The parts of your gun
Connecting your AK III tufting gun
What you will need:
- Aircompressor (The AK-III requires an aircompressor. The pressure must be at least ≥90 psi . If you wish to create piles exceeding 45 mm you will need at least 120 psi and an Air flow over 160l/min.)
- Hose (ideally with EU adapter, The gun has a hose barb attached to it. You can attach it to most standard EU hose barbs. Might it not fit, the adapter included can be attached to your hose so you can connect it to the compressor (how to).)
How to attach your AK-III machine to the aircomressor.
Connect the hose of your tufting gun to the (in the above image yellow ) hose of your compressor.
The other hose on your tufting gun needs to be placed right before the needle, see image above and below.
Turn on the aircomressor. If you now press the trigger, air should be flowing through the needle.
Threading your AK III tufting gun
To thread your tufting gun, you need to have it connected. The yarn goes:
- Through the metal loop
- Through the pink loop
- Over the wheel (slightly press the trigger to guide it through).
- Through the needle, use the airflow to guide it through.
See video below for assistance:
Changing the needle /pileheight
Before you start making any changes to the settings of your tufting gun, it is highly recommended to first get familiar with the gun. Learing how to apply the right amount of pressure etc.
This video shows you how to change the pileheigt. Every pileheight option is delivered with a needle and corresponding wheel. The largest wheel corresponds with the largerst needle.
Steps:
- Unscrew the wheel
- Unscrew the foot
- Unscrew the needle
- Screw the new needle (make sure the point is at the top of the gun)
- Screw the foot back in place, align the end with the point of the needle when the needle is in the lowest position.
- Put the new wheel in place. Make sure you screw it very tight.
Changing from cut to loop or replacing the blade
Changing from cut to loop and replacing the blade have a similar proces. For changing to loop to exchange the blade for the circle included, in the other case for a new blade.
Step one. Unscrew the hex nut keeping the blade in place. See image below.
Step two: Push / hammer down this middle rod.
Step three: To prevent the needle form moving, put a place holder, for examle a flat screwdriver under the needle, so you can easily slide the new loop head or new blade under it.
Step four: You can now remove the blade. Take care, because it is sharp. It has a flat washer beneath.
Step five: Push up the middle rod that you pushed down in step two. You can do this by using pliers on the rod to push it slightly forward like the image below.
Step six: Put the washer back in place, on top of the rod. The washer has a thin side, as you see in the image below, the thin side should be on the left side of the gun.
Place either the knife, or the loop circle on top. The flat side of the blade should be down. Hold down the knife while you further push the middle rod forward, through the hole in the knife.
PS you need to face the nozzle upwards to do this.
Last step: Screw back the hex nut. Remove the screwdriver. You can check if the blade turns by turning the wheel.
Maintenance and lubrication
Please make sure the rails over which the block moves back and forward are properly lubricated so no frictional resistance arises.
Troubleshooting
Sometimes when replacing the knife, the spring pops out of the needle hole. It is adviced when replacing to keep a screwdriver in to hold it down.
If it happened anyway, here is how you get them back in.
The order in which the go in is as follows: First spring, then tube, then lid.
Press them down with a tool and get the screw diver under to keep it there before placing the knife.
Jammed Yarn
Sometimes the yarn tends to flow from under the needle when the yarn gets jammed. This can be due to ne of the following reasons
1. Pressure