[Jewelry making - Article 00074] - [Orchid] Homemade bead loom jewelry

[Silverspotstudio]

========[ Invite a Friend - http://www.ganoksin.com/invite.htm  ]========

Hi all,

    In response to several requests, I have posted a couple photos of my
    homemade bead loom on Orchid's FTP page: the file names are

    http://www.ganoksin.com/ftp/loom1.jpg
    http://www.ganoksin.com/ftp/loom2.jpg   

    The first picture shows the loom assembled and ready to go, while the
    second shows its constituent parts. 

    I remeasured the loom and found that the boards are about 8 1/2" x
    3", the dowels are 1/2" diameter, and the springs are 8" long.=A0 The
    dowels were originally straight, but seem to have gotten bowed with
    use; this doesn't interfere with the effectiveness of the loom.  

    I got my springs from beadcats.com, but they can be found at
    hardware stores as well.=A0 The wire thickness of the springs is
    about 18 ga., which makes them a good size for small beads (14/o
    through 22/o) as well as larger ones; a thicker wire might only
    accomodate larger beads, but with the smaller gaugewire, you can
    space out the threads to fit varying sizes of beads.   The screws
    that hold the springs are spaced just far enough apart to have to
    stretch the spring a little bit to pull it off, but not so far that
    the spring is streched out during use.   

    As you can probably tell from the picture, especially the little
    dents along the dowels, the screws that hold the dowels in place
    aren't driven all the way into the dowel, but just enough so that
    they "bite" into the wood and keep it from moving.=A0 This has the
    advantage of making the loom infinitely adjustable, and you can use
    longer dowels for longer pieces of beadwork. 

    When stringing up the warp threads, tie the free end of the spool to
    one of the screws and pass the thread between two of the coils of the
    spring.  Stretch the thread across the loom to the other side, pull
    it between the coils of the spring on that side, loop the thread
    around the screw to hold it in place, and bring the thread up and
    pass it between the next pair of spring coils. Do the same on the
    other side...and so on until you have the requisite number of warp
    threads (one more than the number of beads that will make up the
    width of your piece).  For 14/o beads (the ones I use most
    frequently), I string the warps in groups of three, skipping a space
    of two coils between each group. 

    When the weaving is finished, I usually loosen the screws at one end
    of the loom to relieve the tension on the warp threads, and then lift
    off the springs one at a time and stretch them to release the threads
    and remove the work from the loom.   Sometimes a thread will
    magically loop itself around the spring in a way that doesn't seem
    physically possible, but I allow enough length that I can just cut
    the thread if need be. 

    If you've gotten used to the sort of bead loom that has a roller
    attached to one end to take up the finished portion of long strips of
    weaving, I think this could be easily made by cutting a length of
    dowel to fit horizontally between the dowels at either side of the
    end board, setting bolts with the heads removed into either end, and
    drilling holes for the bolts horizontally through the lengthwise
    dowels.   The roller dowel could then be fixed in place and tightened
    with a pair of wing nuts. 

    A disadvantage of the loom is that it rests flat on the work
    surface, which can cause back and neck strain after a while.   I
    usually prop mine up witha copy of Gould's The Structure of
    Evolutionary Theory, which is heavy enoughnot to move while working
    and a handy 3 1/2" thick or so.   I have come up with some sketchy
    ideas for a free-standing upright loom, and I'll be happy to post pix
    of that should it happen to work ;-) 

    For other diagrams, loom ideas, and instructions on beadweaving, I
    (again) highly recommend Virginia Blakelock's Those Bad Bad Beads.  
    It was from Blakelock's book and the Beadcats store (which she
    co-operates with Carol Perrenoud) that I got the idea for the bead
    loom, and any credit for it should probably be theirs.   

    [Usual disclaimers] 

<edit>

    Those bad, bad beads!
    By Virginia L Blakelock

    http://www.ganoksin.com/jewelry-books/us/product/B00071VVJ6.htm

    Manufacturer : V.L. Blakelock
    Release data : 1988

</edit>

Hope all this is helpful - happy beading!

Jessee Smith
www.silverspotstudio.com

____________________________________________________________________
T h e   O r c h i d   L i s t
Open Electronic Forum for Jewelry Manufacturing Methods and Procedures
____________________________________________________________________
Orchid FAQ:
~ http://www.ganoksin.com/orchid/faq.htm
Orchid Archives:
~ http://www.ganoksin.com/orchid/archive
Orchid Galleries:
~ http://www.ganoksin.com/orchid/gallery.htm
Invite a Friend:
~ http://www.ganoksin.com/invite.htm
____________________________________________________________________
Tips From The Jeweler's Bench - Article Archive
~ http://www.ganoksin.com/borisat/tip_sear.htm
The Jeweler's Selected Bibliography List
~ http://www.ganoksin.com/jewelry-books
Buy Orchid Jewelry:
~ http://www.ganoksin.com/shop
____________________________________________________________________
-Unsubscribe:
-Email: orchid-request AT ganoksin.com Body=unsubscribe subject=blank
____________________________________________________________________