DIY Laser Cut Rigid Heddle Loom - Part 1: Building the Loom
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instructables DIY Laser Cut Rigid Heddle Loom - Part 1: Building the Loom by TheInterlaceProject Welcome to The Interlace Project! warp threads taut and in parallel to each other while Our mission is to make weaving more accessible by weft threads are woven through them. designing open-source weaving looms The warp threads are passed through the eyes of the heddles and these are used to move the warp Rigid Heddle Looms are a great introduction to threads up and down weaving and the skills you learn are all transferable to other types of looms. Easy to set up and use, this The weft threads are wound or wrapped onto a loom comes with a 5dpi* rigid heddle but has been shuttle which is passed back and forth through the designed to work with Ashford SampleIt Loom Reed shed - the gap created between the warp threads (10"/25cm) for additional flexibility. when they are raised or lowered. *dpi = Dents Per Inch - number of spaces (dents) per The beater is used to push the weft yarn into place. inch in a reed or rigid heddle. In Rigid Heddle weaving the beater and heddles are combined into a single tool. The warp threads What is Weaving? pass alternately through the eye of a heddle and Weaving is a method of creating cloth from two through a space between the heddles, so that sets of yarns or threads interlaced at right angles. raising the shaft will raise half the threads (those The lengthwise threads are called the warp and the passing through the heddles), and lowering the sideways threads are called the weft . Cloth is shaft will lower the same threads—the threads usually woven on a loom , a device that holds the passing through the spaces between the heddles remain in place. DIY Laser Cut Rigid Heddle Loom - Part 1: Building the Loom: Page 1 Step 1: Parts of the Rigid Heddle Loom DIY Laser Cut Rigid Heddle Loom - Part 1: Building the Loom: Page 2 Step 2: Materials and Tools Materials 6mm MDF - 600mm x 400mm 3mm perspex or MDF - 300mm x 150mm 1mm MDF or thick card - 50mm x 170mm 4 x 25mm Dowling cut into 300mm lengths 2 x 9mm Dowling - cut to 280mm lengths 8 x Machine Thread to Wood Thread Dowel Screws - M8 x 75mm 4 x M8 Wingnuts 4 x M8 Hex Nuts 8 x M8 Washers 4 x 40mm M6 Bolts 4 x M6 Hex nuts 4 x 20mm M4 Bots 4 x M4 Nuts 2mm Nylon cord 6 x flat head drawing pins or thumbtacks Tools Laser Cutter (we have a 600mm x 400mm bed and cutting files are laid out to fit this - Please adjust the files for different sized beds.) Drill 25mm flat wood drill bit 8mm mm wood drill bit Pillar Drill (optional) Small adjustable wrench DIY Laser Cut Rigid Heddle Loom - Part 1: Building the Loom: Page 3 Step 3: Laser Cutting Files The main laser cut parts of the loom can be cut from a single sheet of 600mm x 400mm (23x15”) 6mm MDF. The rigid heddle reed and the shuttles are cut from a piece of 300mm x 150mm (12x6”) 3mm perspex or MDF The reed/heddle hook can be cut from a piece of 50mm x 170mm (2x7”) 1mm MDF, perspex or thick card. Note - the hooks may wear out depending on the material you cut them from so you may want to make several in advance. Download https://www.instructable…s.com/ORIG/FSN/VJYZ/JJLL05OF/FSNVJYZJJLL05OF.dxf Download https://www.instructable…s.com/ORIG/FTB/BMRQ/JJLL05PK/FTBBMRQJJLL05PK.svg Download https://www.instructable…s.com/ORIG/FA1/2EKU/JJLL0658/FA12EKUJJLL0658.dxf Download https://www.instructable…s.com/ORIG/F1Z/K5WE/JJLL0659/F1ZK5WEJJLL0659.svg Download https://www.instructable…s.com/ORIG/F3P/DLX1/JJLL06JR/F3PDLX1JJLL06JR.dxf Download https://www.instructable…s.com/ORIG/FF8/4CC6/JJLL06KC/FF84CC6JJLL06KC.svg Download https://www.instructable…s.com/files/orig/F49/AMN3/JL6V6NGN/F49AMN3JL6V6NGN.zip Step 4: Preparing the Beams The body of the loom is constructed around the 4 the the dowel, make a jig from a scrap of wood - Use beams (Front, Back, Warp and Cloth - see photo a 25mm flat wood drill bit and drill a hole about 10mm above). These are made from 4 pieces of 25mm thick deep. Next drill a 8mm hole for the drill bit centered in dowel cut into 300mm lengths with a dowel screw in the hole (this is much easier if you have access to a each end. pillar drill) In order to position the dowel screws in the centre of DIY Laser Cut Rigid Heddle