Textile Manufacturing By Pre-industrial Methods - Fabric Formation - Weaving - Loom

Loom

In general the supporting structure of the loom is called the frame. It provides the means of fixing the length-wise threads, called the warp, and keeping them under tension. The warp threads are wound on a roller called the warp beam, and attached to the cloth beam which will hold the finished material. Because of the tension the warp threads are under, they need to be strong.

The thread that is woven through the warp is called the weft. The weft is threaded through the warp using a shuttle. The original hand-loom was limited in width by the weaver's reach, because of the need to throw the shuttle from hand to hand. The invention of the flying shuttle with its fly cord and picking sticks enabled the weaver to pass the shuttle from a box at either side of the loom with one hand, and across a greater width. The invention of the drop box allowed a weaver to use multiple shuttles to carry different wefts.

Alternating sets of threads are lifted by connecting them with string or wires called heddles to another bar, called the shaft (or heddle bar or heald). Heddles, shafts and the couper (lever to lift the assembly) are called the harness — the harness provides for mechanical operation using foot- or hand-operated treadles. After passing a weft thread through the warp, a reed comb is used to beat (compact) the woven weft.

To prepare to weave, the warp must be made. By hand this is done with the help of a warping board. The length the warp is made is about a quarter to half yard more than the amount of cloth needed. Warping boards come in a variety of shapes, from the two nearest door handles to a board with pegs on it, or a device called a warping mill that looks similar to a swift. Warping the loom, mean threading each end through an eye in a heddle, and then sleying it through the reed. The warp is set (verb) at X ends per inch. It then has a sett (noun) of X ends per inch. The weft is measured in picks per inch.