Indoneasian inspired warp-weighted loom

Two things inspired me today!

1) A posts on weavouluton about how one member was having problems finding a good place to warp up a band in order to get a good start to her project. I sent her a quick drawing of how show how a board and L brackets can make be used to make a funtional (but not pretty) warping board.

2) I was reading a PDF article from "The Arizona Site"... I.e. the On-Line Digital Archive of Documents on Weaving and Related Topics .(http://www.cs.arizona.edu/patterns/weaving/)

Here is the article:

Studies in Primitive Looms, Roth, H. Ling. Journal of The Royal Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland, Vol. 47 (1917), 44 pages. Posted December 14, 2003. CD (HWDA07). SAMPLE PAGE. File size 3.7 MB PDF

This article  is part 3. The black and white drawing  is from Pg 23 of 44 of the PDF, or pg 345 as the pages are marked in the top corners.

A loom of this style is still used today in some parts of the Asian island nations, and if you do a picture search on "backstrap loom" some pictures from travel logs in indoneasia and asia will show these looms in still use.

 

Getting back to my loom: I had made this loom/support to weave a card-woven band while sitting next to my computer. It worked, but after I was done using it, it went on a "pile" and was leaned against and broke. More about why the failure happened later.

I gathered the loom, tools and new hardware I needed to fix the loom and took a picture.


The tool I use most often is a AA-battery powered screwdriver with a hex connector. ($8-$10, Walmart) Some drills bits come with a hex connector, and they work fine in the battery powered screwdriver. The drill bit drills a hole to start the screw into, a must if you don't want to split your wood. If I want to cut a board 'mostly straight'; I use the little jig saw. An edge that wavers back and forth 1 or 2 millimeters off the drawn line and between 87 degrees to 95 degrees is not a big deal (or noticable to a casual glance) for the end of a board, UNLESS you want to match it "square with the world" to another board. Then, I cut the board with a chop saw, or ask someone else to cut my peices with a table saw .

You can see that the little L-bracket I used to hold the front board broke in half! Observe the angle of the board compared to the large L-bracket. The small bracket broke because it is not designed for kinds of stresses (or the angle) that a leaning person puts against it. There is a huge difference between L-brackets, depending on the metal used to manufacture them and if they are 'cast' or just 'bent' to make the 90 degree angle. Look at the 2 matching L-brackets. Do you see the little 'dolup' of extra metal near the bend? (look at the 2 brackets on the ends, not the one in the middle) That extra metal gives strength and reinforces the bracket, and actually makes it a little bit stronger than the larger bracket next to it. I just gave you the super-simple explaination; ask your favorite mechanic or engineer for more information on metal types and stress loads.

It took me about 15 minutes to unscrew the old brackets, drill starting holes, and screw in the new brackets.

I want to use this loom to double as a warping-board, so I installed a extra bracket to keep a cross near the 'back' of the loom. Notice how I placed the stronger brackets at the front of the loom, and the weaker bracket as the cross-keeper. In the detail, you can see that my screws are not 'perfect'. This screw was put in at an angle on purpose so it would bite enough wood and not break though the top of the board.

I did not provide many measurements because this was a 'design as I went' project. I used what I had in the scrap pile. The bottom board was a rescued shelf. The brackets came from a clearance sale as I knew I would use them "someday". Yes, someday does actually arrive! The 'mending braces' (straight peices of metal with holes not used) will be used as a clamp similar to the way the wood with the eyebolts in the first picture of the broken loom. Be aware that this loom with this size brackets is not suitable for textiles wider than about 12". Anything wider would just put too much tension on the metal, and the brackets would fail.

For now, here is a discription of how I use the loom: The extra warp is rolled up on the 'back' board. I streach the warp from the back to the front and drape it over the front board and let it hang off the table. I slide the finished end of my band in between the two pieces of wood, and tighten the nuts finger-tight ---- no wrenches needed. Next, I attach one-liter bottles filled with water to the eye bolts to use as weights. The weights serve the same function as a backstrap --- to hold tension while I am weaving. The finished band just 'flops around' as I work, or sometimes I will roll the loose section and pin it out of my way. When the weights touch the ground, I slide the clamp back towards the loom. I intend this loom to weave trial pieces in order to practice new patterns, and other items less than 6 inches wide. The board is about 7 inches wide, and I have slightly less than 6 inches beween the brackets. I hope to post more pictures of the loom in use later.