Hi,
I was looking for more references to mechanical spool knitters and found this site - it's a mechanical knitter made from Lego!! I wish I could feel this thing in operation!
Linkname: Lego Knitting Machine URL:
It's made of Legos, battery-operated, and produces a very loosely knitted cord. Its dimensions appear to be about 6 x 12 x 4 (would be 1 except that there's a 3-4 inch projection at the base). From my familiarity with Legos, I can't imagine what keeps it from falling apart every 25 seconds.
Georgia
OKay, I watched the video (couldn't find it at first). It's pretty amazing. I guess it doesn't fall apart BECAUSE it's battery-operated, and no clumsly hands are touching it. Still, getting everything to balance so the parts that work by gravity work right takes a lot of engineering!
Georgia
Hahahah David , my first feeling was OHH a machine that knits plastic cubes ,,,,,, ??????????nooo mirjam
Hi Georgia,
I used Lego when I was a kid - all square and rectangular pieces, I assume they've got round pieces now? The image your descriptions put in my head are hilarious, like some nineteenth-century gizmo a mad scientist made lol!
David
Good morning Mirjam,
Hahaha!! Now _there's_ an idea!
Peace,
David
When my son was 10 (19 years ago!) they came out with gear assemblies for lego. THis machine makes considerable use of them. I don't think there are any round parts (though there are some round lego pieces (little spacemen we still have), but there must be some sort of hook to keep the yarn from slipping--I'll try to take another look. Anyway, the smallest lego pieces are about 3/16" square, and the machine doesn't have much tension, so that is why the knitted cord is knitted so loosely.
Georgia
The basic principle is the old spool-and-tacks knitting widget that kids used to make. The yarn goes around the tacks, then a tool flips the yarn over each tack and the cord drapes down through the middle hole of the spool. The Lego device doesn't use much in the way of tension -- the resulting cord is very loosely knit. It only has four "tacks", too.
The Lego pieces are the types you get in their gear or robotic kits. I think they're called "Technica". It doesn't use the traditional Lego blocks, except perhaps in the base (I can't see it that well in the photos).
Gina
David R. Sky wrote:
Hi Georgia,
Well, I wasn't thinking of the Lego knitter as a practical tool, more as a novelty lol! It must look and sound hilarious in action! *grin*
David
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