View source for Loom

{{Short description|Device for weaving textiles}}
{{Other uses}}
{{Distinguish|Knitting machine}}
[[File:Loom 2, Lesbos (Skala Sykamias).jpg|right|250px|thumb|Wooden loom in [[Lesbos]], Greece.]]
[[File:Pedal-driven-weaving-machine.jpg|thumb|A treadle-driven [[Geo. Hattersley|Hattersley & Sons]] Domestic 
Loom, built under licence in 1893, in [[Keighley]], Yorkshire. This loom has a [[flying shuttle]] and [[Dandy loom|automatically rolls up the woven cloth]]; it is not just controlled but powered by the pedals.]]

A '''loom''' is a device used to [[weaving|weave]] cloth and [[tapestry]]. The basic purpose of any loom is to hold the [[Warp (weaving)|warp]] threads under [[tension (mechanics)|tension]] to facilitate the interweaving of the [[weft]] threads. The precise shape of the loom and its mechanics may vary, but the basic function is the same.

==Etymology and usage==
The word "loom" derives from the [[Old English]] ''geloma'', formed from ''ge-'' (perfective prefix) and ''loma'', a root of unknown origin; the whole word ''geloma'' meant a utensil, tool, or machine of any kind.  In 1404 "lome" was used to mean a machine to enable weaving thread into cloth.<ref>{{oed | loom}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=loom|title=loom - Origin and meaning of loom by Online Etymology Dictionary|website=www.etymonline.com}}</ref>{{failed verification|date=February 2022}}
By 1838 "loom" had gained the additional meaning of a machine for interlacing thread.{{cn|date=February 2022}}

==Components and actions==
{{see also|Weaving|Textile manufacturing terminology}}

===Basic structure===
<imagemap align=left>
File:Simple_treadle_floorloom,_line_drawing.png|thumb|upright=1.5|left|A simple treadle floor loom. Mouse over components for pop-up links. The warp runs horizontally. On the left the warp beam, held from turning by with a weighted trough to keep the warp taut; on the right, the cloth beam (also called a ''breast beam'' on this type of loom), with a [[Ratchet (device)|pawl and ratchet]] to allow the weaver to roll up the fell. In the center, devices for performing the motions of weaving.

poly 735 1063 1335 731 1488 825 1016 1148 [[Lease rods]]
poly 1360 808 1904 553 1921 1152 1399 1437 [[Heddle|Heddles and heddle frames or harness]]
poly 2036 510 1998 1386 2678 812 2614 315 [[Beater (weaving)|Batten bar or beater bar]]
poly 2155 1063 2538 799 2542 888 2164 1161 [[Reed (weaving)|Reed]]
poly 2648 816 2559 922 2627 961 2721 876 [[Shuttle (weaving)|Shuttle]]
poly 1611 1590 1462 1836 2780 2023 2993 1768 [[Treadle]]s
poly 2729 829 2470 1058 2491 1271 2835 969 2831 820 [[Breast beam]]
poly 327 990 336 1186 999 897 1024 799 973 723 [[Warp beam]]

desc bottom-left
</imagemap>

[[File:loomwork.jpg|thumb|Weaving a tapestry on a [[#Tapestry looms|vertical loom]] in [[Konya]], Turkey]]
[[File:Ankara 4P5C4752 (27616736687).jpg|thumb|upright|A Turkish carpet loom showing warp threads wrapped around the warp beam, above, and the fell being wrapped onto the cloth beam below.]]
[[File:Tropenmuseum Royal Tropical Institute Objectnumber 403-150 Toestel voor het vervaardigen van kral.jpg|thumb|A simple handheld frame loom]]

Weaving is done on two sets of threads or yarns, which cross one another. The [[Warp (weaving)|warp]] threads are the ones stretched on the loom (from the [[Proto-Indo-European]] *''[[:wiktionary:warp|werp]]'', "to bend"<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?allowed_in_frame=0&search=warp|title=warp - Search Online Etymology Dictionary|website=www.etymonline.com}}</ref>). Each thread of the [[weft]] (i.e. "that which is woven") is inserted so that it passes over and under the warp threads.

The ends of the warp threads are usually fastened to beams. One end is fastened to one beam, the other end to a second beam, so that the warp threads all lie parallel and are all the same length. The beams are held apart to keep the warp threads taut. 

The textile is woven starting at one end of the warp threads, and progressing towards the other end. The beam on the finished-fabric end is called the ''cloth beam''. The other beam is called the ''warp beam''. 

Beams may be used as rollers to allow the weaver to weave a piece of cloth longer than the loom. As the cloth is woven, the warp threads are gradually unrolled from the warp beam, and the woven portion of the cloth is rolled up onto the cloth beam (which is also called the ''takeup roll''). The portion of the fabric that has already been formed but not yet rolled up on the takeup roll is called the ''fell''. 

