Hi Roberta, i followed your instructions on restoring a sponge bar. I put the sponge bar in with needles in the A position pushing down the needles. Now, the needles sit so tight to the bed, I can't get my number strip under them. My carriage does move the needles and when I use the sinker, it gets stuck and bumps into the needles. I am careful to not force it. I have a Brother KH260 machine. Any suggestions would be appreciated it. Thanks for the videos and your expertise. Carolyn
+Carolyn Montoya Sorry you are having that problem. I also had one refurbished sponge bar that was the same. What I figured out was the weather stripping was just to thick or hard. I also had one that was too soft and once I put that one in the bed, the needles flattened that sponge fast. So I suspect that it could be the weather stripping you used. Also I find it easier to put the number strip under the needles before I put the bar back in the machine. The other thing that I know a few have done, was put the bar in upside down, hope that isn't the case but the sponge part sits on the needles. If you knew that, then as mentioned, I suspect the sponge is just too much for the bar/machine is all. Hope that helps, Berda
I have a Brother KH 940 machine which I purchased many years ago and never learned to use. After finally setting it up again, I discovered that the sponge bar needed to be replaced. I have taken it out and cleaned it as best as I could. However, I cannot seem to get the fabric strip clean. I has residue from the deteriorated sponge on it. Is it worth trying to get it clean, and, if so, what would you recommend to use on it?It is still attached on both ends. I noticed that you used some type of ribbon on yours. Can you give me specifics on the type of ribbon you used? What is the fabric content? Is it smooth? I know some ribbons have ridges on them such as grosgrain. Any help you can give me will be greatly appreciated!
You are not alone, amongst the manuals being hard to understand or patterns that are not written well (even I have forgot somethings in my written patterns), many either gave up on their machine or just put it away for a while, some for years. Most times the sponge bar is the culprit but yet the manuals only mention how to replace them, they don't say when it is time to do so, I believe that most of that was a ploy for the owner to bring it back to the dealer for them to charge them not only for the part but for the labor (which really isn't much to do with replacing the bar). But now, we can learn from others on how to fix or repair our machines. Well if the old ribbon is really bad, then I would cut it off and then use some, I believe it is the grosgrain ribbon to where it is finished on the sides and won't unravel. But I have also used some silky ribbon as well. It is really up to what you have on hand or what you can get. I am searching for mine to finish up a bar for this new to me machine, cannot use the machine until I do find it and get the bar in, but in time I will find it or buy new stuff. Hope this helps.
Hi Roberta, I do enjoy your videos and thank you for putting them up for us to learn. My question is, how thick should weather stripping be for my empisal-Knitmaster, 305 automatic? I purchased 3/8 in X 3/16 in. The 3/8 is the width and fits the bar but wondering if the 3/16 will be too thin. Thank you in advance and many blessings to you. Joan Cary
I believe I did have to double up the 3/8" tall weather stripping to get it above the metal bar. Sorry for delay, as I have said in the last week on a few other posts, google did something and I was not contacted with comments waiting for me and still I am not getting those. So I need to log into my account daily I guess until I get those messages. Berda
Thank you very much for this video, really useful and off course your other videos too. What is the proper height for the sponge? I just bought Toyota K747 and the sponge bar is flat. It still has the ribbon. The sponge they sell on eBay although it said for Toyota, but seems like different size than mine, I don't want to spend a lot of money and ended up the wrong one.
I was happy to show that, with fooling around with different cleaners, just to use a non toxic cleaner to get the old sponge out was one of the best things I found. I found most times that the sponges are about 3/4" tall, so when I buy some that is only 3/8" tall, I do need to double it up to get it to the 3/4". You can probably put in any sponge bar in your machine, but you need to get the width of the bar to be the same, some are 10mm and others are 11mm if i remember correct, so that is the first thing to look at and get the weather stripping to match the width. Then if the height of it only goes to the top of the bar, then that is when it will need doubling up to get it higher than the bar height. Hope this helps. Not sure what part of the world you live in, but here in the states I have seen most new sponge bars go for around 20 dollars but the shipping will be a bit more because of the length. But as my dad had told me many times, why buy something when you can make it yourself.
Roberta Rose Kelley Exactly .. I agree with your dad. I am in limited budget, I don't buy anything esp new if I can make it myself. I am in CA, I think I saw that stuff a lot at Home Depot or Lowes. Wouldn't double it make it too thick? Is it OK if it's too thick? I measured mine, the bar itself is 1 cm, the sponge around 9 mm, I hope they sell that size. Thank you.
