… this article is a constant work in progress as I collect more information and hands-on experience…
…. Please, read the whole article first before proceeding.
Problems with rust in or on your knitting machine can manifest themselves as stuck levers and knobs, metallic/grinding sound when moving parts, sometimes static and jerky movements of the parts. Rust is sometimes visible and obvious and sometimes not (because it is hidden inside the carriage or needle bed or is at hard-to-get angles/corners of the machine).
Major rust: medium to large size rust spots.
If your hole needle bed is covered with orange rust, your machine it is probably a lost cause. If you hate waste and like projects, you can still attempt to disassemble and polish all parts (with sand paper and metal brushes) and cover the surfaces with oil or even a thin layer of rust-oleum.
If this project fails or you don’t finish it (or get confused how to put it together), you will probably have a lot of spare parts for your other machines or to pass along to the knitting machine community. AND, you’ll learn a lot about internal intricacies of a knitting machine. Still a win-win.
I managed to remove rust from a vintage machine, where the whole needlebed was covered with orange rust but I was lucky enough that there was no corrosion in the needle groves. It did required a lot of notes taking since the available-on-the-market service manuals are of poorly quality and I was almost on my own in disassembling and assembling it back on. But even with note taking, there were confusing parts on how to do certain things but I managed to get this machine to work pretty well.
If you see individual orange rust spots and they are easy-to-get to, first wipe them (vigorously) with the oiled rug and see how much of this rust will simply come off. Often, a lot of comes off and no harsh scrubbing is necessarily.
If you feel that more scrubbing is needed, start with rough plastic brushes and if still lots of rust remain, use fine sand paper and/or metal brushes to reach harder-to-get places.
If the surface you just polished from rust does not come in contact with any other moving parts, feel free to cover the polished surfaces with rust-oleum. I do that if I see rust on lids, underneath the needle bed, on punchcard readers panels (only on surfaces that are supporting the mechanism).
If polished parts do come in touch with other parts, just apply protective oil.
Minor to Medium rust
A lot of machines come to me with some blackish, grayish and even whitish discoloration (often in the form of bunch of very small spot group together), like acne on the needlebed, retaining springs, punchcard mechanism, lids and cases.
This is not the most aggressive form of rust but if left untreated/unnoticed, might still cause issues.
Thus, when the machine came to you needing some TLC, wipe it first with a rug (aggressively but its just a rug – no damage will occur to the metal itself). If the surface feels smooth to your hand, just cover it with oil (Gun oil, UPS oil or other corrosion protection oil friendly to knitting machines). If the surface still feels rough, polish with fine sand paper (if the surface is easy to reach and is flat enough) or a rigid plastic brush to remove additional rust layers. Again, apply a very thin layer of protective oil.
I once had a carriage with white-ish discoloration on its metal part (a very vintage machine). It might have been a vintage form of steel (who knows), but since then I did not see any more the same type of metal damage (aka rust). The carriage needed a bit of TLC and “hand-holding” while knitting and daily oiling. With these preventive measures, it knitted wonderfully. Without them – a lots of static accumulated and lots of grinding noise was coming after several rows of knitting.
The bottom line is:
A lot of ribbers and machines come to my possession with some sort of rust issues. Since the quality of the metal on the parts for the vintage machines is much better than the quality of the metal on the parts for modern machines (Chinese knock-offs/copies), my strong preference still goes to the vintage parts (even with minor rust) than to more modern new/old stock parts. Additionally, it is often simply impossible to find parts on the new market. Also, extensive polishing/rubbing (with the goal to remove rust completely) damages surrounding yet-uncorroded surfaces, making them prone to corrosion. So, if i do not see a lot of issues with the moving levers and knobs as well as with static (or static is manageable), I only gently polish the rust and cover it with protective oil.
…. more coming as I learn more about these mighty machines and their intricacies.
