Knitting Machine Buckle for CSM ver. 1.2 (Parametric)

Knitting Machine Buckle for Circular Knitting Machines

By: Dani_Angel

License: Knitting Machine Buckle © 2023 by Dani_Angel is licensed under Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International

Description:
This work was created with OpenSCAD: https://openscad.org/index.html

I have included the .scad file with this project. Please read the comments in the file for details on altering the variables to modify this work for your specific needs.

This item is comprised of two (2) pieces, a buckle plate and buckle shroud.

This buckle is attached to the knitted material that flows through the center of a circular knitting machine. I use JeepingJohnny's - CSM: CircularSockMachine.

The teeth grip onto the knitted material and a weight is attached to the hole in the buckle plate. This provides a constant downward force on the knitted material, aiding in the retention of stitches during operation. The main benefit of the buckle is that you can easily reposition the weights higher up on the knitted material as your knitting project gets longer.  This allows you to make long scarves or many socks all in one sitting without having to recast your yarn once your cast-on bonnet has hit the floor.

Instructions for attaching the buckle to your work:

1.  Hold the buckle shroud and allow the buckle plate to swing down and come to a rest. 

2.  Insert the knitted material from the CSM into the the buckle. Slide the buckle up to your desired elevation. (Im using the sleeve of my sweatshirt for demonstration purposes. ) 

3.  Close the buckle plate so the teeth on the plate and shroud are gripping the work.

4.  grab the buckle plate near the large hole and angle the entire buckle so that the end of the buckle plate with the hole is closest to the ground.  Hang your desired weights from the hole.

Printing Tips: Significant weight is needed on most circular knitting machines. I recommend PETG or other strong plastic. I have not tested this with PLA, but if you do, I would increase the number of perimeters and solid layers accordingly. Support material is necessary for the hinge pins on the Buckle Plate. I highly recommend using supports for the holes in the Buckle Shroud. I have included a .3mf file with support enforcers already positioned. I printed this on a Prusa MK3S, MMUS in Single mode. I have included the .gcode file I used to print this work.  I had to lightly sand the hinge pins where they contacted the support material for the buckle plate to swing freely.

The main settings of this .gcode file are as follows:

Nozzle Diameter: 0.4mm

Layer height: 0.2mm

Infill: 15% gyroid

Solid Layers, top and bottom: 3

perimeters: 3

filament: PETG

Nozzle Temp: 235C

Assembly: Assembly is simple. Carefully spread the legs of the BuckleShroud apart to allow the insertion of the Hinge Pins of the Buckle Plate into the holes on the Buckle Shroud. Be careful not to use too much force on the Buckle Shroud. The buckle plate should swing freely by the hinge when you hold the Buckle shroud.

I would love to see your makes and hear any comments or suggestions you may have regarding this project.