How To Identify A Spare Part You Cannot Name

Parts books get lost, numbers wear off and machines get rebuilt. This is the procedure that works from what you actually have.

Start From Where It Came From

The position on the machine narrows the family faster than the shape does. Was it on the guide bar, the needle bar, the sinker bar or the trick plate? Was it in the drive, in the creel, or in the patterning mechanism?

Write that down before anything else. A part described as a thin steel blade could be four different families; a thin steel blade off the guide bar is one.

Measure Three Things

Overall length, thickness at the working end, and pitch if the part carries more than one element. Those three, with the machine gauge, identify most items on this catalogue.

For a needle cover, measure the overall length — that is how they are listed here, from about 71mm to about 143mm. For a steel wire rope, measure it end to end in centimetres. For a separator pin, measure thickness and count the holes.

Photograph It Properly

Plain background, steel rule alongside, camera square to the part, even light. One overall image, one close-up of any marking. An angled photograph cannot be measured and usually costs a whole message cycle.

Send Machine Details With It

Brand, machine type, gauge, working width, and which bar or assembly the part came from. On a double needle bar machine, say front or rear. Sending all of it at once is the difference between an answer today and an answer in three days.

If It Is Still Not On The Site

The original site states that there are many types of some items and that not all could be photographed for the website, and invites orders for items that are not pictured. Absence from the catalogue is not the end of the enquiry.