Hideaway Triangle Looms
Traditional Triangle Looms
Fine sett 3' tradional style triloom.
Close up of same loom. I use panel nails unless shorter brad nails are ordered on a custom order. See photo below for comparison of the two nail types. Panel nails are on the right.
Nail comparison, fine sett spacing. This sample was done on a thicker 1 1/4" rail used for the larger Hideaway trilooms.I now use panel nails for all triangle, square, or rectangle looms unless otherwise ordered. The crochet hooks are both F size.
This is how a traditional 'combo' triloom would be constructed. The insert showing lower left makes a hypotenuse two feet shorter than the main loom. Other insert sizes could be made, usually with hypotenuse lengths at half-foot intervals.
Hideaway Triangle Looms
This style has a take-down hypotenuse for shorter shipping and storage length. All pieces fit in a 4' long box. The other plus is that the modular hypotenuse can come with several extensions to make multiple sizes. The left part is a common rail, used again for each size. I generally make a set of 3 sizes. Can be made in fine sett or standard sett. The pin spacing for fine sett triangle looms is 1/4" on the side rails, appx. 3/8" on the hypotenuse. Standard sett trilooms have 3/8" spacing on the side rails, appx. 1/2" on the hypotenuse.
This is the joining bracket of the Hideaway triloom hypotenuse.
A complete Hideaway hypotenuse set. The possible sizes are 7', 6.5', & 6' for this large set, a Medium set would include 4.5', 5', and 5.25' sizes. The common hypotenuse rail is identical for the large and medium sets. I could make a Hideaway triangle loom with just one or two sizes, also could make a Hideaway hytpotenuse of just one piece but that longer piece would complicate shipping. The side rails, not shown here, are usable also as Hideaway modular rectangle loom side rails. See the Rectangle Loom page.
This shows the connection at the right corner of a 7' standard sett Hideaway triloom. The hypotenuse joins to the side rail with a carriage bolt and wingnut. The corner pin has a triangle mark stamped in the wood on the side rail. The purpose of the extra 5 pins past the triangle corner is for possible use as a rectangle loom. The pins could be removed.
The same loom set, at the 6.5' setting. The main drawback of this design: The two side rail ends sticking upwards and outwards. On a 'pinwheel' type adjustable loom you would have more ends sticking out in more places. Now if you weave with the point down, that orientation would be different. On the medium Hideaway triloom set, the side rails are shorter, so you would have rail ends no longer than this. The loom pictured has side rail extensions added to get the length needed for a 7' triloom. You can see part of the fastener at the bottom left. When the extension is removed, the shorter side rails are the right size for the medium Hideaway triloom set, and have the holes and marks already in place in case you wanted to get a medium set later on.
It is possible for me to make the side rails for the large set one-piece, but then the packaging is harder and the shipping cost more for longer pieces. Using the two-piece side rails for the large trilooms lets the entire set fit in a 4' box, and gives the customer the option of re-using the rails for smaller looms too.
Labeling pin loom spacing size.
It has been customary to label a triloom 'sett' by the spacing between the pins on the hypotenuse. On a triangle loom, the pin spacing on the hypotenuse (long side of the right triangle) has to be of a wider space than the side spacing. There is the same number of pins on all 3 sides of a triangle, so the long side has to be spaced out more.
On a rectangle or square loom, the pin spacing is the same on all 4 sides, so you would label the sett by that spacing. On my Hideaway system where parts can interchange between triangle, square, and rectangle, I have started using the side rail spacing of a triangle to name the size. So a .375 Hideaway triangle loom has 3/8" spacing on the sides and appx. 1/2" (standard sett) spacing on the hypotenuse. Not .375 spacing on the hypotenuse. The parts of a .375 rectangle loom could match up. A fine sett Hideaway triangle loom has .250" spacing on the sides rails, the same as a .250 Hideaway square or rectangle loom.
It is complicated enough, so to keep it simple, I make for sale in my Etsy shop the coarser .375 standard sett Hideaway triangle looms. As shown below, a weaver can double up to get a finer weave. You can order from me the rectangle end rails to make up a .375 rectangle loom. I can add these parts to an Etsy listing for you upon request, or you could order them later. There are so many size options, email for info.