Not all looms have two beams. For instance, warp-weighted looms have only one beam; the warp yarns hang from this beam. The bottom ends of the warp yarns are tied to dangling loom weights.

<gallery mode="packed" heights="200">
File:Weaving demonstrated on a historic loom in Leiden.webm|thumbtime=12|Weaving demonstration on an 1830 handloom in the [[Museum Het Leids Wevershuis|weaving museum]] in [[Leiden]]
</gallery>

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===Motions===
[[File:Belarus weaving.jpg|thumb|Passing the [[Shuttle (weaving)|shuttle]] through the shed]]
A loom has to perform three '''principal motions''': shedding, picking, and battening. 

*'''Shedding'''. Shedding is pulling part of the [[warp (weaving)|warp]] threads aside to form a [[shed (weaving)|shed]] (the space between the raised and unraised warp yarns). The shed is the space through which the filling yarn, carried by the shuttle, can be inserted, forming the weft. 
**Sheds may be simple: for instance, lifting all the odd threads and all the even threads alternately produces a [[tabby weave]] (the two sheds are called the shed and countershed). More intricate shedding sequences can produce more complex weaves, such as [[twill weave|twill]].
*'''Picking'''. A single crossing of the weft thread from one side of the loom to the other, through the shed, is known as a pick. Picking is passing the weft through the shed. A new shed is then formed before a new pick is inserted. 
**Conventional shuttle looms can operate at speeds of about 150 to 160 picks per minute.<ref name="Collier 1970 104">{{harvnb|Collier|1970|p=104}}.</ref>
*'''Battening'''. After the pick, the new pass of weft thread has to be tamped up against the fell, to avoid making a fabric with large, irregular gaps between the weft threads. This compression of the weft threads is called battening.

There are also usually two '''secondary motions''', because the newly constructed fabric must be wound onto cloth beam. This process is called taking up. At the same time, the warp yarns must be let off or released from the warp beam, unwinding from it. To become fully automatic, a loom needs a '''tertiary motion''', the filling stop motion. This will brake the loom if the weft thread breaks.<ref name="Collier 1970 104"/> An automatic loom requires 0.125&nbsp;hp to 0.5&nbsp;hp to operate (100W to 400W).

===Components===
A loom, then, usually needs two beams, and some way to hold them apart. It generally has additional components to make shedding, picking, and battening faster and easier. There are also often components to help take up the fell.

The nature of the loom frame and the shedding, picking, and battening devices vary. Looms come in a wide variety of types, many of them specialized for specific types of weaving. They are also specialized for the lifestyle of the weaver. For instance, nomadic weavers tend to use lighter, more portable looms, while weavers living in cramped city dwellings are more likely to use a tall upright loom, or a loom that folds into a narrow space when not in use.

==Shedding methods==
[[File:WEAVING WITH A PIN (cropped).jpg|thumb|upright=1.7|[[Pin weaving]], not using any shedding devices. Note ordinary white plastic hair comb (beneath a red yarn, behind the box), presumably used to beat the warp against the fell.]]
{{main|Shed (weaving)}}
It is possible to weave by manually threading the weft over and under the warp threads, but this is slow. Some tapestry techniques use manual shedding. [[Pin loom]]s and [[peg loom]]s also generally have no shedding devices. [[Pile carpet]]s generally do not use shedding for the pile, because each pile thread is individually knotted onto the warps, but there may be shedding for the weft holding the carpet together.

Usually weaving uses shedding devices. These devices pull some of the warp threads to each side, so that a shed is formed between them, and the weft is passed through the shed. There are a variety of methods for forming the shed. At least two sheds must be formed, the shed and the countershed. Two sheds is enough for [[tabby weave]]; more complex weaves, such as [[twill weave]]s, [[satin weave]]s, [[diaper weave]]s, and figured (picture-forming) weaves, require more sheds.

===Heddle-bar and shed-rod===
[[File:Lisses du métier à tisser.jpg|thumb|Heddle-rod, laid across the warp threads, and tied to every other thread with short lengths of string. Tapestry loom, France, 2018]]

Heddle-rods and shedding-sticks are not the fastest way to weave, but they are very simple to make, needing only sticks and yarn. They are often used on vertical<ref name="handson">{{cite web |last1=Najeeb |first1=Hana |title=Hands On Heritage - Navajo Loom and Backstrap Weaving |work=Medium |date=22 December 2023 |url=https://medium.com/@2020ug020/hands-on-heritage-8e158c08b77c |access-date=3 December 2024}}</ref> and backstrap looms.<ref name="Samnoble_backstrap"/> They allow the creation of elaborate supplementary-weft [[brocade]]s.<ref name="Samnoble_backstrap"/> They are also used on modern tapestry looms; the frequent changing of weft colour in tapestry makes weaving tapestry slow, so using faster, more complex shedding systems isn't worthwhile. The same is true of looms for handmade [[knotted-pile carpet]]; hand-knotting each pile thread to the warp takes far more time than weaving a couple of weft threads to hold the pile in place.

