Monday, February 6, 2012

"Temple Rods on My Ashford....."

I decided to add 2 steel rods on my Ashford Table Loom as I had done on my Oxaback Floor Loom so that I would have a true horizontal tension when using a home made temple, rather than one with a downward angle.

I found out doing this on the table loom was much simpler. When searching for small screw eyes, I came across these Coaxial Cable Straps, which just happened to be the correct size for the steel rod I planned on using.


The 2 steel rods are thinner than what I had used on my floor loom, leftovers from a failed attempt to replace the wooden warp and cloth rods. The rods proved too thin and bent under tension, but now they have a new use, which I think they are perfectly suited.


The coaxial cable straps needed only to be lightly tapped in and they were in place. The rods will slide in and out easily when the ratchet arm is loosened and held horizontal. The straps won't be in the way when the loom is folded for storage either. If need be, the nails can be replaced with long thin screws, too, which I will most likely do to make them more secure.


The newest home made temple works well on the table loom, too, after tying up the cord to make it shorter. Working with them on my 2nd twill sampler was a positive experience, so I think I will replace the mitten clips/string on my 1st temple with alligator clips and nylon cord.

Again, my thanks to Sarah from Woolgatherer's in Fond du Lac, WI, for the temple plans. ( http://www.woolgatherers.com/id105.htm )

1 comment:

Molly Bee said...

Oi! I've been catching up on your blog. I was getting a little inkling that I might like to try weaving (like I need another project) but reading this and just seeing the sheer number of moving parts involved...My VCR is still flashing 12:00 from the last power outage due to my lack of mechanical knowledge. Thanks for talking me down! :-)