Supplies Needed to Make Loom

[Riverwoman]

What kinds of odds and ends does one need to make a loom? For beading that is;) I don't want to have to buy one of those "Traditional Native American" ones

Maybe it can be an adjustable one? I would like to make barrettes, earrings and some headbands on it:) I need specifics, as I am a dunce when it comes to finding stuff in the hardwear store:P

[tprindle]

i made a great home made adjustable loom about 15 years ago and it's still alive! lol (well, it has a little duct tape on it)

i think the instructions i used were from a beads to buckskins booklet

basically you do need a saw, and a drill and a large wood drill bit, and some tin snips to make it, but other than that, if you have those things it only costs about 5 bucks to make, and you can make it the way you like it

you need two 1/2 " wood dowels (4 feet or whatever length you want to adjust to, i do huge belts), door springs with the hooks snipped off, two metal rods to go inside the door springs, four hose clamps, two pieces of wood cut into |___| shape, drill holes on either side that dowels fit into in the two holes in the two |___| shapes ... one side you fix permanently with the dowels (gule and a nail).. the other |___| side you slide onto the two dowels and leave it loose (make the holes a little large)... and to secure it before warping your loom you tighten the hose clamps on either side at the top of the |__|. drill tiny holes the same diameter as the metal rod on either *end of each |___| and insert metal rod thru hole, doorspring, and thru the other tiny hole, dab o glue. finally you put however many nails you want for your strings into the outter sides of the |___|

does that make any sense at all?

Tara

[Riverwoman]

It would make sense to my dad, as he as a shop I will see what I can manage later though;)

[the bee]

I've found threaded rods which can be cut to the size you need to be better than the springs, as the springs end up getting out of shape on me at some point in their life span. you can have the rods cut to size at the hardware store or do it your self with a hack saw. I use either a bent nail to hold them in place or the telephone staples either work well.

[alaskashadowwolf]

My first loom (adjustable) I bought from Crazy Crow, mostly to see how it was put together, plus mine came with beads, needles, thread, etc to get started for about $30 (ouch!) Found out it was several small boards with dowels in the ends to connect the middle pieces together, which bows after you've strung your loom.
Now I make my own using 1 x how ever wide you need. Then just cut to lenght. Nail or screw the end pices (about 4-6" tall) on and I use threaded 1/4" rod on top for the threads. I use fence staples to hold the threaded rod down. Total cost about $5 - $10 depending on how fancy you get.

[warhoop]

homemade loom

I built my loom out of a 2x6 piece of pine. And for the string seperator i used a tightly coiled about a 2" spring and stretched it to the 6" length. It works just fine. Its about 3 1/2 feet long and about 8inches high. my next modification to it will be to gouge holders on the bottom for my beads to make easy accessibility.

[Blackbear]

I bought one of the "ultimate looms'. It is nice that it is adjustable up to 3 feet in length, but only goes as wide as 6 inches...of course with the right piece of board I could make it longer, but not wider. I have yet to use it LOL!!! I really hate to do loomwork.

[waleli]

My home-made looms have fine-tooth combs on each end for the string seperators. Works so great !!!!

[Blackbear]

Hey..now that is an idea I would have never thought of, good one too!

[BrianP]

its not the loom

Its not the looom that makes the difference. I did some of my best work on a loom made from a two by four with each end cut off and then nailed the ends back to it. It was sturdy though. Then I duct taped ace combs onto it to space the thread. Not doing much loom work anymore seems lazy stitch is the way to go these days. Justdepends on the project.

Brian