 30 seconds to install (which didn't please my husband "What, another machine???").
I am now selling the PPD120 - I once upon a time would have liked to buy the Designaknit programme but it is very expensive for something that I would rarely use.  I'm not a designer - I copy other people's pattern charts since, afterall, it's all been done before.

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Hello to you,
My wife is in some need of help. I thought that you might be able to help her. Her name is Vanessa, and when   she tries to knit using the ribber and carriage, the needles that are selected, get caught under  the carriage of the brother 891.  If she detatches the ribber and carriage from the 891, and cast on herself, without the carriage for the ribber, and use the normal one that came with the 891, it works fine and the selected needles dont get caught.
Hope this makes some sensEe.

Kind Regards, Richard.

Hello Richard,
 
It's probably all to do with general maintenance - bits need resetting and sorting.
 
I guess she has a bent needle on the main bed which looks perfectly ok.  Bring forward the needles where she is finding that the carriage sticks. Take the connecting arm off the main carriage and run the carriage across the needles very slowly. If it is a bad needle she will know exactly when the carriage is about to stick.  Release the carriage and see which needles are crossed over.  Replace them with good ones. It isn't always the latch end of the needle which is bent - often it is the bit that sticks up.
Or - take a look under the main carriage and see if the pieces of bent metal at each end are the same - sometimes when the carriage regularly sticks one of those can get pushed out of place a bit.
Or - make sure the Half Pitch lever is in the right position.  P for 1x1 rib -
Or - sometimes the machine can be temperamental if the connecting arm is not screwed on in the right place. So take it off and put it back on again.
Lastly - unscrew the ribber from the main bed and put it back on again.  All of these bits are screwed in and screws can become loose and need resetting.
 
I do hope this helps, Jo

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I have a knitting machine that I am hoping to sell.  It was my mother-in-laws, I am not sure about the value, it is practically new.  It is a Brother KH 965, and a ribber KR850. Do you have any idea how much I should charge for this machine? Thanks in advance for any advice!
 
Sincerely, Denise

Hello Denise,
 
As your machines are in as-new condition I recommend that you pretend to shop around at some knitting machine dealers to see what prices they are asking and also to check that you have all the accessories with your machine and then to offer your machine for sale at $100 less than the dealer is asking.
The KH-965 is an electronic machine - the KH-970 is top of the range, KH-965i next, and yours is the third one down - which means that your machine is practically top of the range and in demand.
In the UK you can ask for around £350 which is a bit low, mainly because machine knitting is no longer popular here and the British hate to part with their money.  In the USA I reckon you can ask for $750 or more.
It is always a good idea to have the machine serviced by a dealer which gives the buyer a guarantee that the machine is in good working order - otherwise a buyer can break your asking price by pretending to find faults which are not there. As your machine has a computer to work the patterns then that is the first thing a buyer will break your price with if you don't have a service certificate.
It is a MUST that you have the instructions manuals and the Stitchworld pattern manual to hand over to the buyer. If you don't have those then buy the downloads from my website and put them on a CD.
If you have a bale of coned yarns and magazines which you are also selling, they are not necessarily an incentive to a buyer.  Coned yarn is always difficult to buy at bargain prices and you cannot expect to ask much more than half the new price for each cone - although definitely count how many cones you have, how many are new and how many are half used, etc - no need to give it all away for nothing.
Any bundle of machine knitting magazines has its value to all machine knitters because they are not so easily available.  Each magazine is usually worth at least the same price as it was bought new especially if they are the Brother Fashion books.
If you also have other accessories like the Linker, Transfer Carriage, Colour Changer & Knitleader, then all of these are extras and can be treated in a sale as extras for extra money.
If, perchance, you also have the Designaknit software then that HAS to be sold separately as it cost hundreds new so can sell for $300.
 
Long-winded but I hope this all helps you, Jo
 

Thank you so much, Jo for all the information. You have been very helpful!  I was surprised to find a local knitting group, I am going to try them first.  I used to be a machine knitter myself, owning a punchcard machine at first, and then an electronic model.  I sold them both around 15 years ago, so I wasn't sure what the new prices were.  I had no idea Brother stopped manufacturing the machines.
 
Thanks again for all of the information, have a great day!
 
Sincerely, Denise

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