WATCH THE CROSSING
Watch the strands exchange places.
The moving supplies change which strand is inside and which is outside. The haul-off draws that crossing into the braid. The guide supports the meeting point.
What this animation calculates
Each wire keeps the crossing partners and over/under sequence of its own moving guide. Compact wire paths are reconstructed with clearance constraints, then carried forward by take-up. You can follow the exposed approach into those same paths.
Finite wire separation is checked, including between animation frames at formation. The model does not calculate calibrated tension, friction, wire torsion or carrier-shoe contact. See the evidence and build limits.
Click a part to see what it does and how to make it. Explode the assembly to reveal the drive below the track.
Where does the thread come from?
Each moving bobbin carries a finite length of yarn or wire. It travels with the carrier and feeds through its own guide to the forming point; there is no fixed external yarn supply winding around the carrier track. When a package runs out, the machine needs a refill.
The cartridge is the track assembly; the bobbins hold the material. A core, if used, has a separate supply. Individual wire can still acquire torsion depending on the payout and carrier mechanism; this viewer does not calculate that twist.
Capacity, cable reels & industrial machines →HUNDREDS OF WIRES
72 moving bobbins × 8 wires = 576 wires
A carrier can deliver several parallel ends as one bundle. More wires need not mean the same number of independent carriers.
Core reel → braiding head → forming guide → haul-off → finished-cable reel.
This is an axial maypole with horn-disk transfers. Its paths generate the displayed crossing history. It does not reproduce a particular manufacturer’s machine.
Real machine examples & sources →