Yesterday was an exciting day for me - Eldy went down to Maker Place and cut some new double slot heddles for me on the laser cutter. The original design is 5 1/4" tall x 8 1/2" wide, with 13 pattern thread slots. The new design is for a smaller heddle that is 4 `/1" tall x 6 1/2" wide with 9 pattern thread slots.
I purchased some 1/8" birch plywood from amazon.com - my coworker Wayne said this cuts better than the previous wood I used - less scorching. This didn't eliminate all of the scorching, though. In this picture, you can see a heddle before sanding, and one that has been sanded.
With the smaller heddle, the holes are also slightly smaller. Today, I plan to play with them and do some weaving to get a feel for which size I prefer. I'll be sure to post my results. I also think I'll spray them with some Clear Wood Finish to protect the wood. I'm not sure if that is necessary, but the wood does feel pretty "soft", so I think that will strengthen them.
(These pictures were taken with my iPhone. I obviously still need some practice with focusing. Or maybe I should go back to using my point and shoot camera.)
8 comments:
do you have anything for sale?
i do not have access for laser cutter..
i see 16in reed heddles on ebay for $30
so
inoccuiHow do you like your new laser-cut double-slotted rigid heddle. Aside from the plastic ones that StoorStalka sells, I know of no-place else to get a lightweight wooden one like yours. Does the wood hold up to use (you mentioned it was a bit 'soft". There is a person in my town with a laser cutter. Could I simply show him my Sunna heddle and have him replicate it in wood? Is it that easy? Thanks for posting this!
Lausanne, I haven't been using the wooden ones - haven't had time to do all the sanding. Regarding making the heddle from wood - I made the pattern for mine with Illustrator, and it took me a while! (I don't have a Stoorstalka heddle so started from scratch.) The trickiest thing about using the laser cutter with wood is getting the speed and power of the cutter set correctly so the wood doesn't scorch. With all those tiny slots and holes, scorching requires the need for very tedious sanding. We never perfected the process, although I still hope to revisit it sometime.
Lausanne, I haven't been using the wooden ones - haven't had time to do all the sanding. Regarding making the heddle from wood - I made the pattern for mine with Illustrator, and it took me a while! (I don't have a Stoorstalka heddle so started from scratch.) The trickiest thing about using the laser cutter with wood is getting the speed and power of the cutter set correctly so the wood doesn't scorch. With all those tiny slots and holes, scorching requires the need for very tedious sanding. We never perfected the process, although I still hope to revisit it sometime.
Any chance you're willing to share the file that you used to laser cut it? I have a laser cutter and want to make one.
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