Fig. 12. Hooks Out of Perpendicular with Needles.
When placing hooks and needles in a machine, one row of eight needles is placed in first; that is, the needles are passed through the bars that extend across the machine from side to side, and into the holes in the needle board. On the bars the loop of the needle rests, the bars keeping each 52 needles separate. The first needle is the one that has the half circle, through which the hook passes, nearest the needle board at the top (see Fig. [10]), and the others are graded down until the eighth is placed in. This will be the bottom needle with the half circle nearest the spring box H.
When the cotter has been placed through the loop of the needles, the hooks are placed in among the needles. The first hook is pressed through the half circle of the needle and passes on the outside of the others, which keeps the hook in position. The second is placed through the half circle of the second needle, but passes on the outside of the first needle and on the outside of the lower needles. This rule is followed out until the eighth hook is placed in position.
Fig. 13. Hooks Out of Perpendicular with Needles.
The grate through which the hooks pass is sometimes made with extra rows of holes, and is also made so that it can be moved around to help in the setting of the hooks. For this reason, it is best, after placing in one row of hooks, to notice if they are straight in the grate. If they are not straight, and cannot be made straight by moving the grate, the next row of holes must be used. If the hooks are not straight, even though they may work freely, the needles, hooks and grate will be worn out in a very short time.
The hook that passes through the first needle is considered the first thread in the pattern, although when standing in front of a single action machine, it is the last thread. In a machine that has the needle board divided into twenty-six rows at one side of the middle, and twenty-five at the other side, the twenty-six rows are always at the left-hand side of the machine, looking at the point of the needles. (So that the number end of the cards will be at the left hand side of the machine, looking at the top needle board.)
When all the needles and hooks have been placed in the machine, the frame, in which the bars that support the top of the needle are fixed, must be made perfectly straight with the needle board. If they are not straight with each other, there is endless trouble with the machine. In the first place, the loop of the needle presses down the spring when the needle is forced back by the card, instead of pressing the spring back straight in the box. This will cause the springs to wear out sooner and they will often stick, preventing the hooks from being lifted.