Handloom Construction and Use

6 The Weaver's Tools

Each loom requires certain tools to help with the process of weaving. The following chart lists these tools as well as which looms require them. Instructions for making the tools follow.

TOOLS NEEDED FOR EACH LOOM

TOOL FRAME LOOM INKLE LOOM FOOT-POWERED LOOM

Beater yes yes no

Raddle no no yes

Shuttle

carpet yes yes yes

boat optional no optional

Skeiner yes yes yes

Skein Winder optional optional optional

Stretcher yes no yes

Warping Board no no optional

The Beater

While it is extremely important that the warp be kept taut during the weaving process, it is equally important that the weft threads be put in as close together as possible. In general, the more threads per centimeter of cloth, the more durable and long wearing the fabric will be.

A "beater" is used to push the weft threads together. There is no set design for a beater for simple looms. It is usually a toothed tool which can be slipped between the warp threads and beaten against the weft. It should have some weight behind it, but at the same time not be so heavy as to tire the weaver's hand.

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The frame loom and the inkle loom both require similar beaters. Beaters can be constructed specifically for the looms, or they can be made from objects found about the home.

A. Improvised Beaters

1. Forks: metal table forks make suitable beaters, especially when used with a medium warp on a fairly narrow piece of weaving.

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2. Metal Hair Comb: a metal toothed hair comb can be used for weavings having rather fine warps.

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B. Constructed Beaters.

1. Nail and Wood Beater: drive a row of nails completely through a length of wood about 30cm long. The heads of the nails should project evenly. Sand and smooth the wood to make it easy on the hand.

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2. Carved Wooden Beater: from a piece of well-seasoned, fine-grained wood, carve a toothed fork as illustrated.

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3. Iron: if iron-working is done in your area, have a blacksmith fashion a beater as illustrated.

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The Raddle

The "raddle" is used to guide the warp evenly onto the warp beam during the warping of the foot-powered loom.

Materials Needed:

2 pieces of wood about 3 x 3 x 100cm Nails Chisel Hammer

Construction:

1. Hammer nails 5cm apart, in an even row into one of the pieces of wood.

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2. Chisel a groove in the other pieces about 1/3 the depth of the projecting nail heads.

3. Grooved piece should fit snuggly over the nail heads.

Use:

1. Place the piece with the nails upright under the warp. 2. Put even amounts of warp in the spaces between the nai1s.

3. Place grooved piece on top.

4. Tie pieces together with string or strips of cloth. <see picture>

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The Shuttle

A shuttle is often used to thread the weft through the warp. Stiff fibres, such as cane, reed, straw and leaves, can probably be pushed through the shed by hand and no shuttle is needed.

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Coarse, but flexible fibres such as goathair, jute, old rags and plastic strips as well as some finer threads can be put into place using a "Carpet Shuttle."

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Very fine wefts such as linen, cotton and silk can be put into place using a "boat shuttle."

The Carpet Shuttle

Materials Needed:

Flat pieces of wood 60cm long or smaller if your loom is smaller (You will probably require one for each colour weft).

Knife

Sandpaper

Oil for wood

Construction:

1. Sand the wood as smooth as possible.

2. Cut a notch at each end of the stick as shown.

3. In the notch at one end, make a small cut to hold the end of the weft. <see picture>

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4. Oil wood to prevent splitting. 5. Wrap weft around shuttle as shown.

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The Boat Shuttle

Materials Needed:

One piece of light, easily carved wood about 5 x 8 x 20cm

Carving knife

Small, hollow tubes 7cm long such as bamboo or plastic tubing.

Piece of wire 15cm long

Construction:

1. Shape the wood so that the two ends come to a graceful taper, like the bow of a boat. <see picture>

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2. Sand smooth.

3. Carve out a retangular hole in the center, 4x8cm.

4. Using the knife point, drill a small hole in the front side opening.

5. Dig a groove about 5cm long at back opening.

Use:

1. Wind yarn on to the tube - or bobbin.

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2. Slide the wire through the tube.

3. Place bobbin in hole in shuttle, putting one end of the wire in the hole and the other in the groove. <see picture>

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The Skeiner

In almost all weaving, there are times when yarn has to be measured. The "skeiner" will help you measure continuous strands of yarn and also make skeins to prevent the thread from tangling.

Materials Needed:

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A tree branch 60cm long which has two smaller branches projecting from the same side which are at least 40cm apart.

Construction:

1. Trim off any other branches and cut the two selected ones so that they project 5 to 10cm.

2. Remove bark and sand and oil wood.

Use:

1. Yarn is wound onto the skeiner, looping it around the two projecting branches. If necessary, the thumb holds bottom Toops in place. <see picture>

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2. To determine the length of yarn:

a. Measure the distance between the two projecting branches.

b. As you wind the yarn count the number of turns you make (T).

c. Multiply the number of turns by the distance (D) between the two projections. T x D = length of yarn

3. Before removing a completed skein, tie at top and bottom as shown.

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The Skein Winder

The "skein winder" is used to hold and turn skeins of yarn as they are unwound either into balls for warping, or onto shuttles and bobbins. The skein is opened up and placed over the top, so that there is no chance of it tangling, and then rotated so that the weaver can stay seated at the loom as the yarn is unwound.

