Flip Loom

This is a small folding loom designed specifically for tablet or card weaving.

Tablet weaving is an accessible craft that is both ancient and ubiquitous and modern and obscure. Ancient peoples of all nations used this technique to create decorative or structural bands to adorn their clothing or for particular uses such as baggage straps, halters and so on.

You don't need to make this loom to engage in the craft of tablet weaving, but it sure makes it more convenient. With this loom you can wind your warp onto one end just as you would a normal weaving loom. You can then either sit it on your lap, lean it against a desk or just weave in bed, however you please. When you're done, simply fold it up and put it away. It is small enough to fit inside a satchel.

If you're interested in the craft of tablet weaving please search youtube to find many good instructional videos.

I plan to make and sell these, but don't see any reason to be secretive about it. It has been marked as non-commercial share-alike. As far as I'm concerned if you want to make 5 of the things and run a class have at it, but if I see these popping up on ebay I'll come after you like Liam Neeson on a bad day ;-)

PARTS NEEDED

To complete this, you will need the following.

Stuff from the hardware store

2 x 6mm nuts with 10 mm heads at least 26mm long
2 x 6mm bolts 10mm on outside
4 x 8mm metal stock (The pictured example is using aluminium pipe. But that is too weak. I suggest solid aluminium rod. You could use threaded steel bar as well, but it will increase the weight and it's not as easy to cut)
2 x 10mm threaded rod 40mm long (optional, for weighting the cloth beam to improve balance)

Printed parts

ML_IN
ML_OUT
MR_IN
MR_OUT
AE_WS x 2
AE_L_RS x 2
CLOTHBEAM
WARPBEAM
FLANGE x 4
RATCHET x 2
HANDLE x 2
PAWL_PEG x 2
PAWL x 2

ISSUES

It's a bit of a pain to assemble, but a video tutorial is upcoming, along with a video on how to dress the thing for weaving.

You'll want to do some tests to get the clearances just so. If I knew how to code in SCAD I'd make files from there, but I don't know how to do that so I won't. At the moment I try to get everything to fit just so, but there is one part that I can foresee being a wee bit on the tricky side. Where you attach the pawl stop to the end plates is designed to fit in and have the metal stock running through it to hold it in place.

This has been designed with the specific clearances of a specific printer in mind. Now that I have another printer I have realised that the first printer had been consistently under-extruding but I didn't know any better.

If there is demand for it I shall place calibration prints here so you can get your flow settings set just so, as if the holes for the stock are too small or the clearance where the ratchets or handles join the beams aren't right you can smash the smaller parts putting the thing together.

Of course, you could gouge the smaller parts out with a knife and apply liberal amount of superglue, I've done that during the development process. And you could tap out the holes for the stock if they're too tight and screw threaded rod in.

Please let me know, if there's interest in this, I shall upload calibration prints and instructional videos and all that good stuff. Like I say, I want to sell these so it's in my interests to do that anyway.

Cheers