My policy is to make for sale on Etsy the finer spaced .250" Hideaway modular rectangle looms. You could have me add the fine sett .250" Hideaway triloom hypotenuse or hypotenuse set to the listing, or you could order it later. I feel that for a rectangle loom, this 1/4" spacing is best. For one thing, this spacing isn't being sold by a loom maker I know of. Also, it would be hard to 'double up' as the weaving is more complex. I know of a weaver who skipped every other pin on her Hideaway .250 rectangle loom with very bulky yarn with good results. You still can get triangle or rectangle looms with both spacings, but I am promoting the coarser sett triangles and the finer sett rectangles and squares.
Doubling up when triloom weaving
Experienced weavers can do anything on a standard (1/2") sett triloom that can be done on a fine sett loom. I you move a loop back to the pin used on the previous loop, that is doubling. If you put two loops on each pin, you would have twice as many strands. If you only doubled on every-other pin, you would have exactly the same strand spacing as a fine sett loom.
Single weave on standard sett loom. The yarn is a fine handspun fingering mohair yarn.
Double weave on same loom with same yarn. Each pin ends up with two loops on it. You weave normally, but when you have a loop done, you can put it back on the last pin and straighten the weaving accordingly. The next loop will stay on its pins, then the nex one will join it. Both weavings are pictured while still on the loom. You can see where the yarns can be evened out better before weaving is removed from loom.
Formula for figuring yardage on a triangle loom.
Multiply the length of the hypotenuse (long side) times the number of pins on one side. There are the same number of pins on each side, so it doesn't matter which side. That will give you the length of yarn needed. If the measurement of the long side is in feet, you can divide the result by 3 to get the length in yards. If that length is in inches, divide by 36 to get yards.
My triangle CSW instructions pdf file
Do It Yourself Tips
A triangle loom needs to have an equal nr. of nails on all 3 sides. Count the corner nails when counting each side. The spacing on the long (hypotenuse) side is greater than the two short sides. For a standard 1/2inch sett, you can use 3/8" spacing for the short sides, then 17/32" for the long side. This is a little more than 1/2", but this is the exact ratio you need to make it work.
You can use a rule with 1/16ths of an inch markings, and make your marks on the rule halfway between the 16ths, and get the exact marks you need for the hypotenuse. If you get a 4' aluminum rule, it will have measurements on both edges, and you can have the 3/8" marks on the other edge. I have holes drilled in a rule like this for both 3/8 and 17/32", but you can just mark the points with a fine sharpee.
There are many ways to join wood to make the triangle. If you make the marks or holes before you join the wood, it is easier to figure out where to cut the wood. This lets you put the row of nails right where you want on the rails, getting the row of nails as close as you want to the edge. Getting the correct number of nails and the correct spacing is more important than getting the exact angle of the triangles, but with the spacting ratio shown above, the angles will turn out right.
Triloom or Rectangle loom tripod easel stands.
I will have any completed stands on Etsy. www.etsy.com/shop/RogersLooms These are made of pine or fir wood. The price there is $115.00 plus $25.00 shipping. Etsy has a flat rate shipping set up, so I have a this shipping cost with my listings. It would be less closer to Arizona where I am, but perhaps more to the east coast. If you contact me, I can try to get a lesser shipping cost. In no case would the shipping be more than the listed Etsy shipping cost. This applies to any item I have listed there. You could email me at rogerslooms@msn.com and I can give discounts for ordering off Etsy, and an additional discount for paying through the mail rather than using PayPal. I may have a duplicate item to sell directly to you and save you money. Both Etsy and PayPal have commissions for their services. If you have found me here, I can sell directly to you. I have lots of repeat customers and excellent feedback records on Ebay and Etsy. I can send a PayPal invoice to you to pay off Etsy, or send you
an email with payment instructions to pay through the mail, off of PayPal and Etsy. I love Etsy, but especially for custom orders, don't have to use them; and some customers would rather buy this way.
The tripod stand set up for use, folded flat for temporary storage, and disassembled for shipping. The toggle blocks can be positioned at 8 separate positions on the front legs. You could have a triangle loom mounted with one block lower or higher to get more than 8 height settings, because a triangle point-down will float to level. The outer toggle tightens on the loom rail like a clamp. The inner block is a spacer that the loom actually sits on. I now include inner blocks of 3/4" and 1 1/4" to accept both style looms I make. Chains fasten the front legs to the back leg, noty visible in these photos. I still use the Hideaway Homestead brand on these. Finished with golden oak MinWax wood finish to protect the wood.