TAMom Haddon I believe that you will find something at any home or hardware store. I had hubby buy me some white stuff, and no need to double it up, let me find the info. It is Frost King but may come under other names as well but the latest one I got is 3/8" wide (I know this will fit the bars width wise) and then 5/16" thick, now when I double up the other stuff, I would have 6/8 or 3/4 inch so to have this one at 5/16" is probably going to be good for just one layer. So first find the right width, then most wehaterseals are not that tall, but ti find it at 3/8" or 5/16" tall would be good. Thanks for the compliment on my dad, he was a wise man as well as my mom was a wise woman and between the two of them, they got all their children to make things and not buy it most times. One reason I always make my own sweaters, first I am not liking the store bought ones but second I have that good feeling that I did it myself.
Roberta Rose Kelley They sure were wise teaching the children to be creative and not just spending money to get what they want and need. I crochet and hand knit, made cold weather jackets, vest, nats etc for my children and myself .. started with USM 2 yrs ago, and just bought this used K747 thinking I can make more with it (time wise which I don't really have) .. hope I can make it works soon, but not easy since the parts are not available much. I will stop by at Home Depot today hope I can find that Frost King brand or similar to that with 9 mm width. Thanks Roberta ... keep making the video! :)
I think I also had the 747 for a while, but the one I had, really had major issues and back then I didn't try to work on it. Should have tried as I did like the simulknit, if I remember correct, then it was for doing double jacquard, which I have learned how to do that on the few machines I did that on. I need more time to make things for myself or the grandnieces and grandnephews, but I do find time for them once in a blue moon. Oh as long as I keep getting requests, the videos will continue to be uploaded.
OK .. here me again. I made the sponge bars, waited 24 hrs. I made a mistake, I pushed some needles out from one end (4 needles), for some reason I thought I saw somewhere else that the needles had to be out (not from your video) .. and they do not want to come back in. I tried many different position with no luck. The sponge bar went in nicely on the main bed, but this problem is on the ribber bed and the sponge bar went in to the point where the needles are out. I don't know what to do. How stupid I am so rush to put it in without searching more first. I am afraid open up the plate that hold the needles and make more problem with it. Help ... Thank you!
Oh never mind .. I finally able to put them back and put the sponge bar .. but noticed that I need to clean all the needles. Do I have to take the sponge bars out and take the needles out one by one through those slots on the bed, or is there any other easier way to take the needles out and put them back in?
+TAMom Haddon I do not recall answering this one but being a year old now, yes you do need to take the needles out 1 by 1, sometimes you can get 2 or 3 out at one time but that is about as much as I could get at one time. Berda
Hi Roberta, i followed your instructions on restoring a sponge bar. I put the sponge bar in with needles in the A position pushing down the needles. Now, the needles sit so tight to the bed, I can't get my number strip under them. My carriage does move the needles and when I use the sinker, it gets stuck and bumps into the needles. I am careful to not force it. I have a Brother KH260 machine. Any suggestions would be appreciated it. Thanks for the videos and your expertise. Carolyn
+Carolyn Montoya Sorry you are having that problem. I also had one refurbished sponge bar that was the same. What I figured out was the weather stripping was just to thick or hard. I also had one that was too soft and once I put that one in the bed, the needles flattened that sponge fast. So I suspect that it could be the weather stripping you used.
Also I find it easier to put the number strip under the needles before I put the bar back in the machine.
The other thing that I know a few have done, was put the bar in upside down, hope that isn't the case but the sponge part sits on the needles. If you knew that, then as mentioned, I suspect the sponge is just too much for the bar/machine is all. Hope that helps, Berda
I have a Brother KH 940 machine which I purchased many years ago and never learned to use. After finally setting it up again, I discovered that the sponge bar needed to be replaced. I have taken it out and cleaned it as best as I could. However, I cannot seem to get the fabric strip clean. I has residue from the deteriorated sponge on it. Is it worth trying to get it clean, and, if so, what would you recommend to use on it?It is still attached on both ends. I noticed that you used some type of ribbon on yours. Can you give me specifics on the type of ribbon you used? What is the fabric content? Is it smooth? I know some ribbons have ridges on them such as grosgrain. Any help you can give me will be greatly appreciated!
You are not alone, amongst the manuals being hard to understand or patterns that are not written well (even I have forgot somethings in my written patterns), many either gave up on their machine or just put it away for a while, some for years.
Most times the sponge bar is the culprit but yet the manuals only mention how to replace them, they don't say when it is time to do so, I believe that most of that was a ploy for the owner to bring it back to the dealer for them to charge them not only for the part but for the labor (which really isn't much to do with replacing the bar). But now, we can learn from others on how to fix or repair our machines.
Well if the old ribbon is really bad, then I would cut it off and then use some, I believe it is the grosgrain ribbon to where it is finished on the sides and won't unravel. But I have also used some silky ribbon as well. It is really up to what you have on hand or what you can get. I am searching for mine to finish up a bar for this new to me machine, cannot use the machine until I do find it and get the bar in, but in time I will find it or buy new stuff. Hope this helps.
