Only standard-gauge knitting machines have compatible lace carriages.
Below is a list of Brother knitting machines (and pictures of their carriages with some notes) that, to the best of my knowledge, came with lace carriages in their standard setups.
8-Pushbutton machines
The very first 8-pushbutton machines, Brother KH552, KH561, KH571, and KH580, did not have lace carriages in their setups. Starting with Brother KH581 (not sure yet about KH583, KH701, KH705), a lace carriage became a standard accessory.
There is a general consensus on the Internet that the carriages for the pushbutton machines as well as lace carriages for the KH800 and KH801, produce the most beautiful lace. I have not had a chance to knit with those yet but I suspect it might have something to do with the special shape of the needles and narrow needlebed.
Judging by the very strong similarity of all 8-pushbutton machines, I would assume that all lace carriages are interchangeable between the models. However, I have not confirmed it personally yet and am still looking for posts on that.
The lace carriages for pushbutton machines match the color combinations of the machines, which makes them easy to match. But the pushbutton machines sometimes have similar hues that might come across on the web as the same colors.
Standard-gauge
Fine-gauge
Punchcard machines
Early punchcard machines with 12-stitch repeat pattern cards, Brother KH800 and KH801, have the same needles as the pushbutton machines. Their main carriages are very similar too. Thus, there is a possibility that the lace carriages of KH800 and KH801 are interchangeable with pushbutton machines.
Starting with Brother KH810 (the very first 24-stitch repeat pattern machine), the needle bed is wider, and the carriages from earlier models do not fit. The punchcards have special arrows showing which carriage to move: the lace one or the main carriage. The lace carriage is the one that engages the timing belt and is typically positioned on the left rail. The main carriage is set to “stockinet-only” settings (no engagement with the timing belt). So, the punchcard moves only when the lace carriage is gliding on the bed. The lace carriage moves the needles forward according to the punchcard pattern and then transfers the stitch from the selected needles to the neighboring non-selected ones.
