Kevin,. Oh boy, now you are asking for something! I can't immediately find any such machine; it seems always to be done by hand. Think I'll pass on this one. But see my videos of David Couch's Meccano Kumihimo braider on my channel. It's Arduino controlled.
@Graham Jost do you have any thoughts concepts or plans for a meccano takadai machine? that id really like to see especially if it can do multiple kinds of braids with different numbers of strands.
Hello Mr. Jost. I Intend to build a machine much like your 7 spool flat-braid machine of Dec 2010, which I find very interesting. I could observe, at the front, left from center, a bobbin guiding arm which is, by itself, moved by a wheel on the front bobbin carriage. I guess there is also one at the back. I think I recognize also a bobbin guiding arm between the center front carriage and the 3 pole carriage at the right (with a pivoting point in the middle of the machine?). I guess there is also one at the back of the machine, i.e. one such centered guide next to each of the 3 poled bobbin carriages? or do I detect a third from the center pivoting arm at the left of the machine? In any case, I am not able to find out what it is that makes this bobbin guide move. Ma y I please ask you to explain? Thank you.
Hi Emanuel, This braiding machine no longer exists. It has been eclipsed by braider #11, the last one in this movie. But it was documented in the Sheffield Meccano Guild Gazette No 113 for February 2012 and in CAM No 118 for Spring 2012. For more information I'll need your email address to correspond.