First Draft

This past week was spent taking the rough concept shown in the previous blog and sketching out a clear picture of what the loom may look like. We also began to dimension important parts to fit the size of mat needed. Based on what we were told about the previous method of production, the loom should weave a 6.5' x 3.5' mat. The entire loom's base will most likely need to be another 6" long on either side to leave enough room for the moving parts.

This should be doable, although the weaving on the short side will be far more compact than on the long side. This is because we can only fit 14 strings total. Seven on those string will be pulled upward and the other seven will be pulled downward. This creates a "V" which lets the spool (running along the short side) be pushed through. The strings then switch places and the spool can run along the other side.

The spool acts as a power cord roll-up does. A cylinder is attached to two plates on each side. One of the two sides is fixed to the cylinder where the other side can rotate around the plate. A handle is attached to the fixed side, and the end of the string is tied to the middle of the cylinder. The handle can then be used to roll up up the string to where there is enough for a full mat. The entire spool will be fed through the "V" gap in the loom.

The two sets of slots near the end of the loom creates the "V" gap. One of the sets will be pulled up, while the other is pushed down. The fourteen pieces of string each have their own slot where every other string is in the same slot.

The string is tied down in the beginning on the loom on a plate in the back. This mechanism is built to create tension so that there aren't loose threads in the mat. As the slots move up and down, more or less string lengthwise will need to be used. Excess string will create loose threads in the mat. The mechanism works by having springs attached from the plate with the tied string to the top of the front of the loom. As more string is needed, the spring will be pushed inward and create tension.

Our next step will be finalizing these dimensions and creating a parts list. We will need to find time to begin building. This may occur on Wednesday nights when MZUMC hosts community dinners and Bible studies.