Waiting for my SK 120

I recently bought an SK 120 on ebay, which will be arriving within the next week or so. The Singer SK 120 is over 30 years old now, yet it's a robust little bulky machine which is capable of some really cool stuff, given its simplicity of manufacture. I have owned about 3 of them now (singly of course) and every time I have one - I vow I won't sell it - but then life (read that as debts!) gets in the way and I've been forced to sell it on.

The 120 is an 8mm gauge machine, which produces knitting that's just a tad tighter than the usual bulky 9mm (such as the Brother 260) which I find more attractive. It's also a lot easier physically, to push the carriage across the bed, than it is to push a Brother 260. It takes up a lot less room too, and - because it has variable cam settings on the carriage - it's capable of some pretty fancy stitchery - despite the absence of a punch card mechanism.

In fact - the only downside to owning one of these machines, is the level of difficulty in replenishing the very narrow needle retaining bar (aka 'sponge bar'). This bar was originally filled with very dense 'felt' and even if you can get hold of similar stuff - it is nigh on impossible to push it into that 1/8" wide x 3/8" deep bar. My very first attempt took me almost three hours!!

Thankfully, I found a local shop that sold Frost King vinyl/rubber weatherproof stripping, which measures 3/8" wide and 1/8" deep and which can be fitted into the bar's channel ... sideways ... and it works a treat!

Forgot about this blog!! It's now April 2023. If anyone stumbles across this post and need info about replenishing the sponge bar, I found another way. 

I bought a steel bar measuring measuring 1/8” x ¼” x 42½” from GLR Kennions Ltd, Estate Office, Hobbs Cross Business Centre, Epping, Essex CM16 7NY. Cost of the bar was £9.60, but may be more by now and courier shipping (within 48 hours) is £2.66 to UK mainland. Their email is: glrkennions@hotmail.com and phone number is: 01279-792859. 

This bar fits into the slot (sideways) where the original felt bar was and I used a sticky backed, foam strip of the right length (bought on a roll) and sheared off the excess. It took me 20 minutes, and worked like a dream.

If you're not in the UK - look up local steel merchants, give them those measurements and ask for a price.