16-shaft lag for AVL mechanical dobby looms

thingiverse

This is a replacement for the wooden lags used in AVL mechanical dobbies. (A type of loom that works a bit like a player piano.) I printed this in ABS and it worked well when I screwed in the metal pegs I used it on an AVL PDL with a 16-shaft mechancial dobby from the 1980s. I don't know that it would hold up to multiple changes of the peg pattern, I didn't test that. My guess is that PLEX might provide better longevity and that PLA might be too fragile. If you experiment and learn more, let me know and I'll update these notes. (I no longer have my 16-shaft loom to try things out on.) Also, if anyone is interested in working on a 24-shaft version with me, let me know. I'd need a sample lag to design from, or precise measurements. It'd also be a fun experiment to design a version that already had pegs 3D printed in place, though I don't know how well plastic pegs would hold up during weaving.