I'm a weaver, but I also love woodworking. Making looms brings me back to the days spent in my father's workshop, I loved the smell of the sawdust and the feel of the wood in my hands after it was sanded smooth and finished. I think that's why I fell in love with weaving - all of those lovely wooden tools!
I'd like to show you how I make the looms and weaving needles featured in my shop.
The first step is to sand down the wood, here I'm using birch plywood. I try to keep my shop as earth friendly as possible, and birch is a sustainable wood.
Then the plywood sheet is put into the laser cutter - here's a sheet all cut and ready for finishing.
I sand the pieces in my garage - this is when I get to listen to my podcasts and audiobooks.
I clean the sawdust off with a little turpentine - water would make the wood rough again. My father taught me that one.
I guess this step is sorta like a spa for the looms. I soak them in Danish oil, which moisturizes and gives it strength. Ahhh that feels so good!
I drain off excess oil and save it for the next batch.
One last sanding makes the wood super smooth - this used to be my final step, but then one day I tried some finishing wax, and it gave the loom such a silky finish I knew I had to add it to the finishing process.
And it also meant I could justify one more tool, my little buffer!
But the needles need to be rubbed by hand.
The final step is winding the yarn - weavers call it the warp - onto the loom so you can start weaving right away!
