Another technical hitch.

The parts arrived as scheduled and were perfectly correct.  I set about doing the last repairs and had two problems.  First, I couldn't get one of the screws out to take off the broken handle bracket.  Secondly, when I pried off the snap clip on the RC lever so I could replace the RC lever base it flew off into oblivion.  And it is tiny!  And I can't find it.

So another order into Siver Reed Canada for snap clips and screws.  So another delay on getting the lace carriage functional.

But I am still very happy that I can get all the parts I need and it will get fixed eventually.

The parts to repair the lace carriage will be here tomorrow

I can't say enough about this company.

Silver Reed Canada

I ordered the parts on the 14th and they will be here tomorrow, the 20th.  From Canada.  Some US companies take way longer than that.

I am excited to get the lace carriage working.  I had given up on it before as the lever at the back was flopping around and some chunks of metal fell out of it.  Also the drums were frozen.  I thought it was beyond repair or would cost a fortune to fix.  I was so inspired by the Diane Sullivan video about using the lace carriage I watched that I set about looking at it again.  I have been lamenting over this lace carriage for a long time.  I even considered buying a new one but heck, they are expensive!

What I have realized is that knitting machines are made up of lots of parts and if one breaks it can be replaced.  So this carriage needed the drums freeing up, which I was able to do after watching another video put up by Kate in her blog 'Pieces of Kate'. It also needed the handle holder unit L (which is what the chunks of metal were) and a Row counter lever base which was broken and hence the floppy lever.

Pieces of Kate. How to clean the drums on a knitting machine

I know I am repeating myself but I am so impressed by the Canada company and Pieces of Kate's blog entry.

So tomorrow or the next day (as UPS usually delivers around 6pm here) I will know if the lace carriage will work with all the repairs.  I really hope so.  It came with all the weights and punchcards etc so it will be fully functional if it works. Fingers and toes crossed!

Will post after I have tried it with pictures if all goes well.

A better week all round

I decided to list the Singer 700 machine again last Saturday.  I reduced the Buy it now price and the opening bid price.  Someone bought it on Sunday at the Buy it now price.

I think I broke even on it because although I didn't pay as much as I sold it for I did spend a lot of money on it. I replaced most of the needles, I bought paper patterns, the missing latch guide and a brand new sponge bar for it and punched up the missing punchcards and replaced some missing tools.

I spent probably $10 on extra packing materials and spent 5 hours packaging it up so that the buyer wouldn't experience the same trauma I did a month ago when the SK155 I bought got damaged in transit.  They confirmed this evening that it arrived safe and sound and it looked like a new machine so that made both them and me very happy.

With regard to the SK155 the insurance claim still hasn't been settled but after many phone calls and sending in lots of photos, receipts etc. I think it may get settled soon.  Then I will be able to get rid of the packaging that is occupying a sofa in our sun room and set up the machine properly and try and fix some of the damage.

I found a wonderful business in Canada that sell parts for knitting machines.  It is where I bought the missing items for the machine I just sold.

Silver Reed Canada

I was checking out their site and found they sold parts for the lace carriage too.  Now all I had to do was find out how to dismantle it and find out exactly what was broken in it.

Well I found another blog that had details on how to take a carriage apart to clean the drums so I was able to dismantle the lace carriage and ascertain the damaged parts and free up the drums.  I ordered the parts from the above company today and they should get here in about a week.  I am so excited and happy about that.

This is a link to that blog. It is the post made November 2012, just scroll down to it, it is a very detailed post with some great tips. Well worth a look.

'Pieces of Kate' blog with post of how to dismantle a machine carriage

So maybe soon I'll have a functioning lace carriage and a usable bulky machine.  The bulky does actually knit but I couldn't set it up properly incase they wanted to come and inspect it.  Whether I replace the lid for $200 or just try and repair it is dependant on how much I get from the claim.  I know I can replace the ends of the lid which sustained all the breaks and cracks and maybe I can knock out some of the dents and replace the clasp.

I found out I could replace the base too for $149 but even though I was feeling pretty good about stripping down the lace carriage I don't think I'm up to a full blown dismantle of a machine to replace the base so I will likely just leave that with the fix I was able to do.  Like I said in a previous post the machine doesn't really have any value now with the damage but it is functional so I will just use it and enjoy knitting on it.  And maybe my husband will finally get his much yearned after bulky sweater lol. (if I had a pound or dollar for every time I have said that I'd be pretty well off by now).

So a much better week all round.

Dealing with knitting machines/selling/looking up parts/stripping down/cleaning/packaging/mailing has taken a lot of time this past couple of weeks.  I am so ready to just start knitting again and not have to deal with all the other stuff.

But wait!!!! What is looming in the not so distant future?  Oh yes, Christmas.....so that has to be dealt with too over the next few weeks..... so, maybe, in the New year I can get down to some serious knitting.

How fast this year has flown!

My Singer 700 didn't sell and no news yet on the insurance claim for the SK155 damage

Well, the title just about sums it all up.

My Singer 700 didn't sell on ebay......no big deal as far as I'm concerned although I was hoping to get something to offset the cost of the bulky machine.

With regard to the bulky I am kind of in limbo.  I can't try and make any repairs until they decide the claim.  They may want to come and inspect it so it is just sitting on my desk not doing anything.  I have knitted on it to test the punchcard operations and they seem to work just fine.

We updated our internet to satelite this past weekend so I was able to watch a Youtube video all the way through today.  It was a Diane Sullivan one on doing lace with the lace carriage so now I am all eager to get mine fixed or get another one.

So a lot of thinking about but not doing much knitting lately.

Still have leather things to make before Christmas and there just doesn't seem to be enough time.  Always something to do!