Yesterday I decided I just had to have new sponge bars for both my standard gauge knitting machines - at the the 2 that use them & there was no way that I could afford to buy new factory made ones right now. So since I had found a site the day before yesterday that talked about refurbishing sponge bars, I decided to see if I could find the supplies without too much trouble. I had seen this before, but wasn't sure I could or should try it.
So since I was leaving the house anyway, I went on to our local Hobby Lobby while I was out & looked for high density foam that would be sold where I could buy at least 4' long by 1' wide. I never did find any. I could have bought a strip that way that was 2" thick, but I needed it to be about a 1/2" thick or less. While there looking, I got a call from I. asking that I stop back by where she was on my way home since she had forgotten to give me something that she had been asked by my son to give me to handle for him. So I decided to stop by the hardware store on the way home from where she was instead of driving back to Wal-Mart. So I probably paid a little more than I needed to, but I wasn't using even more gas to drive back to where I had been. At the hardware store, I picked up a roll of weatherstripping that is 3/8" x 1/2" x 10' - not sure if maybe it should have been 3/8' x 3/8" x 10', since it seemed slightly wide for the metal frame, but it worked to refurbish the 2 sponge bars. I had also never heard of Goof Off that had been recommended for removing the old glue & residue of the old sponge/foam, so I asked about that. I got their smallest size & it was actually 2¢ cheaper at the hardware store than at the discount store in my little town that I stopped at next. I still needed glue & woven ribbon to place over the top of the weatherstripping - I assume to keep the needles from sticking to the foam. So again, rather than making another trip across town, I was pretty sure that while the local discount store is very limited anymore in craft items, I surely should be able to get some ribbon & some glue there & I did. I then came home, got out some single edge razor blades, to cut the old sponge one each end, then I used a flat blade screwdriver to scrap out the old foam, cleaned it up pretty good, then used the goof off. Since I was using weatherstripping, it had adhesive on the 1 side, so I started putting it into the metal strip & cut it at the end, trying not to stretch it. After I made sure that was into the opening on both sides & pushed it down to try to make sure it attached itself to the bottom of the channel, then I put a light coating of the Tacky Glue on top of the weatherstripping, then every so often, I would place the ribbon over the glue so that I could be sure it wouldn't dry before I got it all on - I did make sure the ribbon was a little longer than the weatherstripping on each end. Then I sealed each end with a piece of packing tape that was about 2" x 1". I let it sit for a while to try to make sure the glue had dried. Then I installed it back into the machine. I only pulled out 1 at a time to make sure I didn't forget how to install it correctly.
They both seem to work well! I do see that I have some bad needles on my new to me Brother KH836E machine, so will need to take the sponge bar back out, switch some needles around to get the bad ones out of the center are where I am most likely to be knitting. I also think I want to get another set of table clamps to use with my Brother KH930, so that I can easily switch the Brother KR850 ribber between the machines without having to remove brackets from 1 to the other. I will also need another pair of the KR Setting Plates, so that there is a pair on each machine. And I need another table for 1 of the machines to sit on, so that I can have both up at the same time & a dust cover to help protect the machines from dust,
I haven't yet gotten brave enough to take the machines apart to deep clean them, but I did point my blow dryer into them on cool & blew out some crud.
Have fun & Happy Crafting until the next time!
So since I was leaving the house anyway, I went on to our local Hobby Lobby while I was out & looked for high density foam that would be sold where I could buy at least 4' long by 1' wide. I never did find any. I could have bought a strip that way that was 2" thick, but I needed it to be about a 1/2" thick or less. While there looking, I got a call from I. asking that I stop back by where she was on my way home since she had forgotten to give me something that she had been asked by my son to give me to handle for him. So I decided to stop by the hardware store on the way home from where she was instead of driving back to Wal-Mart. So I probably paid a little more than I needed to, but I wasn't using even more gas to drive back to where I had been. At the hardware store, I picked up a roll of weatherstripping that is 3/8" x 1/2" x 10' - not sure if maybe it should have been 3/8' x 3/8" x 10', since it seemed slightly wide for the metal frame, but it worked to refurbish the 2 sponge bars. I had also never heard of Goof Off that had been recommended for removing the old glue & residue of the old sponge/foam, so I asked about that. I got their smallest size & it was actually 2¢ cheaper at the hardware store than at the discount store in my little town that I stopped at next. I still needed glue & woven ribbon to place over the top of the weatherstripping - I assume to keep the needles from sticking to the foam. So again, rather than making another trip across town, I was pretty sure that while the local discount store is very limited anymore in craft items, I surely should be able to get some ribbon & some glue there & I did. I then came home, got out some single edge razor blades, to cut the old sponge one each end, then I used a flat blade screwdriver to scrap out the old foam, cleaned it up pretty good, then used the goof off. Since I was using weatherstripping, it had adhesive on the 1 side, so I started putting it into the metal strip & cut it at the end, trying not to stretch it. After I made sure that was into the opening on both sides & pushed it down to try to make sure it attached itself to the bottom of the channel, then I put a light coating of the Tacky Glue on top of the weatherstripping, then every so often, I would place the ribbon over the glue so that I could be sure it wouldn't dry before I got it all on - I did make sure the ribbon was a little longer than the weatherstripping on each end. Then I sealed each end with a piece of packing tape that was about 2" x 1". I let it sit for a while to try to make sure the glue had dried. Then I installed it back into the machine. I only pulled out 1 at a time to make sure I didn't forget how to install it correctly.
They both seem to work well! I do see that I have some bad needles on my new to me Brother KH836E machine, so will need to take the sponge bar back out, switch some needles around to get the bad ones out of the center are where I am most likely to be knitting. I also think I want to get another set of table clamps to use with my Brother KH930, so that I can easily switch the Brother KR850 ribber between the machines without having to remove brackets from 1 to the other. I will also need another pair of the KR Setting Plates, so that there is a pair on each machine. And I need another table for 1 of the machines to sit on, so that I can have both up at the same time & a dust cover to help protect the machines from dust,
I haven't yet gotten brave enough to take the machines apart to deep clean them, but I did point my blow dryer into them on cool & blew out some crud.
Have fun & Happy Crafting until the next time!
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