Painted Band Looms

I have been making traditional, individual, hand-carved looms.  My newest design is very small, carved out of one piece of wood.

Two hundred years ago, these small looms were hand carved. Each one was an individual and became a piece of folk art. With its' uneven and worn slots, chipped and softly worn by years of actual use, the old looms are appropriate for reenactors and historians. There are still many of these looms in private collections and sometimes come up for sale, but many have found their way to museums so that they will not be lost or broken and future generations will be able to see these wonderful pieces of folk art.

So if you want a traditional loom, you will have to find a new one or make one!

Many new band looms are for sale now. There are many new styles and sizes. There are also new plastic ones!   But there is nothing like a hand-carved folk loom.

I hang around with traditional spoon and wood carvers so I have had lots of help learning how to carve. Mostly it takes practice and patience. I use a chip knife, but I have a friend who made a nice loom with a utility knife. I use a #3 flat gouge to plane the middle section, but you can leave it 1/4" thick.

Perhaps you have a friend you can cohorst into making a new project. For those of you willing to try, here are directions.

You can start by cutting down a tree, using a saw, fro and plane to make a nice thin piece.

At the Vesterheim Museum in Iowa, we did just that. We brought our students squares of wood we had cut and planed ourselves... but....

Poplar from Home Depot comes in nice 1/4" x 6" x 48" boards. Here, I cut a board into 4 1/4" pieces. I mark the top and bottom to create a 3 1/4" span for the slots, and cut down into the wood along these lines 1/16".  Then I plane the center to about 1/8" with my flat gouge on both sides.

Measure and pencil the slots 5/16" apart on both sides, making sure they are lined up properly. The I use my chip knife to go back and forth cutting the slots. Drilling the holes at the last and cleaning up the holes and slots with a needle file. I do not use sandpaper, instead, I carve along all edges with my chip knife until they are smooth, just like they used to before laser cutters!

And then I carved a shuttle to match.

This creates 18 slots and 18 holes. A total of 36 threads will be plenty for all plain and stripe weaving. and . If you are using pick-up method, this size will work for any piece that uses 7 pattern threads including boarder's, or a tight 9 pattern piece with simple boarders.  The width of your band of course depends on the thickness of your threads. Even a 1/16" hole can be worked though using a small crochet hook or needle threader.

After making a few of these plain, I decided to paint one. I used milk paint to give it an authentic glow.

Here is a photo of my newest loom with a small shuttle.

Painted looms were common in the 1800s throughout Europe. Shown below are several, more band looms found on my page... https://www.pinterest.com/potterymom1/weaving-band-looms/

For you newbies to my Blog, use the search button above and type in Bands or Tapes to find more projects for your bands, building your own simple loom and stories of my weaving adventures.  New to Tape or Band weaving?  Look up my beginners easy to use book Tape Loom Weaving... simplified on my web site www.eastknollpottery.com (yes, I am also a potter) or on Amazon.com.  Subscribe to my blog to get notice on future projects and loom building or follow me on Facebook... Tape Loom Weaving....   and Happy Weaving!