At its simplest, a heddle-bar is simply a stick placed across the warp and tied to individual warp threads. It is not tied to ''all'' of the warp threads; for a plain [[tabby weave]], it is tied to every other thread. The little loops of string used to tie the wraps to the heddle bar are called ''heddles'' or ''leashes''. When the heddle-bar is pulled perpendicular to the warp, it pulls the warp threads it is tied to out of position, creating a shed.

{|width="25%" align="right" border="1" cellpadding="5" cellspacing="5"
| align="center" style="background:#e7dac1"|{{lang|en|'''Elements of a warp-weighted loom'''}}
|-
|align="right" valign="top"|[[File:Métier vertical à pesons 2.jpg|400px]]
|-
|align="left" width=60%|A warp-weighted loom with a single heddle bar. See body text for labels.
|}

A [[warp-weighted loom]] (see diagram) typically uses a heddle-bar, or several. It has two upright ''posts'' (C); they support a horizontal ''beam'' (D), which is cylindrical so that the finished cloth can be rolled around it, allowing the loom to be used to weave a piece of cloth taller than the loom, and preserving an ergonomic working height. The warp threads (F, and A and B) hang from the beam and rest against the ''shed rod'' (E). The ''heddle-bar'' (G) is tied to some of the warp threads (A, but not B), using loops of string called ''leashes'' (H). So when the heddle rod is pulled out and placed in the forked sticks protruding from the posts (not lettered, no technical term given in citation), the ''shed'' (1) is replaced by the ''counter-shed'' (2). By passing the weft through the shed and the counter-shed, alternately, cloth is woven.<ref name="Pakenham"/>

Several heddle-bars can be used side-by-side; three or more can be used to weave [[twill weave]]s, for instance.

[[File:SantaMariadelRio145.webm|thumb|upright=2|Using a heddle bar (tied with black and white heddles) and a shedding stick (plain wood, just above the heddle-bar). '''See subtitles for a step-by-step.''' The wide, flat stick is a sword batten; it is inserted lengthwise into each shed, and used to ''clear'' the shed, get it wide open and smooth, and to batten.<ref name="Samnoble_backstrap">{{cite web |title=Backstrap Looms |url=https://samnoblemuseum.ou.edu/collections-and-research/ethnology/mayan-textiles/weaving-technology/backstrap-looms/ |website=Sam Noble Museum |date=7 November 2014 |access-date=3 December 2024}}</ref> Weaving a silk [[rebozo]] with a dyed-warp pattern on a backstrap loom, [[Taller Escuela de Rebocería]] in [[Santa María del Río, San Luis Potosí]], Mexico.]]

There are also other ways to create counter-sheds. A shed-rod is simpler and easier to set up than a heddle-bar, and can make a counter-shed. A shed-rod (shedding stick, shed roll) is simply a stick woven through the warp threads. When pulled perpendicular to the threads (or rotated to stand on edge, for wide, flat shedding rods), it creates a counter shed. The combination of a heddle-bar and a shedding-stick can create the shed and countershed needed for a plain tabby weave, as in the video.

There are also slitted heddle-rods, which are sawn partway through, with evenly-placed slits. Each warp thread goes in a slit. The odd-numbered slits are at 90 degrees to the even slits. The rod is rotated back and forth to create the shed and countershed,<ref name="slit heddle bar">{{cite web |author=Luisa |date=29 January 2018 |title=DIY WEAVING LOOM WITH HEDDLE BAR |url=https://whydontyoumakeme.com/diy-weaving-loom-with-heddle-bar/ |website=Why Don't You Make Me? |access-date=3 December 2024}}</ref>  so it is often large-diameter.<ref>{{cite web |title=HOW TO WARP A FRAME LOOM WITH A HEDDLE BAR |website=Kaliko |url=https://www.kaliko.co/blogs/articles/how-to-warp-a-frame-loom-with-a-heddle-bar |access-date=3 December 2024 |language=en}}</ref>

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===Tablet weaving===
{{main|tablet weaving}}
[[File:Tablet-weaving.svg|thumb|upright=1.2|Simple one-tablet weaving]]
[[Tablet weaving]] uses cards punched with holes. The warp threads pass through the holes, and the cards are twisted and shifted to created varied sheds. This shedding technique is used for [[narrow work]]. It is also used to finish edges, weaving decorative selvage bands instead of hemming.

