# Buying a used knitting machine, Which one?



## Rustyraels (Aug 28, 2013)

I am in the market for a machine and they are really hard to get here in Australia so 2nd hand is the way to go The field has bee narrowed to 4 machines.
At one end of the scale there is an empisal KH91. This one confuses me as I can't find anything on it. Anyone know anything about it?
Then there is a singer Memomatic 321 with ribber. 
The other end of the scale are 2 electronic machines a Brother KH 930 and a Passap 6000. Both are going for the same price. 
Any feedback or info on any of these machines would be appreciated.
Thanks in advance.


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## Lynney (Aug 21, 2013)

I have a Passap but not the 6000. However I have a friend who has a 6000 and loves it. I also have an empisal but haven't yet had a go with it, all I know is they are quite old!


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## madkiwi (Jul 7, 2013)

Rustyraels said:


> I am in the market for a machine and they are really hard to get here in Australia so 2nd hand is the way to go The field has bee narrowed to 4 machines.
> At one end of the scale there is an empisal KH91. This one confuses me as I can't find anything on it. Anyone know anything about it?
> Then there is a singer Memomatic 321 with ribber.
> The other end of the scale are 2 electronic machines a Brother KH 930 and a Passap 6000. Both are going for the same price.
> ...


For empisal, go to knittsings and look under studio, knitmaster, silver reed, singer - all the same as the company changed names according to country of origin, and also takeovers. Also aboutknittingmachines, xenaknits, knittingmachinemuseum.

The empisal would be my suggestion, as it is basic, no frills, simple to operate and easy to learn your way round it. If you are a novice to machine knitting, sometimes the fancier models are confusing to learn on.
Madkiwi


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## shirleycurly60 (Mar 18, 2011)

I have Empisal KH90,KH91, no ribbers on these 2. And 2 KH680 with Ribbers. All have cast on combs which make casting on a piece of cake. These are all manual machines,basic but very useful. They have lace carriages as well as knit carriages,easy to use push button NO punch cards.These machines knit from 1ply to 8ply if you go slower, quite well.
I had a Singer Memomatic but got rid of it,I didn't like it.
This site has a lot of information Brother, Silver Reed all similar.
http://machineknittingetc.com/brother-knitking/patterns-and-magazines.html?p=4
http://machineknittingetc.com/brother-home-study-course.html
http://machineknittingetc.com/brother-knitting-techniques-book.html
The two last books are worth a download for any machine.


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## JillKay (Mar 17, 2013)

Rustyraels said:


> I am in the market for a machine and they are really hard to get here in Australia so 2nd hand is the way to go The field has bee narrowed to 4 machines.
> At one end of the scale there is an empisal KH91. This one confuses me as I can't find anything on it. Anyone know anything about it?
> Then there is a singer Memomatic 321 with ribber.
> The other end of the scale are 2 electronic machines a Brother KH 930 and a Passap 6000. Both are going for the same price.
> ...


Hi there - you can get new Brother and Singer machines at Reynolds Brothers in Sydney if you would like a new machine. I think you can also get new Singer machines at Glenelg in SA. The Empisal KH91 is a push button machine - you have to push buttons to make the pattern. The Memomatic 321 uses a punch card. They are both probably around 45 years old but were well made and may still function well. I don't know much about the KH930 except there seems to be a shortage of people in Australia who can service the electronics. I do have a Passap 6000 and am very happy with it. It is my go to machine for all double bed work. I tend to use my Brother 860 or 260 for single bed work. If you have a look on the web at the various machine knitting association websites (one in each state) they often have second hand machines for sale. Good luck. Send me a PM if you want any further info Jill


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## Linuxgirl (May 25, 2013)

From what I've learned about knitting machines the Passap 6000 is the "Mercedes" among them. It seems to have the most options, but it's also the most difficult to learn.
It depends on how much time you want to spend with the machine. If it's just for a hobby, the Passap might be oversized and too complicated.
As for Brother machines, you might find these pages helpful:
http://www.scanthecat.com/html/bnro_machines.html

http://www.ebay.co.uk/gds/KNITTING-MACHINES-THE-BROTHER-RANGE-EXPLAINED-/10000000002191649/g.html

I have three very simple Brother machines: KH588 with ribber, kx350 and KH230 with ribber. These are very basic machines, but the learning curve is not as steep as with more modern machines .

About the other two I can't say anything. Maybe someone else can help you there.


