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Redesign

Kyle Fertig
Mar 19, 2017
2 min read

In order to make the loom more efficient, the back wall had to be redesigned to take more pressure from the string. In addition, more friction had to be removed between the string and wood. In order to fix the back wall, a sawhorse kit was bought from Lowe's. four 2x4s were cut to length, and the kit was designed for the 2x4s to slide into a small, metal frame for the legs. A claw on each set of legs held another 4' 2x4 together, and eye-hooks were screwed upside-down into 4' piece for the string to go through. Metal has a much lower coefficient of friction than wood or tape. Because a sawhorse is designed to take weight, the new back section was screwed into another piece of plywood with hinges and placed directly where the old wall was. In order to reduce friction between on the moving half of the loom, tape was additionally placed over the tops and bottoms of the sawed out rectangles in both front walls. Previously, the rough wood was catching on the plastic and preventing it from passing smoothly.

The final fix made with the loom was switching the side where the weights were placed. Previously, the weights were put on the back while the front side was tied down to eyehooks in the plywood. When the moving wall came down, those set of weights would move much more than the three foot wall and get tangled on the floor. With this new design, the back side was tied down with eyehooks while the taller front side held the weights. Because the weights moved with the wall, they would only shift about six inches relative to the moving wall, keeping them from ever dragging on the floor. This new design was briefly tested with leftover testing plarn, and had promising results. In only ten minutes of weaving, about six inches of fabric was made. At that rate, a full mat should be made in only a little over two hours. In reality, the plarn will most likely need compressed, increasing the time it takes for a mat to be made. Over the next few weeks, spare time at church will be spent finishing the first mat. That mat will be tested, and if any major problems arise, the loom will be tweaked once again!