Loom - Part 1: Building the Loom: Page 4 Step 5: Preparing the Beams Clamp the dowel in a table vice - wrap a cloth around the dowel to prevent dents in the wood. DIY Laser Cut Rigid Heddle Loom - Part 1: Building the Loom: Page 5 Step 6: Preparing the Beams Place the jig on the end of the dowel. DIY Laser Cut Rigid Heddle Loom - Part 1: Building the Loom: Page 6 Step 7: Preparing the Beams Drill a pilot hole in the end of the dowel using the jig as a guide - you may want to drill a smaller pilot hole first depending on the hardness of the wood. DIY Laser Cut Rigid Heddle Loom - Part 1: Building the Loom: Page 7 Step 8: Preparing the Beams Mark the depth of the dowel screw on the drill bit using a marker pen. Carefully drill out the hole in the end of the dowel using the mark on the drill bit as a depth guide. DIY Laser Cut Rigid Heddle Loom - Part 1: Building the Loom: Page 8 Step 9: Preparing the Beams Add a hex nut to the bolt end of the dowel screw to act as an end stop and add two more hex nuts to act as a grip point for an adjustable wrench. DIY Laser Cut Rigid Heddle Loom - Part 1: Building the Loom: Page 9 Step 10: Preparing the Beams Screw the dowel screw into the drilled hole. You should be able to make the first few turns by hand in order to make sure the screw is straight, then use the wrench to insert the screw using the top 2 hex bolts as a grip point. Repeat the process at each end for all of the beams. DIY Laser Cut Rigid Heddle Loom - Part 1: Building the Loom: Page 10 DIY Laser Cut Rigid Heddle Loom - Part 1: Building the Loom: Page 11 Step 11: Assembling the Rigid Heddle Loom Place the heddle block on the inside of the loom frame - make sure the ‘neutral’ position (the long vertical slot in heddle block) is towards the back of the loom. Step 12: Assembling the Rigid Heddle Loom Slot the base into the frame, making sure to keep the screw holes of the frame and the heddle block lined up. DIY Laser Cut Rigid Heddle Loom - Part 1: Building the Loom: Page 12 Step 13: Assembling the Rigid Heddle Loom Insert an 40mm M6 bolt through the holes of the frame, heddle block and the slot of the base. Step 14: Assembling the Rigid Heddle Loom Place a M6 hex (or square) nut into the slot of the base and screw in the bolt. Repeat for the other hole and tighten up the bolts to secure the joint. DIY Laser Cut Rigid Heddle Loom - Part 1: Building the Loom: Page 13 Step 15: Assembling the Rigid Heddle Loom Insert one of the beams into the bottom front hole, add a washer and secure with a M8 wingnut - this is the Cloth Beam. Step 16: Assembling the Rigid Heddle Loom Insert one of the beams into the top front hole, add a washer and secure with a M8 hex nut - this is the Front Beam. Step 17: Assembling the Rigid Heddle Loom Insert one of the beams into the bottom back hole, add a washer and secure with a M8 wingnut - this is the Warp Beam. DIY Laser Cut Rigid Heddle Loom - Part 1: Building the Loom: Page 14 Step 18: Assembling the Rigid Heddle Loom Insert the final beam into the top back hole, add a washer and secure with a M8 hex nut - this is the Back Beam. Step 19: Assembling the Rigid Heddle Loom Make sure all the bolts are secure but not too tight as you will need to wiggle the base and beams into the corresponding holes on the opposite side of the loom frame. Add the other side of the loom frame, lining up the beam holes and base slots. DIY Laser Cut Rigid Heddle Loom - Part 1: Building the Loom: Page 15 Step 20: Assembling the Rigid Heddle Loom Slot the other heddle block into position between the loom frame and the base, making sure to line up the bolt holes. Secure the base to the loom frame and heddle block using the remaining two 40mm M6 bolts. Add M8 washers, hex nuts (Front and Back Beams) and wingnuts (Cloth and Warp Beams) to the corresponding beam bolts and tighten up all the bolts - use a wrench if needed. DIY Laser Cut Rigid Heddle Loom - Part 1: Building the Loom: Page 16 DIY Laser Cut Rigid Heddle Loom - Part 1: Building the Loom: Page 17 Step 21: Apron Rods Apron rods are used to connect the warp ends (the individual or bundles of warp threads) to the warp beam and the cloth beam. Set up two g-clamps 30cm apart. Step 22: Apron Rods Pull the nylon cord around one of the g-clamps and up to the other so that you have a double length.