CA Could use some woodworker's help to make small inkle loom

Great idea!

I’m happy to help you with this if we can make our schedules match despite my frequent business travel. I’m quite comfortable with woodworking at the level required for this and have taken woodshop basics - though I’m fairly new to the makerspace and still finding my way around.

Is either of the two looms you mentioned in the makerspace now where I (or anyone else willing to help) could look them over more closely?

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Folks, I made a mistake in the above design. I missed a peg…

I realized this after showing @kyrithia the current progress at this weeks fibert arts working group. She had this perplexed look as she tried to figure out how to thread the loom. Said she would have to think about it. So that got me trying to figure it out as well.

In looking at the original, I realized that I made an incorrect assumption as to what the designer expected to be the heddle rod… And I missed one of the rods in the original design as well… The good news is that it is an easy fix to get the two that I have been working on to be consistent with the new design.

I am also including labels in the new design for the rods, which will make creating instruction material easier, in my opinion. I will engrave the ends of the rods on the existing models to have the same labels.

So here is the modified design:

So here is what I believe to be the ‘proper’ threading procedure.

Non-heddle, Tension - C - B - D - A - F - E - G - Tension
heddle, Tension - C - B - D - A - F - E - G - H - Heddle Loop - Tension

As a side note, in the original design, E was the heddle rod…

@kyrithia @HankCowdog @Cairenn_Day

Walter, you see it as a missing rod, I see it as an extra rod: in the pic Kyritha posted, there are only three posts at the back of the loom (no post D). A would be the Hettle rod.

Either would work, one just needs an even number of posts for wrapping.

Fair enough, but it is easier at this stage to add another rod then to fill the mortise for one in my current boards. :smile:

The model that @Cairenn_Day posted at the top had eight rods, plus a heddle and a tension rod. That is what this modification has now.

In doing this checking, I did do some estimate of the capacity for this little loom. If one assumes about 15" of ‘waste’, these little looms should be able to produce about 40" of 2 1/2" wide cloth…

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That’d make a nice strap for a small stringed instrument :wink:

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I though A was the heddle. Hadn’t put 2 and 2 together on the need for an erstwhile odd number of rods. I figured you would just use the odd number, for example, in my head:
C-B-D-E-F-H-Tension, bypassing H for the heddles. A longer variant would replace F with G, mostly, I figured for the heddle-less “card” variant.

Thank goodness someone who knows what they’re doing helped! :smiley:

I have seen a lot of inkle bands used for guitar straps.

At Med Fair in Norman, Ok, I wove a set of bands for an Indian dancer’s leg wear.

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Oooh. That’s a great idea … it gives me the idea to make a strap for my DSLR.

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If you need a longer one, I would be willing to loan you my better loom. The one I need to find and bring out. I need it to stop raining so I can move some things out of my storage building to get to it.

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I glued up the first of these looms tonight! I ran a string through the non-heddle pathe I outlined above and measured the length of one path; 66". That is a pretty amazing length for such a small loom. From what I have read, you should have no problems producing weavings a little longer than four feet.

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Can you imagine how much a full size loom makes? and there are floor inkles that produce 15-20 yards of weaving

There will be some lost due to take up and the ends, but around 4 ft is a good guess

Well here is a photo of the first prototype. Just need to clean up some glue joints, finish sanding, and then put a couple of coats of magic finish on it and the creative arts folks will have the chance to see if it will work for them!

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Wow!
Your work is always amazing! If this works as good as it looks (and I am sure they will! ) CA and the students will be forever inspired by their nice new toys tools!

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That is lovely! I really appreciate your help.

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The prototype looms are ready for review and I have created another three shuttles that incorporate Jeannie’s comments on the first prototypes from Wednesday.

Based on a slightly modified version of the this design I am almost finished with a version that I intend to gift to a friend’s daughter as well as a larger version based upon the one Jeannie uses (but no carving) for myself. You’ll have infected me with the weaving bug, at least until I try it once or twice!

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Once you know how, I find it relaxing. Some years ago, an SCA friend was killed in a car wreck. I wove so much that week, because I could weave and watch something on TV and grieve at the same time. I didn’t try anything fancy, just basic acrylic belts that a friend was selling at Scarborough Fair.

Well, I finished the inkle loom I am gifting to a friends daughter. I also created four more of the small shuttles (1 1/8" x 5" x 1/8"), two of which I am including in the loom I am mailing and two more for the space.

Here are the two new shuttles for the space, I will drop them off when I am there tonight.

I also am shipping the loom, pre-setup with a warp and the begginning of a weave to provide an example and allow for immediate gratification. I am using a roll of 20# hemp cord for this. It does appear to my novice eyes that the loom works.

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You’ll have to change your Talk handle to “waltertheweaver”. :smile:
Looks really good!
Still need some video from the fiber arts folks when they use them. (hint, hint)

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I need to get come crochet thread and bring it out. Is there anyone that can film me at various spots in the weave? Or will stills work? I really need to weave one band first to get the feel of the new looms.

If I can get over this malaise mood I am in, I will try to get out this weekend (When you don’t want to go out for a birthday dinner it is BAAAAAD !)

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