New England Butt
5 Bobbin Braiding Machine
With Electric Motor
Complete with Stand!

This is a 5 bobbin (also known as a 5-carrier) braiding machine.  It is in excellent working condition.  We purchased this and a 3 bobbin braiding machine from a company that was going out of business with the intent of using these in our commercial embroidery business but we just don't have the time or space to use these and our laser-cut applique and embroidered patch products have had a huge response and we don't have the time to pursue this line of business anyway.  The machine came from a company that used this machine to make braided belts and decorative items but did not make heavy use of the machine.  We have had it sitting in a storage building for a few months.   

The machine can be used to braid material from twine, chording, rope, wire, and cut fabric strips.  The most common use for these machines is braiding fabrics to make 5 strand braided rugs.  These braids are laced together to make rugs.  If you are making Amish braided rugs, Arts & Crafts style rugs, or any number of other styles, you'll fingd that this will allow you to greatly increase your production speed with a superior product.  With the built-in tensioning roller on top and weighted guides, you will have very consistent braids ready to be laced together for perfectly flat rugs.  The machine can be operated with the manual crank to get a new braid started or to completion and you can use the lever to engage the electric motor to the gears and automate the operation. 

These machines are extremely hard to come by and are very expensive.  This is a rare opportunity to acquire one for a small percentage of what you are likely to pay for one IF you can find another.  The electric motor runs on a standard 110 volt outlet.  A power switch is on the front of the stand and a fused box is on the bottom of the machine.  You will probably wish to bypass the fused box and replace the power switch with a safety switch, which can be done for about $25 (I can point you to suppliers of parts).  This is very simple wiring. 

The braiding machine comes complete with a steel stand or it can be removed from the stand for table-top operation.  You must clamp or bolt the machine to a table for stability and to reduce vibration.  An additional set of weighted guides are included with the braiding machine.

We buy from American Apparel for our corporate embroidery business and were suprised to see that they have a similar machine in production for making their braided belts.  Here is a link to their YouTube video of the machine in production: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eB561vWtEGY