JUKI didn’t disappoint and introduced another unique machine in which the punch cards are inserted into the carriage. This is what the JUKI KE-2400 knitting machine is.
Thank you for reading this post, don’t forget to subscribe!
It has 200 needles, 4.5 mm apart, which makes it a standard-gauge machine. The manual can still be downloaded online. Interestingly, the needle positions are A, B, D, and F. F is for holding.
The carriage is very unique too: there is A LOT going on on the carriage, which can be intimidating at first. It has left and right returning levers for normal knitting (“normal position”), except for holding (needles in F position will be brought back to B) or when knitting a single motif. These levers also have a reverse position (see the manual for more details).
There are also left and right pattern selectors for patterned and plain knitting (right) and for choosing how the card moves. All these options are written nicely on the carriage, unless you get a Japanese version.
The sinker plate is called a “fabric press” in the manual. The row counter is built-in. The cards (with 24 stitch repeat patterns) are inserted into the carriage.
Knitting a single motif is done with point cams. The machine comes with rails (wide flap-like extensions) for using the lace carriage. The machine also allows you to position the pattern automatically slightly off-center.
Stay tuned as I discover more: I think I have a similar model in my possession. Or write to me with your experience.
