Eva wants to weave a table runner and maybe a tapestry or two. To do that she needs a loom. Weaving technology is ancient and practiced by most cultures around the world. The piece of wood holding the strings up is called a heddle bar and makes passing the other thread through the warp easier.
I had never made a loom, and never heard of a heddle bar until I did my research. To try this whole thing out I made a model. This loom is six by six inches and does everything a larger loom will need to do. I followed the instructions and got the heddle bar to work too.
The other small piece that I made recently is a small tool rest for my wood lathe.
This short tool rest allows me to work on short spindles, like two inch long spindles. I used a piece of hardwood and a short length of 1/2 inch steel tubing to make it.
I've already used to tool rest to turn that small spindle, it will be a bottle topper once it is finished. Being able to comfortably get close to the work makes it safer and easier.
I expect that I will now make a larger loom for Eva. Cutting and sanding all the slots on the heddle is slow work but like so many things time spend carefully preparing makes for ease of use later.
Today it appears that the weather is going to be warm and dry so much of today's energy will be spent outside.
cheers, ianw
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