Hi! I'm really impressed by your machine. I'm a textile designer and I would love to build a braiding machine like yours. Do you still plan to share or sell your design ?
Hey everyone in the chat who inquired about purchasing this, I have an update. I am in the last stages of preparing the build instructions and testing them on my interns. I am looking for some pricing feedback. The 3 potential categories are: 1) complete system for $600, 2) parts as a kit for $400, 3) instructions only for $100. What do you think?
Instructions and DIY kit are almost done! I'll post a link for purchase in the next two weeks. I will also start a discussion group (possibly discord?) for people looking to offer feedback, help others, or show off their projects.
Hey Bo, this seems pretty interesting and my braiding machine design is a bit similar to this however it's manual. I didn't find a how-its-made video so could you share that as well as the files.
Great video, awesome machine! I have been thinking of building one too. I bought some plans on cults3d, which you surely have seen. Did you use those plans too, or did you build yours from scratch? Also, I wanted to make a much thicker wool cord (1cm), would that be possible with your machine?
Mine is a scratch build. I wanted it to work with carbon fiber, which is really finicky about friction and rubbing because the filament has a tendency to birds nest. The spindles and collector have high tension for tight braids without any rubbing surfaces. The one on cult3d looks really awesome. I especially like the ultrasonic sensor to link the tensioner with the spindle rpm. It does look like the spindles on that build arent tensioned so the rope is really loose from the photos, but that may just be a matter of changing some settings.
How are the kit progressing? It is a very interesting kit made with MDF as opposed to steel which is more noisy. I would be interested in this for weaving a tube, like they do here with harnesses. I saw it could hold 16 maypoles or more. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-vrvDPKAg1Vc.html
Yep, the kits are almost done. Ill send an announcement here when ready, probably next week. The one I made will do harnesses as in the video you linked, as well as rigid shapes (I designed it to braid around balsa strips). It holds 6, 12, or 18 spindles.