Friendship Bracelet Maker Braiding Loom

thingiverse

These disks are tools used for making friendship bracelets. I created 8 and 16 slot versions in Fusion 360. To use, start with 7 strings about a foot in length that are tied together on one end in combination with the 8 slot disk. Push the knot through the center hole slightly. Next, place one string in each slot leaving one empty slot. Locate the third string away from the empty slot in either direction and move it to the empty slot... Continue moving the third string away from the empty slot in the same direction of rotation repeatedly to create a bracelet. The knot holding the 7 strings together hangs further and further from the center hole and the newly created bracelet braid falls through the hole behind the knot to also hang from the center hole. Tie off when the desired length is achieved. I found 25% infill was good. The .stl file I included has both the 8 and 16 slot versions print together as a set. If one or more of the 0.25mm slots end up too tight, I found those could be opened up by pressing in a utility knife blade into a tight slot and then removing it carefully to press the slot wider (a utility knife blade should slide in and out relatively easily but be careful!). I recommend searching for "Kumihimo" on Thingiverse if you are interested in a 32 slot disk also. There are some nice ones so I think I will skip including a 32 slot disk here. I included the .step file though to make it easier for anyone interested in remixing this design. One example of a 32 slot Kumihimo disk is found at: https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:4118622 That designer has done a superb job explaining how to use it and offers a 12cm diameter model called "Kumihimo_Disk_Big.stl". For anyone interested, scaling that model in the X and Y direction to 83.33% and scaling the Z direction to 135% closely matches the dimensions of the disks provided here and makes a nice compliment to these disks in my opinion. If you have other interesting methods for using these disks, please share them in the comments. My daughter helped me to test these and she would love to hear how other kids, big and small, are enjoying them so please feel free to share your experience. Thank you. Be safe and have fun!