# If you had a choice...Brother KH 940 or Kh 965i or KH 970?



## Linda888 (Mar 6, 2012)

The husband is talking about getting me an electronic knitting machine for my birthday in January. I have punch card machines, i know nothing about electronic machines. I do want to be able to use Image2track on the electronic. I believe you can use this software on all of these machines. The husband talked to the mechanic at Newtons Yarn Country and he suggested we should go with the KH 940 because it is the best buy for the money, but the KH 970, KH 965i etc. would cost about another $1000 more because of all the bells and whistles. If i am going to get an electronic machine, i would like to get the best one, less problems? more dependable? ease of use? If any of you have these machines, could you comment as to which one of these you would go with and why? Thank you in advance.


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## GrammaAnn (Dec 16, 2011)

I have the 940 and absolutely love it. It does the Img2track easily and it was economical for me to buy. If you have the money they say the 970 is the best. But it has a tad more learning curve while the 940 was easy. I guess depends what you are up for economically and for learning.  Ann


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## susieknitter (Jul 14, 2011)

Most definitely the KH970. I have owned a 910; 950; 950i; 900; 965; as well as Knitmaster/Silver Reed electronics and the 970 is far better than the rest. It isn't hard to use, in fact it is in many ways easier to use than the other models. Plus you have the built in garment design feature with this model.


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## jaysclark (Jan 26, 2013)

Definitely the 970 for ease of use, built in garment designer, uses img2track and is just a fabulous machine


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## Judy Goodwin (Dec 9, 2014)

Definitely the 970. This machine was the last model produced. As a dealer/teacher one of the best features of the 970 was that you could bring the electronics (cb1 box) into your dealer or lesson for help with the programming without bringing the whole machine. You can also bring it to the living room couch to program no matter where your machine lives. I rarely ever see this mentioned and I think it is one of the reasons I love the 970 so much. The little led screen is a little difficult but beats nothing which is what the 940 has. There is no memory in the 940. Therefore you are dependent on the disk drive for loading designs unless of course you own a knitting soft wear program such as Designaknit. And as was stated you have the ability to input your sweater outline and do integrated knitting with the garment and stitch design in one place independent of other soft wear. Good luck with your search.


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## Judy Goodwin (Dec 9, 2014)

Definitely the 970. This machine was the last model produced. As a dealer/teacher one of the best features of the 970 was that you could bring the electronics (cb1 box) into your dealer or lesson for help with the programming without bringing the whole machine. You can also bring it to the living room couch to program no matter where your machine lives. I rarely ever see this mentioned and I think it is one of the reasons I love the 970 so much. The little led screen is a little difficult but beats nothing which is what the 940 has. There is no memory in the 940. Therefore you are dependent on the disk drive for loading designs unless of course you own a knitting soft wear program such as Designaknit. And as was stated you have the ability to input your sweater outline and do integrated knitting with the garment and stitch design in one place independent of other soft wear. Good luck with your search.


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## KateWood (Apr 30, 2011)

KH970


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## nannie343 (Aug 15, 2012)

I have the 940 and love it! It suits my needs. You will have to decide what features you would like to have before you can make your decision.

Good luck!

Rhonda


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## randiejg (Oct 29, 2011)

Both the 940 and 970 are great machines. As already mentioned, the 970 has a bit more of a learning curve. Both can use the Image2track software. 

The the extra $1,000 isn't a huge issue, I'd say go for it. It will have a much higher resale value, if you ever decide to sell it, and the electronics will be several years newer than the 940, as well as much more sophisticated in what you can do with the machine. 

The Brother machines are no longer made. Buying from a dealer is a smart choice, as they will have checked the machine thoroughly before reselling to you, and will likely offer some lessons. They may also have parts.


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## Rita in Raleigh (Aug 20, 2011)

Judy, did you mean that the 940 has nothing visual to show you what is in the machine, such as the little led screen on the 970?

Of course the 940 has a memory. It comes with 550 or so built in patterns and holds a bunch of other patterns which can be input through the black and white keys, a ppd, or disk drive, or from the computer with DAK (Design-a-knit). The 940 has a larger memory than the 930.

Otherwise, I agree with what you have written about the 970. However, my favorite is the 965i. I have a terrible time reading the icons for the 970 <G>

We do all have our favorites!

