Red PVC Loom Plans

I have designed a loom suitable for scarf or band weaving using a rigid heddle or weaving tablets/cards and thought I’d share the plans with you. You’ll note that the side rails of this loom are made of white PVC rather than the furniture grade Formufit. That’s because I apparently don’t know how to measure twice and cut once.  I’ll be replacing the white pipe with red after I order another piece.

I first made it without the (white) support pieces but it was not sturdy enough to handle the tension of a warp. This one is very sturdy.

The loom measures 21” x 12” x 8.25” high with a weaving width of 7 3/4” and requires the following components:
(3) 5 foot 3/4” PVC pipes, Formufit
(2) 1/4” threaded rods 13” long
(4) 1/4” nuts
(4) internal PVC dome caps, 3/4”
(1 package of 8) 90 degree PVC elbows, 3/4”
(1 package of 8) standard PVC tee, 3/4”
(2) 7.75” piece of wood, 1/4” x 1/2” for warp sticks
(2) metal rods, 3/16” diameter for brakes, each 6 1/4” long
String or texsolv to attach warp sticks to warp and cloth beams
An 8” rigid heddle, or up to a 13 pattern thread Sunna heddle, or weaving tablets
Rubber mallet for pounding in the pieces

You may find this article on cutting PVC pipe helpful.

The width may easily be adjusted by increasing or decreasing the length of  parts D, E, and F.

Cut the PVC pipe into the following lengths:
A. 18.75” x 2
B. 9” x 2
C. 3” x 2
D & E. 9.5” x 4
F. 9 7/8” x 2
G. 2.25” x 8

Assemble loom as per photo. Drill 5/16” holes in the dome caps, put caps on ends of F pieces to make warp (back) and cloth (front) beams.
Drill 3/16” holes through beams to hold string or texsolv.
Drill (4) holes through warp beam, about 1/2” from end of pipe, for back brake.
Drill (8) holes through cloth beam, about 1/2” from end of pipe, for front brake.
Drill 5/16” holes through sides of tee connectors and slide threaded rods through tee, through beams with caps, and through tee on other side.
Place nuts on ends of threaded rods to hold beams in place.
Thread string or texsolv through holes in beams to attach warp sticks.
Insert metal rods into brake holes, one on each beam.

To advance warp, remove rear brake rods, advance warp, replace rear brake rod,  remove front brake rod, wind warp to front, replace front brake rod. I did try and use a wing nut on the end of the threaded rod to act as a brake but it didn’t hold, so the metal rod brakes are what I went for (in the photo it shows wooden dowels but they tended to snap with tension.)  If anyone comes up with a better idea for a brake I would love to hear about it.

Furniture grade Formufit comes in multiple colors, by the way, including red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple, black, white, and clear. The least expensive is the non-furniture-grade type of PVC with the printing on it, and if the look of the loom isn't important to you, that would work fine.

For more information on this loom please go to this post...and this post describes further loom features as well as the method used for getting sheds using weaving tablets as a two harness loom.