Rusty Needles - Toyota KS858

My new-to-me Toyota KS858 arrived in mint condition ... except ... The needles were rusty.

The knitting machine had been stored for quite some time with the sponge bar in place. It appears that the sponge absorbed and held moisture. The rust appears on the tops of the needles where the sponge rests.

Lesson learned... if you are storing a machine, removing the sponge bar not only will help preserve the spring in the sponge, it will prevent the time it takes to remove the rust, or the cost of replacing all the needles.

1. Remove the sponge bar
2. Carefully remove each needle, being sure to close the latch as it slips out of the channel. This machine is a standard gauge and has a lace carriage, so the needles are designed to bend. Once I got over the fear of bending them too much, removing each needle wasn't difficult
3. Soak the needles in a glass jar partially filled with denatured alcohol. This removes any gunk and in some cases completely removed the rust
4. Emery cloth or fine sandpaper helped removed any remaining rust
5. A quick wipe on each needle with an oil soaked rag (knitting machine oil, gun oil, sewing machine oil)
6. Inspect and re-insert each needle
7. Replace the sponge
8. Ready to knit!

Lesson learned... if you are storing a machine, removing the sponge bar will not only help preserve the spring in the sponge, it will prevent the time it takes to remove the rust.

Look for the Replacing Needlestutorial in our Learning Library