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## Linuxgirl (May 25, 2013)

JillKay said:


> Hi there - you can get new Brother and Singer machines at Reynolds Brothers in Sydney if you would like a new machine. I think you can also get new Singer machines at Glenelg in SA. The Empisal KH91 is a push button machine - you have to push buttons to make the pattern. The Memomatic 321 uses a punch card. They are both probably around 45 years old but were well made and may still function well. I don't know much about the KH930 except there seems to be a shortage of people in Australia who can service the electronics. I do have a Passap 6000 and am very happy with it. It is my go to machine for all double bed work. I tend to use my Brother 860 or 260 for single bed work. If you have a look on the web at the various machine knitting association websites (one in each state) they often have second hand machines for sale. Good luck. Send me a PM if you want any further info Jill


I sincerely doubt that you can get any new Brother machines as they stopped making them a while ago. I suppose they offer professionally overhauled machines, which is quite fine.


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## JillKay (Mar 17, 2013)

Linuxgirl said:


> I sincerely doubt that you can get any new Brother machines as they stopped making them a while ago. I suppose they offer professionally overhauled machines, which is quite fine.


I thought that too but they are advertising new Brother machines on their website. They may have old stock or perhaps someone else is making them under Brother licence - I am not sure but here is the website if you would like to see them.
http://www.reynoldsbros.com.au


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## Linuxgirl (May 25, 2013)

JillKay said:


> I thought that too but they are advertising new Brother machines on their website. They may have old stock or perhaps someone else is making them under Brother licence - I am not sure but here is the website if you would like to see them.
> http://www.reynoldsbros.com.au


You're right, they indeed offer them as new. I couldn't help but ask them right about it. I'm very curious about their answer (if I get one).


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## jaysclark (Jan 26, 2013)

Linuxgirl said:


> You're right, they indeed offer them as new. I couldn't help but ask them right about it. I'm very curious about their answer (if I get one).


This was on their website

'These machines are exclusively made for (Reynolds Bros) under our own name as original BROTHER Knitting Machine, which share the same performance and Accessories with Brothers corresponding models RBKH-860/ RBKH-868/ RBKH-260. In order to meet clients requirements to different widen models, have also produced a NEW RBKH-860L longer knitting bed by almost 13 with 272 needles across.'


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## MtKnitter (Dec 10, 2011)

Does the brother 930 include the ribber? If not, and price being the same, i would go for the e6000. Does the e6000 include any accessories?

I have an e6000 but I've learnt on Japanese machines and i've been having a bit of a time making the transition but if you've never used a machine, you'll probably do fine on the e6000 and it has some amazing patterns built right in.


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## vtconection (Aug 20, 2013)

I have four brother machines and two ribbers, love them all and easy to use. My favorite is the 970 but the 965 is very good. Good luck on your hunt. Second hand ones are reasonable.


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## Piper Too (Oct 27, 2012)

I guess they must have got the Brother licence to be able to make them under Brother name. There are plenty of very good second hand machines around, but if you want a new one, this outlet would provide you with one. Good Luck.

I suggest joining a M. Kitting club too. The members give really great support & shared knowledge to members.


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## carmeenhoover (Aug 16, 2013)

I too sent them an email immediately and although I got on the site ok. They wouldn't accept my email because of a 'spam error??? I sure don't know why. I wantéd to know the prices of the machines. I wish I knew what I did wrong...any ideas?


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## Rustyraels (Aug 28, 2013)

I got a spam message as well but then I refreshed the page and it worked. Go figure?


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## Rustyraels (Aug 28, 2013)

Thank you every one for your help. All the machines have ribbers. The two electronic machines have all accessories that seem to be available for them and are both priced the same.


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## carmeenhoover (Aug 16, 2013)

OK thanks, I'll try that!


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## ladyhoffer (Oct 5, 2012)

I have the brother 930 and it is an excellent machine! It can do more as far as patterning then the punch card machines as they are limited to 24 stitches wide when using the punch cards for patterning.


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## 30Knitter (Apr 9, 2012)

Brother is now made in China. As well as Silver Reed. These machines are not the same as the old ones that were made in Japan. Make your choice carefully. Some of the old machines still work very well. Depends on how the prior owners took care of them. Some beat them to death, so those machines are only good for parts. Others were well taken care of and are worth consideration.


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## MtKnitter (Dec 10, 2011)

Then I might base my choice on who I can get to help me learn it. It is much easier to take a brother machine somewhere if you need to take it for lessons. But if there are passap people in your area that you can visit with, and learn from, then you have a dilemna. The other thing to consider is that the passap really requires a dedicated space. Its a large machine and it doesn't dismantle into the smaller parts like the brother. If you didn't plan to keep it set up at all times, o with the brother.


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