Photos of the SK155 Professional Chunky Punch Card Knitting Machine - for information only
with thanks to Alex for these photos
You will notice that this is a photo of an Empisal-Knitmaster Mod 155 which is the same as the Singer
SK155 and the Studio SK155. In this photo you can see the needle bed (notice how far apart the needles are) the
punchcard reader and a punchcard (12 stitch repeat by 60 rows long).
Full size photo of the machine with carriage and sinker plate (arm) attached ready for knitting.
It's shown on a metal stand with the lid of the machine slotted through the stand. Needle bed has 110 needles,
9 mm needle pitch so you can use thick yarns such as afghan (throw) yarn, mohair, knop or slub yarns, textured
cotton, thick boucle etc.
Centre of the needle bed in greater detail. If you are just researching knitting machines or are
a beginner you might wonder about the numbers in front of the needles, in particular the way they read outward
from the centre. Machine knitting patterns often say "cast on 40-0-40", which would be 80 sts. 10-0-10
would be 20 sts. Also notice the dark part on the number tape, that covers 12 st which is the size of the punchcard
repeat and shows exactly where each repeat of the pattern will be.
Final photo shows the carriage with sinker plate assembly attached (also called the arm). The dial
has Tuck, Slip, Punch Lace and Fair isle shown on it. Behind the carriage is the row counter and you can just see
at the top left the punch card reader. Which means on this machine you can knit stocking stitch, fair isle (colour
work with floats behind), tuck stitch, slip stitch, punch lace (one thick yarn, one thin used together to make
a lacy material), and knit-weave (thicker yarn caught in a sequence on the purl side of the work). One nice thing
about this carriage is that it has friction free rollers under the carriage so it is smoother and easier to use
and "in my humble opinion" quieter than the Brother 260 chunky machine (I've owned both).
Wondering why there is a photo of a Toyota KS650 on the same page as the SK155 - well it's because
it's the same machine, just with the Toyota name on it.
View of the bed, right side of the carriage and the punchcard reader at the rear.
Long view of the bed and carriage.
The table, by the way, is made from a metal saw horse from Canadian Tire, bought on sale for $9.99, with a piece
of wood screwed onto the top. It makes a sturdy, cheap, fast table.
Accessories for this machine: Ribbing attachment SR155, Knit (radar) Contour KR7/KR6, Intarsia carriage, AG155 and AG30 |
April 19, 2014 |