Although it is not an essential tool, it is an extremely useful one, and well worth the effort of construction. It will save many hours of untangling skeins of yarn.

Materials Needed:

Two (2) pieces of wood (A) 1 x 4 x 30cm

Two (2) pieces of wood (B) 1 x 4 x 50cm

Four (4) pieces of wood (C) 1 x 4 x 60cm

One (1) length of pipe 2-3cm in diameter, 120cm long

One (1) old bucket or gallon can with lid removed

Cement, saw, hammer, drill, nails

Construction:

1. Place pipe in center of bucket or can. Make sure it is perpendicular. <see picture>

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2. Pour cement around pipe until container is full. Let set.

3. Take pieces of wood (A). Drill a hole in the center of one piece, the diameter of the pipe. <see picture>

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4. Overlap both pieces (A) at right angles so that they form an X. Nail together. <see picture>

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5. Take pieces of wood (B). Drill a hole through the midpoints of both pieces. The hole should be slightly larger than the diameter of the pipe. <see picture>

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6. Overlap both pieces (B) at right angles so that the holes line up and the pieces form an X. Nail together. <see picture>

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7. Nail pieces (C) from the ends of cross-pieces (A) to the ends of the crosspieces (B) as shown.

 

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8. When cement is set, slide frame over pipe. Pipe should pass through bottom hole and rest in the top hole. The wood frame should spin freely.

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Use:

Open the skein into a circular shape and drop over the frame. Untie the strings holding the skein together and find the outside end. Pull on the end to rotate the winder.

The Stretcher

You may add the weft in one of two ways. (1) Each length of weft can be a single strip slightly longer than the width of the loom. Each length is put in individually and the ends hang freely on each side and later become a fringe on the finished piece. This technique

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is often used with mats. (2) Or you can wrap a much longer weft on a shuttle and pass it through the shed. When it reaches the other side, the shed is changed and the shuttle is turned and put through the shed in the opposite direction.

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This technique produces a finished edge called the Selvedge, which makes the cloth much stronger. However, there is a tendency for the edges of the cloth to pull in slightly as the weaving progresses.

You can make a "stretcher," described below, to keep the edges parallel.

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A - Cloth with non-parallel selvedges.

B - Cloth with parallel selvedges.

Materials Needed:

Two (2) very strong straight pieces of wood of the same diameter. Together, their combined length should be slightly wider than the weaving.

Piece of string or leather.

Sandpaper, knife.

Construction:

1. Sand both pieces of wood.

2. Cut three deep teeth in one end of each piece of wood. <see picture>

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1. After weaving progresses about 10cm from the beginning, hook the teeth of each stick into the selvedge or end warp threads just below the last row of weft.

2. Push downward on both sticks until the edges are parallel.

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3. Bind the sticks together where they overlap, using the string or leather. <see picture>

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4. Where the two ends meet, make a mark with a pencil or a light scratch in the wood to facilitate resetting the stretcher when it must be moved up. <see picture>

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5. After every 5cm of weaving, move the stretcher up to the new edge of the weaving. <see picture>

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NOTE: A similar stretcher can be made of iron by an iron worker. Design is shown in the illustration.

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The Warping Board for a Foot-Powered Loom

If it is inconvenient because of climate, or space to measure the warp outside on the ground (as described on page 99), the following tool can be used. It may be made of wood or built directly into the wall of a house.

Materials Needed:

Two (2) pieces of wood 0.5 x 4 x 60cm (A).

Two (2) pieces of wood 0.5 x 4 x 100cm (B).

Eighteen (18) dowels or rounded pieces of wood, 2cm in diameter by 15cm long.

Nails or screws or four (4) bolts and wing nuts if the warping board will be taken apart for storage.

Drill, hammer, sandpaper.

Construction:

1. Nail, screw or bolt pieces (A) and (B) together to make a rectangle that measures about 50 x 90cm on the inside.

2. Drill holes in the positions shown on the illustration.

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3. Sand and smooth all wood.

4. Place the dowels in the drilled holes(*)

(*) Note: If the warping "board" is built into a wall, all that is necessary is to put dowels or sticks into the wall in the pattern shown.

Use:

1. Determine the length the warp will be.

2. Measure a piece of yarn or string the length of the warp.

3. Wrap it around the posts on the board to determine how many posts will be used. Follow the pattern of wrapping shown in the diagram.

4. Tie warp end to first post A. Follow pattern set by string. When you reach last post reverse and retrace your steps back to A.

5. Continue wrapping, counting each length. Tie into bundles of ten (10) or twenty (20), to prevent losing count.

6. When done, tie the end of the warp to the beginning of the warp.

7. Tie a piece of contrasting string where the warp crosses between A and B and R and Q.

8. Remove from board by chaining as described on pages 99-100.