Busch Vintage Knitting Machine EM180
- Maggi Bloice
- 11 minutes ago
- 2 min read
A vintage machine that appears to have incorporated the sinker posts into its design, however the carriage (Skate) as it called in the manual leaves a lot to be desired. Whenever I get a vintage machine that is in good condition I wonder what is the problem. Believe me there are so many good or unused vintage machines that would have been stored away as they were of a bad design or too complex to operate.
The Busch knitting machine once you are able to cast it on successfully knit easily however casting on and threading up is the bugbear with this machine, however I try to remember these golden oldies have been stored for donkeys years under the bed, up in the attic or in a damp old garage, so a little give and take is necessary. I took this machine out many years ago and it knitted easily so what’s the problem now. It required a lot of movement, oiling and empty knitting rows just to loosen it up. The red knob on the side, was a strange thing, and I could not for the life of me get it to move - I took the top off the carriage and use brute force, wd 40 and oil – it moved eventually and it was an important piece as to the left it would allow needles in holding position to hold and to move back to normal then you slipped it to the right.
The worst bit about this carriage or skate was the odd threading up system. I am lucky enough to own the slightly later model that did have a tensioning bracket and it is easy to operate however, threading up, well I eventually managed it and not without a few swear words. I have attached a photo close up of it when threaded correctly.
Next came the cast on, ok so you simply had to place needles in working position and slide the carriage across, then continue for open edge. It did after about 50 trys – I will not be beaten, that’s my motto, mainly because I had misunderstood the threading order, then followed the ewrap and this time you ewrapped and manually laid the yarn over the needles and after pulling the middle knob of the carriage, it eventually cast on on, you then push the knob down and it simply knits. Like I say patience when mucking about with vintage knitting machines is a virtue and that’s an understatement.
Once cast on, it knits sweetly, it has 180 needles, however I feel for those who purchased the previous versions of this machine without the tension arm, you would definitely have to use clamps to hold the machine down unless you are a contortionist to operate this baby...
