I could have sworn I already replied to this, but can't find it, so:
The easiest path is the one-step method, as executed in the YouTube video "Rope Making For Model Ships" by
WalnutAndTungOil (see screen shot below). In this case, using WalnutandTungOil's terminology, my box is the whorl. The topper is that string separator in the center. And the looper is the panel with the single hook to which is attached a swivel hook. The black box appears to be a battery, which I presume acts as a weight. This looper will move towards the whorl as the threads twist and then begin to form rope. In other examples of this one step process, the looper has a line attached to the back end, which is rigged to an eyebolt or pulley with a weight attached to it. The weight provides resistance as the rope forms but the pulley/eyebolt setup permits the rope to contract.
This is how Mustafa does it. No pully, just a whole.
Here's the swivel hook...
Then there's the two step process popularized by Chuck Passaro with his Syren Rope Rocket. The whorl is the device on the right. I don't know what the unit on the left is called, but this is the piece that performs the second pass. The wheel spins to form the rope. In step one, the whorl only twists the strands which are threaded hook for hook between the two units. The disk on the left is fixed in place while the whorl runs to twist the threads. In that pass, the whorl will move towards the fixed second unit. When the threads are sufficiently twisted, the whorl is fixed into place, the second unit unclamped and fired up to rotate the disk. As the rope forms, this unit will walk towards the whorl. I'm sure everyone reading this post has already seen Chuck's video on the subject. You can easily find it at Syren Ship Model Company website, or at YouTube.
Since I have an extra motor, bracket, controller, power supply etc. I'll build this too - just for fun.
Enough armchair rope making. Back to the shipyard...