Darn!  I just typed a great post, and when I went to preview, it disappeared!  Trying again.

So after my last thread and all the great info I gleaned, I have a question.  It seems to me that there's a logical and relatively easy re-design possibility for the RH loom. 

Now, if I want to get, for instance 20 EPI, I have to have 2 10-dent rigid heddles.  Instead, why not this type of alternative?

Make a wooden frame, the exact dimensions of the current frame of the rigid heddle itself.  Add an upright on each end.  Leave out the heddle itself.  Instead, put on a whole lot of Texsolv heddles.  (I suppose you could use metal heddles, but Texsolv is my heddle of choice.)  Thread 1 yarn through the Texsolv hole, the next through nothing (as if it were a floating selvedge on a multiple-heddle loom).  Now add a semi-standard reed/beater combo.  My preference would be a 12dent, because I feel they provide the greatest flexibility.  Now my RH loom can do almost any sett I like.

It can't be as easy in real life as it is in my mind, or someone would have done it long ago.  So where's the flaw in my thinking?

If there isn't one and you create & market the device, share the profits with me.  :-)

Comments

Tue, 07/05/2011 - 22:14

Looming

Hi, Peg--There are a number of folks who have been working with the type of set up you describe. Some call it a semi-rigid heddle, some call it "a rigid heddle with string heddles" (not very catchy, but descriptive), and I'm sure there are other names. Your idea of using Texsolv is great--people say it makes the process of setting up the "heddles" much easier. I make wooden frames and then use a strong, smooth linen thread to tie the heddles, more or less like the string heddles of old. A piece of the linen thread is looped over the top of the frame, a knot is tied in the two ends of the loop at the top of what will be the hole through which the warp passes, another knot is tied at the bottom of the hole, and the two ends of the linen loop are then tied together around the bottom bar of the frame. You can make as many heddles as your knot-tying fingers can stand! Yes, the sett can be quite close with this method. Also, you can adjust the size of the holes so they can accommodate larger yarns, if you like. As far as the beater goes, I just use a weaving beater/comb, or a plain old comb. Happy weaving! Kate

Wed, 07/06/2011 - 00:03

Peg.Cherre (not verified)

I just checked online, and the shortest Texsov heddle I saw was 5.75" long.  My rigid heddle is about 4.5", so that wouldn't work. Me, personally, I'm not into tying lots 'o heddles.  I suppose Texsolv heddles could be modified with a knot at each end to make them shorter, but that seems like a lot of work, too.

If someone was manufacturing them for sale, I wonder if the Texsolv people would make some short ones....

Wed, 07/06/2011 - 09:09

ruthmacgregor (not verified)

Hi Peg,

My Semi-Rigid Heddle started with exactly that thought -- though in my heddle frames the Texsolv heddles are held firmly in place.  Even though they're held in a fixed spacing, you can still weave at different setts when your heddle eyes are Texsolv.  The heddle-with-Texsolv doesn't put the same kind of strain on the edge threads that a solid plastic (or wooden) heddle would -- so if you want to weave with a closer sett than the heddle gives you, you can, without penalty!

When I'm weaving narrower than the heddle's sett, I don't use a reed.  I beat with a stick of some kind (a batten, or a beveled stick shuttle).  If the weaving isn't warp-faced, I'll often use a simple temple to help hold the width.  As long as the warp tension is nicely adjusted, it all works!

When I first started making my heddles, someone suggested making them with a number of free-moving Texsolv heddles instead of heddles anchored in place.  At that time it was well beyond my engineering and woodworking skill set -- the simple tool gets more complicated when its parts need to move!  So I never pursued it.  It could be done, though.

There does come a point where you're just re-inventing the loom.... ;-)  But the exploration can take you to some fascinating places.

Ruth

Wed, 07/06/2011 - 10:58

Peg.Cherre (not verified)

I checked out your semi rigid heddle, Ruth, and realized I'd seen it before - in your articles.  Just hadn't made the connection, and didn't know I was actually stealing your idea - sort of.  But you did give me inspiration.

I wonder - if I want to modify my current RH loom, can I simply melt/fuse the Texsolv heddles to make them the right length for the frame?  What do folks think about that?

Wed, 07/06/2011 - 11:11

Claudia Segal (not verified)

When you try to melt/fuse the nylon fabric, it's very difficult to control.  I think it would be hard to make sure they are all the same length.

I'm enjoying this discussion very much.  In my head, I make tons of handy tools for weaving that never get to the work bench.  Weavolution is one of my few ideas that has ever seen the light of day. hehe

Claudia

Wed, 07/06/2011 - 21:58

ruthmacgregor (not verified)

Hmmm.  Working with Texsolv is challenging, because the very things that make it excellent stuff for heddles (i.e., non-stretchy, smooth enough to slide on the heddle bars, non-clingy) also make it hard to manipulate.  I found it really tough to find a glue that would firmly hold it in place (it's slippery!).  I imagine if you were trying to melt it to a specific length or form, you'd run into a whole new set of surprises.

My first inclination for making shorter Texsolv heddles would be to knot them (my brain works that way), but here's a faster alternative:  if you were to lay the heddles out flat with their eyes lined up, you could lay a strip of masking tape across them near each "extremity" to hold them in position.  If you positioned a strip of tape where you wanted the heddles' tops and bottoms to be, you could carefully take the heddle-and-tape mass over to your sewing machine and stitch through the masking tape!  It might take a few repeats of stitching to make new heddle-tops and -bottoms that would be secure -- but I think you'd end up with a strip of relatively mobile heddles, in the length you want, all linked together by the machine-stitching.

Your next challenge would be finding a way to mount the heddles so they'd be able to shift around....

Ruth

Wed, 07/06/2011 - 23:57

Peg.Cherre (not verified)

Sewing through them - a BRILLIANT idea!!!!