Rita in Raleigh



Judy Goodwin said:


> Definitely the 970. This machine was the last model produced. As a dealer/teacher one of the best features of the 970 was that you could bring the electronics (cb1 box) into your dealer or lesson for help with the programming without bringing the whole machine. You can also bring it to the living room couch to program no matter where your machine lives. I rarely ever see this mentioned and I think it is one of the reasons I love the 970 so much. The little led screen is a little difficult but beats nothing which is what the 940 has. There is no memory in the 940. Therefore you are dependent on the disk drive for loading designs unless of course you own a knitting soft wear program such as Designaknit. And as was stated you have the ability to input your sweater outline and do integrated knitting with the garment and stitch design in one place independent of other soft wear. Good luck with your search.


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## susieknitter (Jul 14, 2011)

Rita do you mean that the screen isn't clear enough for you to see, or do you mean the icons confuse you?
I have just let someone have my 965. I loved it, but having two 970's it was a choice of getting rid of one of those or that going. The 970 won, even though I would have got more money selling that.


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## Linda888 (Mar 6, 2012)

Wow! Thank you everyone for your input, it is greatly appreciated. I guess i will start reading up on the machines, decide what i would like to be able to do with them and then make a decision from there. Thank you so much!


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## KarlaHW (Jan 6, 2012)

I love my 940, in fact I have another 940 as a spare. I also use it with Designaknit. With this combination I believe I can do everything a 970 can do. 
I would look around and get whatever you find with a good price.


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## Rita in Raleigh (Aug 20, 2011)

Hi Susieknitter,
I need a well lit room to see well and sometimes there is a glare on the 970 screen or I am facing directly into the setting sun <G>. I also keep forgetting what the icons mean and which one to scroll down through to tell the machine to do what I want it to do.

It is a personal problem. Nothing wrong with the km or its way of setting up for knitting. I also prefer the manual row counter instead of the one built into the console.

All 3 of the title machines are great. Remember there is a difference between the 965 and the 965i. The one with the "i" can interact with the disk drive or the computer, but the one without the "i" cannot take a cable for interaction!

Rita in Raleigh


susieknitter said:


> Rita do you mean that the screen isn't clear enough for you to see, or do you mean the icons confuse you?
> I have just let someone have my 965. I loved it, but having two 970's it was a choice of getting rid of one of those or that going. The 970 won, even though I would have got more money selling that.


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## susieknitter (Jul 14, 2011)

Rita in Raleigh said:


> Hi Susieknitter,
> I need a well lit room to see well and sometimes there is a glare on the 970 screen or I am facing directly into the setting sun <G>. I also keep forgetting what the icons mean and which one to scroll down through to tell the machine to do what I want it to do.
> 
> It is a personal problem. Nothing wrong with the km or its way of setting up for knitting. I also prefer the manual row counter instead of the one built into the console.
> ...


Yes Rita, I do know the difference between the 965i and the 965.
I admit the screen on the 970 can be a problem for some. I have an overhead full length of the bed light. I find having this on isn't a brilliant idea, even though it was sold for knitting machines.
I find the icons self explanatory. In fact it's these that I think make the machine easier to use than all the others.


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## Judy Goodwin (Dec 9, 2014)

Hi Rita. What I meant is that when you enter designs from disks it deletes other stored designs and that you need to renter using a disk each time you change a design, however, the 970 stores more designs than the 940 allowing you to change to a new design and then go back to an older design without reentering the design from a disk. Of course the 940 has memory. I am sorry I implied that it did not.


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## Judy Goodwin (Dec 9, 2014)

Hi Rita. I remember the icons by remembering that the little flower always deals with designs and the little sweater deals with shapes. This is of course one of the best things about the 970. After you decide design or shape look for the arrow down which means positioning or a pencil which means you are doing the design or the eraser when you want to delete. I agree with Susieknitter that the icons are quite easy once you remember these things.. There was a plate that allowed for an outside row counter sold at one time also maybe available on the used market.i think a small block of wood taped with double sided tape and two machine screws to fit the row counter would work to use an external row counter also


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## jaysclark (Jan 26, 2013)

Rita in Raleigh said:


> I also prefer the manual row counter instead of the one built into the console.
> 
> Rita in Raleigh


I have a manual row counter stuck on with blu tac on both my 970's. No need to drill and they have never fallen off.

I dream that Brother start making machines again and the cb1 becomes an ordinary tablet running software like DAK!


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## Rita in Raleigh (Aug 20, 2011)

Thanks, Judy, for the advice. Thanks, jaysclark for the info on the row counter. 
I did get a row counter earlier this year from knitting Machines etc. They also sold the setting plates and screws needed, along with the manual row counter. It makes a big improvement, in my opinion. 

