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Old November 17th 04, 03:52 AM
Diana Curtis
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It helps a lot! If a little loom costs that little then I may as well spring
for it, then Ill be able to see if I want to do more loom work. Thanks
Kathy.
Diana

--
Weird people need beads, too
"Kathy N-V" wrote in message
. giganews.com...
On Tue, 16 Nov 2004 21:11:57 -0500, Diana Curtis wrote
(in message ):

I'm interested in beading on a loom. The ones I see in my price range on
ebay look tippy and limiting in what can be done on them. The wooden

ones
look wonderful but they are out of my price range. Aside from the online
plans for a loom that include using a set of threaded rods does anyone

know
of a place to find good plans to make a wooden loom? I have moderate

wood
working skills and have brothers who might just be willing to help me

make
one.
Thanks!
Diana

Threaded rods are easy to find at the hardware store, if that's
what's keeping you from using one. However, if you want the kind
with springs, they're available at American Science and Surplus. A
quick check reveals part #32958 , which is four inches long and
stretches to ten inches, and part #25975, which is 5-1/4" long. Both
are very inexpensive, five for a dollar, and I've used both in
homemade bead looms.

I simply tack the ends of the springs onto a cheap picture frame and
put a piece of white foam core in place of the cardboard and glass
part of the frame. The foam core catches any beads that I drop, and
isn't fragile like the glass. The whole deal cost me less than $2 -
but I do have foam core board in the house for Manda projects.

If you want something with a little more working room and less cheesy
than an old picture frame, I'd use a set of stretcher bars from the
art store. You could make the loom whatever size you'd like, and
stretcher bars are pretty cheap.

Lastly, if you are unsure about loomwork, and just want to give it a
try, those little metal "Indian Bead Looms" are not entirely useless.
I bent the "arms" on mine to a 90 degree angle, which just about
doubles your working length, and makes the loom more stable. You
could use some double sided tape to secure the bottom wires to a
plastic tray (even a meat tray from the grocery, if it's well
washed), to catch any sneaky beads that want to drop.

Again, my friends at American Science and Surplus have such looms at
the best price I've ever seen: $2.95. The web site is at
www.sciplus.com and the part # is 34968 (and it comes with two
little bags of beads and a spool of thread, which I would toss
immediately. Fireline or Powerpro is awesome for loomwork.)

HTH,

Kathy N-V



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