Knitmaster 500 electronic knitting machine
Knitmaster 500 Electronic
Someone has just emailed me to ask if I knew where the knitmaster 500 power supply could be bought and to be honest I did a quick search and realised that this is not an easy task.
Just taken this machine out for an airing – I bought it years ago at a carboot sale – did not realise at time it was an electronic and did not test it either at that time. Once settled in my shed, I took it out but it did not work with its silver curly cord so I put it away for a few years. Eventually I used another cord from my 580 and it actually did work but the knit radar did not. Again until today, I decided to take another look as I am more sure about what I can and cannot do re servicing this machine. Again the electronic sheets worked without any problem, must be one of the easiest machines to use with mylar sheets.
Mylar Sheets
The mylars are filled in using a shiny type pencil – the machine is so easy to set up again when you know how. I wonder if the electronic lace carriages work with this one ie are the needles flexible. Must try out this later. So to summarise the setting of the mylars, simply turn the machine on, after having cast on, then push the inspection button on so it lights up, set the mylar to the start arrow, then set your rear cams to the number of needles (slider) and place your N1 cam in the centre of the bed if necessary, then run the carriage over using the free play switch on the carriage, ie push it down and it lets the computer know where your cams are set. You then push the inspection light out and it draws in the mylar by 10 rows – set the width of your pattern again using the slider and you are ready to go. For fairisle you must thread your second colour right away, ie no selection row, this machine has tuck brushes that need to be attached to the sinker plate if you are knitting this stitch. When you want to change to plain or otherwise you simply push the inspection light on and move the centre cam to 0. So easy!
Repairing the Knitradar
So I thought I would take a look at the knit radar part. Oddly enough the instruction manual covers everything but not the knit radar. I lifted the lid and tried the knobs to see what did what, and after a couple of hours I discovered that the sheet would not move but I could turn the rubber wheel under to operate it. I guessed that there was a cog that had moved or something similar. I thought about taking it to bits but it had one of thon circlips and I hate them besides which I do not have a circlip remover (note to myself – must get one, wonder what they look like). Any way on further examination, I realised removing it was futile – pushed my finger under the back and a metal cog came away. The root of the problem – I figured out how to replace it correctly and eventually it worked. Good news, this is a smaller sized knit radar and I have the patterns and rules, no idea where I got them from but they fit. One should note the curly cables on these machines are quite fragile and on this particular model there is no on and off switch so its better to be plugged into a socket with that facility as taking it in and out must damage the pins. So this is an easy to use machine – very similar to all the later models but being the first of its ilk, its a miracle it still has working electronics – all down to the workhorse Knitmaster brand.
You can find the manual for the Knitmaster 500 Electronic Knitting machine here>
https://mkmanuals.com/singer-500-electronic-knitting-machine-and-ribber-user-guide.html
