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Rebuilding your own Sponge Bar - Helpful Hints
On occasion it is necessary to rebuild your own sponge bar because you have an older model machine whereby parts are no longer available, or shipping a long sponge bar is inconvenient or extremely expensive. However, if you can purchase a metal backed sponge bar that will fit your machine, it might be wise to do so as rebuilding your own sponge bar can be somewhat difficult and there is a real danger of cutting yourself- especially your fingers - when cutting and fitting a sponge bar to fit your machine. Normally a "Sponge Only" is used only to rebuild sponge bars that are no longer commercially available or as replacement sponge bars in a plastic bed machine.
1. A replacement sponge (only) bar is available in only one size - one meter long (approximately 39" for those of us that are metrically challenged)
2. The width or length (or both) may need to be altered to fit your specific machine.
3. Be sure to clean the sponge bar slot. On a metal machine, use a long Cat Tail / Rat Tail brush. On a plastic bed machine, use a clean cloth and alcohol to finish clean the old sticky sponge bar remnants out of the sponge bar slot. Denatured Alcohol is better than Isopropyl (rubbing) Alcohol. The latter has an abundance of water in it, which is not good for your knitting machine metal parts.
4. The new sponge bar can be extended by placing two pieces end to end in the sponge bar slot (you may need to purchase (2) sponges only to rebuild a sponge bar on a bulky machine). If you have a narrow but long sponge bar, you may be able to use a piece of the sponge bar that you trimmed off to make it longer)
5. On some plastic bed machines, the sponge bar does not need to go all the way across the sponge bar slot, only under the usable needles. (Some plastic bed machines have more needle slots than the machine normally uses)
6. Installation of a sponge bar in a plastic bed machine is quite different than metal bed machine. A metal bed sponge bar is installed from the end of the machine, while on a plastic bed machine it is installed from the bottom.
7. Install the sponge bar with the fabric sides facing up and down. The fabric on the sponge bar is VERY important as it allows the needles to slide across the sponge bar without sticking and damaging the sponge.
8. If you are rebuilding a metal backed sponge bar, once it is cut to size, you will need to use a good contact cement to glue the sponge bar in the metal sponge bar backing. IMPORTANT ? DO NOT USE GLUE ON A PLASTIC BED MACHINE! Also, do not use Super-Glue or Crazy-Glue as those glues are affected by moisture in the air and will soon fail.
9. A new sponge bar should last several years if properly cared for. Do not store in hot or humid areas. Heat and moisture (and Ozone) will adversely affect the sponge and the covering.
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