Loom

Diagram

1. Side panel, 12’’ x 24’’ x 1’’ panel cut into sleigh shape- x2
2. The one nearest the heddle rest is the warp beam, the one on the other side is the cloth
beam, both are 1 ¾ ‘’ diameter, 30’’ long- x2
3. Machine threaded screw, one half has a wider thicker thread to hold onto the wood, the
other half has thinner smaller thread to hold a wing nut- x4
4. Tension rods, both are 1 ½ ‘’ diameter, 30’’ long- x2
5. Small nails/screws driven into the dowels to hold the thread loops- x12
6. Apron rods, both are ½’’ diameter, 29 ½ ‘’ long- x2
7. Thread loops, all the same size, looped around cloth/warp beams and apron rods- x6
8. Heddle rest, approx. 1’’ tall x 1 ½’’ long x ½’’ wide , the cut-out square is ½’’ x ½’’- x2
9. Base board, 1’’ x 3’’ x 30’’, is on both sides of the loom but I didn’t want to clutter the
other side of the diagram (there so the loom can be clamped to a table)- x2






Heddle Diagram

1. Square dowel, ½’’ x ½’’ x 30’’, a groove is cut out down the center line of one side for the
zip tie healds to be tucked into.
2. Zip tie healds, made of long thin zip ties with the ends trimmed and a small hole
punched or drilled out of the middle to create an eye.
3. Small dowel/skewer for support, to help the heddle keep its structure.
4. Shuttle, piece of wood that is 18’’ x 1’’ x ½’’, the ends are cut to hold the thread on.

 Loom Assembly Order

1. Cut the side panels (1) into the sleigh shape, cutting this part out is necessary to create
room for the shuttle to pass through. Pre-drill the holes where the dowels will be
screwed in.
2. Cut all the dowels (2,4) to the desired length, a few inches wider than the width of the
fabric you want to make, ours is 30’’.
3. Drill into the end of the dowels that will be the cloth and warp beams (2) and set the
machine threaded screws (3). It’s important that they don’t move or rotate so its ok to
set them with wood glue.
4. Fit the sides of the loom onto ends of the machine threaded screws sticking out of the
cloth and warp beams, hold them on with a washer and a wing-nut. The wing-nut is
there to act as a brake, it can be tightened so cloth/warp beam doesn’t rotate when it
doesn’t need too, but can be loosened so the beams do rotate when the fabric needs to
be moved down and rolled on to the cloth beam to keep weaving.
5. Pre-drill holes in the center of the ends of the tension rods (4), secure them in place at
the predrilled holes in the side panels (1) with screws.
6. Hammer or screw in small nails or screws (5) about 2 inches in from the ends and the
middle of the warp beam (2), cloth beam (2), and apron rods (6).
7. Measure lengths of nylon or cotton chord (7) long enough to connect the apron rod to
the warp/cloth beam when doubled. When the ends are tied together and looped
around the warp/cloth beams (2) and the apron rods (6) the apron rods should be able
to hang over the tension rods by about an inch.
8. Glue and clamp the heddle rests (8) to the inside of the side panels, the bottom edge of
the cut-out square should be level with the top of the tension rod dowel. Make sure
they are in the same position on each side.
9. Screw the base board (9) between the side panels at the bottom of them, make sure the
edges on the outside are flush with edge of the side panels.


Heddle Assembly Order

10. Cut the square dowels (1) to the same length as the dowels in the loom, here ours is 30’’
11. Cut or carve out a groove along the center line on one side of each dowel, stopping it
about 1 inch from the ends on each side.
12. Cut the ends off of just a ton of zip ties, as thin and long as you can find.
13. Drill or punch a small hole out of the center of the zip ties to create a eye to thread the
warp through. To make the zip ties longer to create a wider space to run the shuttle, cut
trimmed zip ties in half and glue a half to each end of a zip tie to double the length.
These will be the healds in the heddle that keep the threads of the warp separate and
lift and lower them to create space for the shuttle to pass.
 14. Glue the prepared zip-tie healds into the groove on one of the square dowels, the closer
together they are glued, the denser the heddle and thus the weave will be.
15. Once all the healds are glued in place, run tape along one side of them a ½ inch from the
other end of the healds. Use this to keep the space between the healds on this side even
and the healds in a straight line that can be tucked into the groove of the other square
dowel (1) easily. Trim the non-glued end so it is level.
16. Drill holes just large enough for the thin wood dowels/skewers (3) to fit in an inch in
from the end of the dowels so that when the wooden dowels (3) are put in for support
the don’t bump into the heddle rests. The holes should go in about ¼ inch into the
square dowel (1) that all the zip ties are glued into and all the way through the other
square dowel.
17. Secure the dowels/skewers (3) into the dowel with the healds (2) and slide the other
square dowel (1) that was drilled all the way through down the skewers and tuck the
row of healds (2) into the groove. Secure the skewer/dowel and the healds with glue
and trim off the excess skewer/dowel (3).


Shuttle

The shuttle is just a piece of wood 18’’ long, ½’’ thick, and 1’’ wide. The ends are cut into little
horn like shapes to hold the thread as its wrapped in a figure 8 along the edges.

Video links for reference

Shuttle loading- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5h2pbmBSfTg

Loom warping- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I5a_GVdlBfE&list=PLdxQFfRGNeDEDfiG-
TakeX88noG3nke5C&index=20&t=68s

Warping and weaving of a smaller but similar loom design-
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B0aFlG7294w&index=18&t=339s&list=PLdxQFfRGNeDEDfi
G-TakeX88noG3nke5C