Frame Loom

My wife and daughter have gotten excited about yarn and weaving over the last few years.... Yep, you can already see where this is headed.  :-)

Their interest started about the time we went to Silver Dollar City a few years back (brother in-law calls it "Take Your Dollar City") where the gals saw someone making shawls on a triangle loom. Naturally they wanted one. After studying it a bit, I decided I could make one for about a quarter of the asking price. I don't consider myself to be a tight-wad, just being frugal. Anyhow, I ended up making a 6ft triangle loom and later a 7ft triangle loom. I'll post photos and some of the shawls made on them in a future post.

Back to the subject at hand.... Their interest seems to have shifted a bit from the triangle shawls to more traditional weaving lately, so I get the task of building a Frame Loom.  

If I'm not working from a pre-made plan, I first make a quick sketch and adjust it as necessary to make sure we both have the same idea in mind. Saves a lot of time and frustration since guys and gals seem to communicate on different levels (but I digress).

In this case, I mostly wanted to verify the dimensions and make sure square corners were OK instead of the normal mitered corners used in picture frames. I plan to use pocket hole joinery for this project as shown later.

The frame is made from a single 1x3x72 board (pine in this case).

Laying out the cut pieces, checking fit, and marking which side will be the face.

Using the Kreg Pocket Hole jig to cut the pocket holes. It's a great tool that's perfect for lots of woodworking applications.

Keeping the frame square and aligned while screwing in the screws (course thread works fine for pine).

She wanted a spring to hold the "warp" (weaving term for strings running the length of the frame). So, I found a screen door spring at my favorite "box store" and cut it to size.

Back side of completed project.

Front of completed project.

Tools Used:   miter saw, Kreg pocket hole jig, cordless driver, square, clamps.
Total Cost:   approximately $10.  (about $7 for board and $3 for the spring... already had screws and jig)