Braiding machine

About the sound

The braiding machine (year of construction and manufacturer unknown) is an exhibition of the LWL-Industrial Museum Bocholt Textile Factory and it is used for demonstrational purposes to braid cords and laces.
For the braiding process the bobbins with coiled thread are directed through slides positioned in a horizontal plane, thus interweaving the threads from the bobbins moving from left to right with the threads from the bobbins moving in the opposite direction. Here the number of bobbin carriers defines the structure of the braid.
The machine is usually driven by an electric motor, but it can also be manually powered by use of a crank. The sound recording was made during a manual operation. The machine's sounds heard here come from the cranking and the rotation of the bobbins.


Sound recordist: Konrad Gutkowski / Maike Buckemüller
Video recordist: Konrad Gutkowski / Maike Buckemüller
Photographer: Konrad Gutkowski / Maike Buckemüller