Raschel Machinery Parts for Textile Machinery

Raschel machines are the versatile workhorses of warp knitting, producing everything from lace and net to technical textiles, spacer fabrics and coarse Raschel goods knitted from tapes and heavy yarns. Like all warp knitting machines, a Raschel builds its fabric from elements that work in precise unison — compound or latch needles, sinkers, guides in multiple guide bars, and the jacks and holding elements that time them — and those loop-forming elements are the machine's main spare parts. A single damaged needle or bent guide affects every course, so Raschel spares are stocked by element type and machine gauge.

The Loop-Forming Elements of a Raschel Machine

A Raschel's knitting elements are arranged in bars across the full working width: the needle bar, the sinker bar that holds the fabric and separates the stitches, and several guide bars whose guides swing and shift to lay yarn into the needles to the pattern. Jacks and related elements in the drive and patterning system transmit the motions that time each bar. The elements are made to fine tolerances and are gauge-specific — the spacing of needles per unit width defines the machine gauge, and needles, sinkers and guides must all match it, as well as matching the machine maker's pattern of shank, hook and latch.

Raschel work is demanding on elements: abrasive yarns, tapes and monofilaments wear hooks and sinker throats, and the machines' wide product range means elements are changed both for wear and for product changeovers. Broken latches, bent guides and chipped sinkers are the everyday replacements.

Sourcing and Fitting Raschel Spares

Order Raschel elements by machine make and model, gauge, working width where relevant, and the element's exact pattern — taking a sample element or the maker's part reference to the supplier avoids the near-miss that will not run. In fitting, elements are changed in the bar with the machine stopped and the bars secured, new elements are checked for free movement, and the first courses are knitted slowly and inspected for the needle lines or dropped stitches that betray a mis-seated element. Because warp knitting spares are highly specific, mills value a stockist holding a very big stock across many machine types, able to deliver a single needed element quickly anywhere. The German supplier below is exactly that kind of source for Raschel and other warp knitting parts.

Element care between changes also matters. Needles and sinkers are kept oiled with the machine maker's recommended knitting oil, yarn paths are kept free of abrasive deposits, and damaged elements found during cleaning are changed before they mark a full piece. Keep elements for each machine and gauge in labelled store compartments: Raschel elements for different gauges look deceptively alike out of their packets, and one wrong-gauge element fitted in a bar can damage its neighbours across the whole working width before the fault is seen in the fabric.

Companies Supplying Raschel Machinery Parts