The Knittax AM3 with Ribber

The second machine to come under scrutiny was the wonderful Knittax AM3 or Knitking and ribber.

Knittax or Knitking knittting machine

is a fine machine and so well built with a fantastic ribber that knits so well again when you know how.   Although built in Germany, the machines that I have were all sourced in France and they generally come with the ribber.

The main carriage operates a system whereby you attach a wheel under the carriage and it selects sets of needles.  Once cast on it is so easy to knit with,  however I must confess I have not attempted to knit a full size pattern, if I were to do that I would have a shed load of knitwear.  The ribber must be the easiest ribber of any machine I have come across to attach, you simply push the pegs at the end into holes on the actual machine and of course by that some token, it is extremely easy to detach. 

Mixed Stitch Sample of Knittax AM#

With a reasonable heavy 4 ply testing the the pattern wheels and it is so easy, you push a button on top of the carriage and it selects then release it to knit say in the simple case of tuck stitch, after the selection row, 3 rows and then at the end of the 3rd row you simple press a button on the front of the carriage to bring all the held needles back into working position.  There are so many different ways this can be used and a pattern book is provided with charts to play around with.  My machine came with a holder to place the yarn in and I found the tension fine once properly threaded.  An important note is that there are two tension places on the dial, one for the main bed and one for the ribber whilst attached.

Pic of the plastic Stripper

The ribber again is easy to cast on with and it has a carriage that is attached by a steel hoop and that is it.  You must select your needles then as the Knittax is a sinker operated machine you hold the sinker next to the end needles with the special plastic stripper holder.  There is one caution here and that is I have tried to buy these without any success, I have 2 pairs but one of these has been snapped, so easy believe me so I wonder if there is another solution out there. Its odd to think though, they make a great machine but use an easy to snap plastic for such an important job.  My mantra as a vintage machine collector is to try to get more than one of a machine,  I am lucky enough to own three of these wonderful machines.  They are light and easy to use so I definitely class this machine as a must have vintage machine that does the job easy and is light as a feather.  Another thing to note is that this machine has no fixings to attach it to the table, my way to stop it moving left to right is to fix 2 brackets inside the rubber mounts.  This however does not stop it flying off the table if you are not careful when the ribber is attached.