Home built rigid heddle looms?

Hi, newbie here. I'd like to build a rigid heddle loom. I would prefer to make the heddles myself, rather than purchasing a commercial part, but haven't yet managed to find any info on dimensions for different gauges (is that the proper term?). Does anyone here have experience with this?

Hello and welcome

we have a bit of information about building looms here https://permies.com/t/50910/permaculture-fiber-arts-tools/fiber-arts/loom

The different gages are called "sett" in weaving and are measured in holes (called "dents") per inch (or in Europe, Asia, and pretty much everywhere outside North America, it's measured in dents per 10 cm just to confuse things).  In a rigid heddle reed, a dent is both the slots and the 'eyes'.  What sett you want will depend on what kind of yarn and cloth you are making.  This will influence what gate of reed you need to make.

One idea is to borrow the rigid heddle loom from a local yarn shop to see how it works before making your own.  It gives you a good idea of the necessary and sufficient conditions you need to achieve.  The reed/heddle has to be quite strong because it's doing two jobs that are normally done by two different tools on most looms (it's lifting and lowering the warp threads AND it is beating the weft against the fell line - where the warp becomes cloth).  For your basic worsted weight knitting yarn, one usually starts at 7.5 to 8 dents per inch.

Another idea is to make a Backstrap loom (see the above link) which is loads of fun, extremely versatile, and easier to weave on than a RH loom.  

Thanks for the info. I just started researching. One thing I do when starting something like this is an image search. I found some good ones, I just needed an idea of proper spacing for the holes and slots. I'll start looking at loom designs next.

John Dunlap wrote:I just needed an idea of proper spacing for the holes and slots.

What kind of cloth do you want to weave?  This will determine the spacing.

I'll probably start with heavier woolens for things like bags, belts, throws, etc. (I have quite a few knitting looms and have become very interested in felted knit fabrics, been wondering how those techniques would work with woven fabrics), but I doubt I'll stop there. I'll probably make several reeds. I learned in the last few hours that the general sizes are 5, 8, 10, and 12 dents per inch. Would I be correct in thinking an 8 would be a good place to start?

5, 8, 10, and 12 dents per inch.  is common for some makes.

I have more experience with Ashford looms as I switched brands after having worn out TWO Kromski rigid heddles in under 4 months - I do a lot of weaving.  Ashford currently has sizes of 2.5, 5, 7.5, 10, 12, and 15 dents per inch.  The 7.5 and the 10 are the ones I use most and 7.5 is the one that comes standard with a new loom.  I would probably start in the 7 to 8 dent range for woollens like bags.  

Felted knit fabrics is actually a technique from weaving.  The cloth is* woven looser than the finished goal and then fulled** or felted to shrink it to size and close up the gaps.  So yes, this will totally work for making felted bags, just remember to leave gaps between the yarn so it has room to felt together.  Also, do a small sample first to make sure the yarn felts (even different dye lots of the same yarn can have different felting qualities) and so you can get a general idea of how much it will shrink (usually between 10 and 60% depending on the fibre).

Because you are fulling so much, there's a lot of room for mistakes in the reed (which is awesome) as imperfections in sett will come out in the wash.  

When weaving on a shaft loom (one with separate heddles and reed), we quite often cram and dent the warp; which means some holes in the reed are empty and some have more than one warp.  It evens out in the fulling... usually.  

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*    generally.  there are exceptions
**  "fulling" is the technical term for felting cloth.  "felting" is the term for making felt from the raw fibre. It's a useful distinction in technical discussion but it's confusing.  To be quite frank about it, I would much rather people not stress about the language and just start playing with yarn.  I know many amazing fibre artists and artisans that don't know the technical language.  

Thanks very much for all the info. This will help a lot.

Please let us know how it goes and feel free to ask any more questions that come up.

I have a great set of plans for building a rigid heddle loom! Check it out here...

https://www.etsy.com/listing/594630754/rigid-heddle-loom-plans-20-page-step-by?ga_order=most_relevant&ga_search_type=all&ga_view_type=gallery&ga_search_query=diy+rigid+heddle+loom&ref=sr_gallery-1-2&organic_search_click=1

There is also another set of great plans for a frame loom with a double shed opening, packer bar, and auto-spacer feature. Very innovative!

https://www.etsy.com/listing/616759815/shed-stick-weaving-comb-super-frame-loom?ga_order=most_relevant&ga_search_type=all&ga_view_type=gallery&ga_search_query=super+frame+loom&ref=sr_gallery-1-1&organic_search_click=1

Matteo Salusso has an interesting version of a rigid heddle which can be used with a variety of loom styles - from tapestry/frame to inkle to weighted warp to a pretty typical looking table loom.  His YT channel has a bunch of videos showing various implementations of his "Pettineliccio tubolare" - "tubular rigid heddle" - which is made from plastic electrical conduit (as best as I can understand Italian).  I've had exactly zero luck tracking down his Italian patent.  Matteo is from the Piedmont - Val de Pellice to be precise - from a long line of weavers and loom builders.  As an aside, the historic denizens of the valleys of the Italian Piedmont and the French side of the Cottian Alps above Lyons and Grenoble were the Vaudois/Valdese/Waldensians, who were known for their weaving (as well as being targets of The Inquisition for their heretical views which presaged the Swiss and German Reformers).  Whether you could agree with their theological distinctives or not, their way of life seems to have been very "permie" from all written accounts I have found of them, many written by their accusers.  But, I digress...

I've tried making one of Matteo's tubular rigid heddles from a recycled piece of 1 1/2" nominal plastic drain pipe (with a piece of repurposed political sign wire for the warp retainer rod), but deburring the sawn slits isn't easy, and they really do need to be smooth to prevent the warp from being frayed as the fabric is beaten.  Matteo uses a wire wheel to deburr from the outside of the pipe (you can a quick view of it in one of his videos, I forget which), but I haven't yet been able to get the same results as he does.  I did just pick up a 1 1/2" OD wire wheel from the hardware store, which I'll try mounting in a flexible shaft to reach inside the tubing to see if I can get better results with that arrangement.  I may try a length of Carlon plastic conduit to see if I can get a cleaner cut than on the Genova drain pipe.  1 1/4" nominal plastic pipe may be a better fit for most people's hands than the 1 1/2" I have been messing with, but it is what I had on hand.

A good overview of his system can be seen here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hLTaOnVlE4c

Reviewing some of his other videos will show the flexibility of his heddle.  His "Tessitura di strada" video shows how portable and minimalist it can be (he pulls everything out of a small backpack), while the "Pettineliccio Tubolare con Liccetti" shows what can be done in the way of fancy pattern weaving, albeit not as efficiently as with a multi-harness floor loom.  If maximum output is your goal, Matteo's tubular heddle may not be for you.  But, if you would like to have a lot of versatility with minimal outlay, it's worth a look.

If I can figure out a way of reliably deburring the edges of the slits in the plastic pipe, I'll be sure to post it here.

If you don't want to fool around with making your own, he'll sell you one:
https://www.telaisalusso.com/en-gb/il-pettineliccio-tubolare

Given the level of skill and the DIY mindset which prevails here, I'll bet some homemade ones will appear.