One of my personal contributions to my mothers… ahh… obsession, was to fix up that old chipboard table the knitting machine was bolted onto.
Firstly, I found that once I removed the folding legs, they themselves were quite ok. Only a little surface rust and scuffing from the occasional boot (when things weren’t going well).
A light sanding with some fine grit sandpaper to smooth it all out was all that was required.
A quick look around the shed found some spray paint with rust inhibitor built in, in a nice neutral grey matt finish.
TIP: when applying spray paint, follow the directions on the can, they always say apply light coats. It works, you get a much better finish from many fine coats than from one thick, running coat.
Next was the table top. Being chipboard or partical board, and probably from the Dark Ages, it had swollen, flaked, desintegrated, broken, lifted etc. if you knocked on it, more fell off, if it weren’t for the structurally sound floral wallpaper on the top surface, the knitting machine would have ended up in someones lap years ago. To the garbage pile it went!
From previous “DIY handy person” projects of mine, I had some Melamine sheet left over. Maybe called something different in other countries, the white, laminated on each side stuff they make kitchen cupboards out of.
Anywho, after checking out a different table with a knitting machine still attached (there are a few to look at in mums house) I decided improvements could be made.
For one thing, seeing someone, crawling under a table to get something that has fallen off the back, is well, disturbing 
The fact that knitting machines are a very narrow item, means the typical table for them is also narrow. Obviously someone way back in time said “just make me a narrow table for my knitting machine to go on” and no more planning was done.
Idea No. 1 More table space for those handy items you like to have close by. As you can see, plenty of space for a yarn cone winder thingy or that G-Carriage you aren’t using at the moment. Also if the table is pushed up against a wall or mountains of balls of wool and yarn, you can sit the cones of wool you are working with on top of the table, although apparently on the floor is a better spot for them, I’m just saying you could.
Idea No. 2 Why not put a small rail along the back so things can’t fall off? I chose a piece of pine timber which, when lacquered, gives it a bit of a feature, rather than a table-made-out-of-that-kitchen-stuff look.
Idea No. 3 Rounded front corners might be a little more friendly too. Ironing the edge stripping on the curved surface tested my ironing skills, but I was pretty pleased with the result. Be sure the make the radius a decent size so when ironing the edging around it, you don’t crack or break the edge stripping stuff. Its a laminate as well so it just snaps if bent too far.
Tip : When mounting a larger top than normal, on existing legs designed for a knitting machine table, set the legs forward or closer to the knitter. The weight of the knitting machine is more than the counter weight of the back of the table top. You can’t see the other holes under the table in the photo, but I had to move the legs from their initial position after one “experiment” suggested the whole table, (knitting machine included) “would” fall forward.
Finished Product!
Or so I thought… The day I took the photos I was informed of some marvellous invention that allows you to move the whole setup around easily, knitting machine and all. What was it again? Wheels maybe? Yeah I can do it… Next time…
Great job on the table. You mentioned the yarn should be on the floor, you could always use a jig-saw or router to cut a hole for the yarn to feed through. But you did a great job as it is. You also mentioned wheels, I don’t know that I would want wheels on my machine stand, though there are ‘locking’ wheels, I think there would be just to much give with the carriage movement. Now if I were to use just my G-Carriage on that machine, sure, that would be fine then. But, how often does that happen!
Keep up the good work, its great to see another web site devoted to machine knitting!
Cheers Terry! LOL, part of the reason for the bigger top was so the G-Carriage was close at hand… In my mothers case, sounding like many machine knitting fanatics, stored in plain sight, I think it is a conversation starter
I was thinking of grabbing my holesaw and drilling some holes through the top for the yarn to pass through, apparently on the floor gives the unwinding yarn further to travel, letting it unwind freely, sending it through a hole restricts this again making the result similar to sitting it on top, which I think works fine, no crawling under the table to change yarns etc. I also thought a big hole might work, instead “big hole” = “black hole”
As for the wheels, I’m planning to put wheels (locking is a great idea) onto one end only (sort of like a wheelbarrow), possibly seating each side pair of legs into a piece of timber for added stability – they don’t look very robust to me, also, adding wheels one end makes a height difference. I like to be able to “undo” projects what don’t quite work, so cutting the legs that the wheels are going onto, to make the table level, is against my grain. I will see if adding the timber makes the whole lot too high, cutting the legs down to take the wheels might be my only option.
I think there may be a page dedicated to adding wheels!
the table i have has wheels and work just fine. i have carpet so i don’t even have the lock the wheels. the table is also just wide enough to fit 2 machines back to back so when i want to change machines all i have to do it trun the table around. been a great space saver. i even use my garter carriage with this table and still have no issue.
karen
Two machines back to back would be a great space saver, thats a great idea! Thanks!