[SEL] OT Blue Print for Maypole Braider & Banknote Engraver

[Richard Allen]

You can rest assured that as soon as I come up with a blue print for
the maypole braider that I will share it with anyone who wants a copy. 

Unfortunately, the banknote engraver is only good for producing your
own unique art or personal banknote designs. It is just about worthless
for reverse engineering or copying anything that already exists since
the mathematical complexity of its operation is even more profound than
the Enigma Machines that the Axis powers used for message encryption
during WW2! To reproduce the designs already in use the original
settings would have to be known, and you can bet that those are kept
locked up in a vault and as heavily guarded as the formula for Coca
Cola! Back in the late 1950’s and early 1960’s the Northern Signal
Company of Saukville, Wisconsin, manufactured a well-made geometric
design drawing toy that went by the name of “Magic Designer”, which was
formerly called the “Hoot Nanny”, that was a highly simplified version
of the banknote geometric lathe. In about 1984 an even simpler version
called a spirograph was made. Those machines were popular for making
attractive designs for personalized greeting cards. Another pattern
drawing machine toy that I think was called a gyrograph was made around
1973 that used a ball point pen attached to a pendulum to trace the
swinging patterns on paper. I have a “Magic Designer” that I got in
1959 and I have only seen a very few since then. They are probably on
eBay, I’ll have to look. I have some photos posted of the “Magic
Designer” and some of the designs drawn with it. Go to:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v337/linstrum/album%20one/resizemagicdesigner4.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v337/linstrum/album%20one/resizemagicdesigner6.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v337/linstrum/album%20one/resizemagicdesigner7.jpg

I hope they are accessible. If you can’t view the photos I will email
them to any who provides an email address.

Rich Allen