November 22, 2025
Description
Here is a reconstruction of ancient weaving heddle, among the oldest known. You can now hold and use these pieces of history, with their real size and shape. I was surprised by the sharpness of the details of these handcrafted objects; it is difficult to get a good idea of what they look like from the images alone. Have fun creating braids or perhaps starting larger pieces of fabric as in the olden days!
I hope you'll enjoy them as much as I did.
For those who want to try weaving braids with wool of a more standard thickness, I also have designed more modern weaving combs. I made several tests and I think I have achieved a good level of rigidity, compactness, and practicality.
Warning: you must place the seams at the rear. The default settings will place them slightly to the side, resulting in less clean and more fragile holes.
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For reference, I printed those heddles with Prusament PLA Vanilla White (for bone like color) and Blend Viva La Bronze (for bronze).
Using 3-4 perimeters may ensure better durability (I did it). You might want to slow down the print (especially on quick printers, I did not on my Prusa MK3 tough). All those models print fine with default 0.2 layer height, I would not try 0.3.
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Date : 79 CE
Dimensions : 52,1 x 26,5 x 2,8 mm
Description : carved out a piece of bone. Similar to other examples of ancients heddes but very well preserved.
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© C. Durand/CNRS, UMR 7299
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Date : 1st century CE
Dimensions : 65 x 46 mm
Description: made entirely of bronze.
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© Susan J. Foulkes
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Date : undertermined
Dimensions : 77 x 45 mm
Description : is a big bone heddle with riveted bronze plates at the top and bottom.
The details are small, so print with a maximum layer height of 0.2 mm (that's what I did), 0.1 mm might give a sharper result.
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© Susan J. Foulkes
License:
Creative Commons — Attribution — Noncommercial