How to Choose a Raschel Lace Machine: Gauge, Bars and Types

July 26, 2026

Choosing a raschel lace machine comes down to three decisions made in the right order: first the lace products you plan to sell, then the gauge and working width that suit those products, and only then the machine type and guide bar count. Get the order wrong and you end up with a jacquard machine running simple galloons at a third of the speed a plain multibar frame would deliver.

The machine family has been around long enough to trust: warp knitters in Apolda were selling lace stoles under the name of the French actress Raschel Felix back in 1855, and the modern lace industry took shape in 1956 when the first twelve guide bar raschel made complex lace patterns commercially viable. What has changed is the range of choices a buyer faces today.

Start With the Fabric, Not the Machine

Raschel lace machines cover five distinct product groups, and each pulls the specification in a different direction:

• Lace trims — narrow edgings, the entry point for most workshops.
• Galloons — lace bands finished on both edges, cut apart after knitting.
• All-over lace — full-width patterned fabric for ladies’ outerwear.
• Curtain nets — coarser structures where pattern size matters more than fineness.
• Elastic lace — lingerie and intimate apparel, which adds elastane handling to the equation.

A trims-and-galloons program and an all-over program can sometimes share one frame. Elastic lingerie lace usually cannot: it needs a dedicated ground bar at the rear of the machine to feed elastane under controlled tension, separate from the front ground bars that form the stitches. If lingerie lace is in your plan, confirm the elastane bar arrangement before anything else — it is not a field retrofit you want to attempt.

Gauge: What E18 to E40 Actually Means for Lace

Raschel gauge was traditionally counted in needles per two inches, so a “36 gauge” raschel carries 18 needles per inch. Modern machines are quoted in E values. For lace work the practical range is wide:

• E18–E24 — the workhorse range for curtain nets, trims and general lace; this is where most machines on the market are offered.
• E28–E36 — finer dress laces and denser all-over patterns.
• E40 — the finest single needle bar territory, used for lightweight foundation and swimwear fabrics knitted from yarns around 80 dtex.

The buying rule of thumb: pick the coarsest gauge that still satisfies your best-paying product. Finer gauges cost more per rack, demand cleaner yarn, and punish worn needles and knitting elements much faster. A shop that runs E24 lace on well-maintained elements will out-earn one fighting stitch defects on a neglected E32.

Guide Bars: Where the Pattern Freedom Lives

Every raschel lace machine splits its bars into two jobs. The ground guide bars at the front — GB 1 and GB 2 on a typical lace frame — knit the net foundation. Behind them sit the pattern bars (string bars) that lay the design, and on elastic-lace machines a rear ground bar feeds the elastane. More pattern bars mean larger, denser, more varied motifs — that is why the twelve-bar machine of 1956 was the turning point for the whole industry, and why today’s multibar lace frames carry several dozen bars.

Bar count is also the main speed trade-off. Industry-typical working speeds on lace raschels span from roughly 200 rpm on heavily-barred jacquard frames up to about 700 rpm on lightly-barred ones; the more bars shogging, the slower the frame runs. Buy pattern capacity for the lace you will actually sell, not for the most complex sample in the showroom.

Machine Types Compared

Condition-based conclusions you can apply directly:

• If your order book is repeat trims and galloons with seasonal pattern changes, then a plain multibar frame in E18–E24 is the economical choice — jacquard capability would sit idle.
• If you sell to fashion or lingerie brands that expect new designs every season, then a multibar jacquard lace machine such as our fall plate multibar jacquard lace raschel earns its premium through CAD-driven pattern changes without re-threading.
• Exclusion: if your real target is bags, nets or geotextiles rather than lace, this guide does not apply — start from the general raschel machine overview instead, because those structures are specified on completely different criteria.

A Practical Buying Sequence

1. List the lace products you will sell in year one, with target weights and yarns.
2. Fix the gauge from the finest of those products — no finer.
3. Decide jacquard or plain multibar from how often designs change, not from catalog appeal.
4. Confirm elastane bar arrangement if lingerie lace is in scope.
5. Match working width to your beam handling capacity, not just to floor space.

For machine configurations and factory-side specifications, the manufacturing details are on our factory site at GrandStar lace machines. If you want a second opinion on a specific lace program — yarns, gauge, bar count — send us the fabric details and we will answer with numbers, not brochures.

Frequently Asked Questions

What gauge raschel lace machine do I need for lingerie lace?

Fine gauges are the lingerie territory: E28 and up for dense stretch lace, with E40 single needle bar machines knitting the lightest foundation and swimwear fabrics from yarns around 80 dtex. Also confirm the machine has a rear ground bar for elastane feeding – gauge alone does not make a lingerie machine.

Can one raschel lace machine make both trims and all-over lace?

Often yes, if the gauge suits both. Trims and galloons are knitted side by side across the width and cut apart, while all-over lace uses the full width as one fabric. The limits come from pattern bar count and the repeat size your designs need, so check the widest all-over repeat you plan to sell.

How many guide bars does a lace raschel need?

Two front ground bars form the net foundation; every pattern bar behind them adds design freedom. Simple edgings run on a handful of bars, while modern multibar and jacquard lace frames carry dozens – the industry milestone was the twelve bar machine of 1956 that made commercial lace patterns viable. Buy bars for the lace you sell, because bar count is the main thing slowing a frame down.

What is the difference between a jacquard and a multibar lace machine?

A plain multibar machine gets its pattern from bar threading and chain links, so design changes mean mechanical changes. A jacquard lace machine controls the pattern needle by needle from a CAD file, so new designs load as files without re-threading. If your buyers expect fresh designs every season, jacquard pays for itself; for repeat programs it mostly idles.