Rita in Raleigh


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## susieknitter (Jul 14, 2011)

Rita in Raleigh said:


> Thanks, Judy, for the advice. Thanks, jaysclark for the info on the row counter.
> I did get a row counter earlier this year from knitting Machines etc. They also sold the setting plates and screws needed, along with the manual row counter. It makes a big improvement, in my opinion.
> 
> Rita in Raleigh


Rita the row counter is easy to fix. I have one on the 970 that I use all the while. On the first 970 I bought I did what Jaysclark has done but if you can fit a proper row counter I think it's a good idea to do so. My Blu Tak obviously wasn't as good as that Jaysclark has....either that or my son didn't give me enough :lol: :lol:

Regarding DAK......I have it but won't set it up on my 970. This is because I find that with the garment design already in the machine, and it being so easy to input stitch patterns, I don't really need it. In fact I am far quicker when doing my baby blankets using paper, a pencil, and my head than I am using using my PPD on the 970 so I am sure the same would apply if I was to use DAK. This is not because I can't use a computer, I have worked on them from the 1970's.
The last baby blanket I put on here I got in a right mess doing it.......mainly down to the yarn I was using. When it went wrong I hadn't a clue where I was with the pattern because I had put it in from beginning to end instead of in steps......if you see what I mean. Then my machine decided it didn't like it and started to complain by switching itself off and on.
On my Silver Reed fine gauge machine however DAK is more or less a necessity due to the patterning system and garment design feature for this make/model of machine being a little antiquated.
I know this isn't everyone's point of view, but if I can get straight onto the machine, and knit exactly what I want without first using a computer, then I am happy. :lol: :lol:


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## Linda888 (Mar 6, 2012)

Ok, so we've decided on the KH 970. Would we need the stand to set it up on or is setting it up on a table fine? Does it matter? 

So far that we know this is what he is looking to order:

Brother KH-970, 
ribbing attachment KR-850, 
KE-100 motor drive 
automatic color changer KRC-1000E

Is there anything else that you would suggest we order, that i would need with this? Garter carriage i have heard of them, but do not know anything about them. Extension rails if they are needed? i know some machines come with them. Thank you all very much! I do appreciate it.


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## Maryknits513 (Feb 12, 2011)

Linda888 said:


> Ok, so we've decided on the KH 970. Would we need the stand to set it up on or is setting it up on a table fine? Does it matter?
> 
> So far that we know this is what he is looking to order:
> 
> ...


You can use any sturdy table. Remember the machine will be very heavy at the front of the table when you add the ribber.

The garter carriage does knit and purl stitches in pattern on your main bed. It is motorized, but knits very slowly. A row of 200 stitches will take up to 3 minutes to knit. Still MUCH faster than when I try to hand knit. :roll: A garter carriage is often used to knit ribbing instead of using a ribber.

Buy the motor drive, but I DO NOT recommend a motor to a beginning MKer unless they have physical problems that make pushing a carriage difficult. You can do a lot of damage to the machine/needles/carriage with some of the mistakes beginners -- and experienced-- knitters make.

HAPPY KNITTING!


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## Linda888 (Mar 6, 2012)

Thank you so much! I love the advice of the experts! I will buy it but not use it until i am very experienced with the machine, that way when i am older, if i have problems, i will have the motor drive to use. I love the idea of the garter carriage! I have a really good sturdy table, so i will not get a stand. I can't thank you enough! This kind of advice is invaluable!


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## jaysclark (Jan 26, 2013)

Linda888 said:


> Ok, so we've decided on the KH 970. Would we need the stand to set it up on or is setting it up on a table fine? Does it matter?
> 
> So far that we know this is what he is looking to order:
> 
> ...


The 970 should come lace carriage and rails.

You must make sure that it comes with the garter carriage sensor and intarsia carriage tripper. The g carriage sensor is near impossible to find and without it a garter carriage will not work

Buy a KG93 or 95 garter carriage


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## Linda888 (Mar 6, 2012)

Thank you very much! I am writing this down and will make sure it comes with it.


jaysclark said:


> The 970 should come lace carriage and rails.
> 
> You must make sure that it comes with the garter carriage sensor and intarsia carriage tripper. The g carriage sensor is near impossible to find and without it a garter carriage will not work
> 
> Buy a KG93 or 95 garter carriage


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## Cinamin (Dec 20, 2014)

go with the 940. I have two. Love them.


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