Hi Roberta, I do enjoy your videos and thank you for putting them up for us to learn. My question is, how thick should weather stripping be for my empisal-Knitmaster, 305 automatic? I purchased 3/8 in X 3/16 in. The 3/8 is the width and fits the bar but wondering if the 3/16 will be too thin. Thank you in advance and many blessings to you. Joan Cary
I believe I did have to double up the 3/8" tall weather stripping to get it above the metal bar. Sorry for delay, as I have said in the last week on a few other posts, google did something and I was not contacted with comments waiting for me and still I am not getting those. So I need to log into my account daily I guess until I get those messages.
Berda
Thank you very much for this video, really useful and off course your other videos too. What is the proper height for the sponge? I just bought Toyota K747 and the sponge bar is flat. It still has the ribbon. The sponge they sell on eBay although it said for Toyota, but seems like different size than mine, I don't want to spend a lot of money and ended up the wrong one.
I was happy to show that, with fooling around with different cleaners, just to use a non toxic cleaner to get the old sponge out was one of the best things I found. I found most times that the sponges are about 3/4" tall, so when I buy some that is only 3/8" tall, I do need to double it up to get it to the 3/4". You can probably put in any sponge bar in your machine, but you need to get the width of the bar to be the same, some are 10mm and others are 11mm if i remember correct, so that is the first thing to look at and get the weather stripping to match the width. Then if the height of it only goes to the top of the bar, then that is when it will need doubling up to get it higher than the bar height. Hope this helps. Not sure what part of the world you live in, but here in the states I have seen most new sponge bars go for around 20 dollars but the shipping will be a bit more because of the length. But as my dad had told me many times, why buy something when you can make it yourself.
Roberta Rose Kelley Exactly .. I agree with your dad. I am in limited budget, I don't buy anything esp new if I can make it myself. I am in CA, I think I saw that stuff a lot at Home Depot or Lowes. Wouldn't double it make it too thick? Is it OK if it's too thick? I measured mine, the bar itself is 1 cm, the sponge around 9 mm, I hope they sell that size. Thank you.
TAMom Haddon I believe that you will find something at any home or hardware store. I had hubby buy me some white stuff, and no need to double it up, let me find the info. It is Frost King but may come under other names as well but the latest one I got is 3/8" wide (I know this will fit the bars width wise) and then 5/16" thick, now when I double up the other stuff, I would have 6/8 or 3/4 inch so to have this one at 5/16" is probably going to be good for just one layer. So first find the right width, then most wehaterseals are not that tall, but ti find it at 3/8" or 5/16" tall would be good.
Thanks for the compliment on my dad, he was a wise man as well as my mom was a wise woman and between the two of them, they got all their children to make things and not buy it most times. One reason I always make my own sweaters, first I am not liking the store bought ones but second I have that good feeling that I did it myself.
Roberta Rose Kelley They sure were wise teaching the children to be creative and not just spending money to get what they want and need. I crochet and hand knit, made cold weather jackets, vest, nats etc for my children and myself .. started with USM 2 yrs ago, and just bought this used K747 thinking I can make more with it (time wise which I don't really have) .. hope I can make it works soon, but not easy since the parts are not available much. I will stop by at Home Depot today hope I can find that Frost King brand or similar to that with 9 mm width. Thanks Roberta ... keep making the video! :)
I think I also had the 747 for a while, but the one I had, really had major issues and back then I didn't try to work on it. Should have tried as I did like the simulknit, if I remember correct, then it was for doing double jacquard, which I have learned how to do that on the few machines I did that on. I need more time to make things for myself or the grandnieces and grandnephews, but I do find time for them once in a blue moon.
Oh as long as I keep getting requests, the videos will continue to be uploaded.
OK .. here me again. I made the sponge bars, waited 24 hrs. I made a mistake, I pushed some needles out from one end (4 needles), for some reason I thought I saw somewhere else that the needles had to be out (not from your video) .. and they do not want to come back in. I tried many different position with no luck. The sponge bar went in nicely on the main bed, but this problem is on the ribber bed and the sponge bar went in to the point where the needles are out. I don't know what to do. How stupid I am so rush to put it in without searching more first. I am afraid open up the plate that hold the needles and make more problem with it. Help ... Thank you!
Oh never mind .. I finally able to put them back and put the sponge bar .. but noticed that I need to clean all the needles. Do I have to take the sponge bars out and take the needles out one by one through those slots on the bed, or is there any other easier way to take the needles out and put them back in?
+TAMom Haddon I do not recall answering this one but being a year old now, yes you do need to take the needles out 1 by 1, sometimes you can get 2 or 3 out at one time but that is about as much as I could get at one time.
Berda