===Rotating-hook heddles===
{{main|Darning loom}}
[[File:Spede+Weve+Miniature+Loom+Model+1+Instructions (cropped to illustration).jpg|thumb|alt=A tiny loom with a heddle made of rotating hooks.|Darning loom with hook heddle]]
There are heddles made of flip-flopping rotating hooks, which raise and lower the warp, creating [[shed (weaving)|sheds]]. The hooks, when vertical, have the weft threads looped around them horizontally. If the hooks are flopped over on side or another, the loop of weft twists, raising one or the other side of the loop, which creates the [[shed (weaving)|shed]] and countershed.<ref>{{cite web |title=Darning Mini Wooden Loom Machine |url=https://www.miupie.com/Darning-Mini-Wooden-Loom-Machine-p3176174.html |website=Miupie |language=en}} (commercial site, but with animation showing how it works), {{cite web |last1=Morley |first1=Jasmin |title=Darning Loom Instructions |url=https://purlandfriends.com/blogs/news/darning-loom-instructions |website=Purl and Friends |access-date=7 January 2023 |date=8 September 2022}}, {{cite web |first1=Allison |last1=[not given] |title=Darning loom |url=https://ontheneedles.com/tag/darning-loom/ |website=On the Needles |date=27 December 2021 |access-date=7 January 2023 |language=en}}, {{cite web |title=How To Use A 1940s "Speed weve" Darner [repost of original 1940s instruction manual]|url=https://ragandmagpie.co.uk/blog/how-to-use-a-1940s-speede-weve |website=Rag & Magpie |date=16 April 2014 |access-date=9 December 2022}}</ref>
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===Rigid heddles===
[[File:WARP-FACED TAPE ON A RIGID HEDDLE.jpg|thumb|upright=1|alt=A rigid heddle. Widthwise slots do not quite reach either long edge, and a row of small circular holes lies between the slots, along the lengthwise midline. Warp threads pass through both slots and round holes. It heddle is carved from a solid wood plank. The long sides have a protruding triangular area, making the heddle hexagonal; the top and bottoms points are surmounted by flat knobs. The triangular areas have simple, rough incised carving.|A rigid heddle on a backstrap [[inkle loom]], unspanned.]]

Rigid [[heddle]]s are generally used on single-shaft looms. Odd warp threads go through the slots, and even ones through the circular holes, or vice versa. The shed is formed by lifting the heddle, and the countershed by depressing it. The warp threads in the slots stay where they are, and the ones in the circular holes are pulled back and forth. A single rigid heddle can hold all the warp threads, though sometimes multiple rigid heddles are used.

Treadles may be used to drive the rigid heddle up and down.
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===Non-rigid heddles===
<gallery mode=packed>
File:QSMM Heald making 2623sc.JPG|String healds, with a small eyelet called a mail in the middle of the red section, and larger lops on either side
File:QSMM Drawing-in 2653.JPG|Very similar healds, with the wooden staves threaded through them top and bottom, and the warp threads in the process of being ''drawn in'' (that is, threaded through the eyes of the healds)
File:Solv med öga.svg|How healds can thread onto staves and the warp threads (Swedish caption shows eye, and warp thread)
File:QSMM Pemberton loom 2581c.JPG|Wire healds on wire staves. A few extra healds have not had warp threads drawn in through them.
File:Heddle4.jpg|A variety of metal healds, made from wire and straps 
</gallery>
[[File:BogolanMali32.JPG|thumb|upright=1.5|This counterbalance loom has two string heddles, connected via a pulley overhead so that they rise and fall alternately. They are operated by treadles. Each treadle is a [[button#toggle|toggle]] on a string, held in the weaver's toes. He is making a simple [[tabby-weave]] cloth, [[bogolan]].]]

Rigid heddles or (above) are called "rigid" to distinguish them from string and wire heddles. Rigid heddles are one-piece, by non-rigid ones are multi-piece. Each warp thread has its own heald (also, confusingly, called a heddle). The heald has an eyelet at each end (for the staves, also called shafts) and one in the middle, called the mail, (for the warp thread). A row of these healds is slid onto two staves, the upper and lower staves; the staves together, or the staves together with the healds, may be called a ''heald frame'', which is, confusingly, also called a shaft and a harness.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Wood |first1=Errol |title=Wool Processing |via=Woolwise |url=https://www.woolwise.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/WOOL-482-582-12-T-11.pdf |access-date=4 December 2024 |chapter=11. Weaving technologies and structures}}</ref> Replaceable, interchangeable healds can be smaller, allowing finer weaves.

Unlike a rigid heddle, a flexible heddle cannot push the warp thread. This means that two heald frames are needed even for a plain [[tabby weave]]. [[Twill weave]]s require three or more heald frames (depending on the type of twill), and more complex figured weaves require still more frames. 

The different heald frames must be controlled by some mechanism, and the mechanism must be able to pull them in both directions. They are mostly controlled by treadles; creating the shed with the feet leaves the hands free to ply the shuttle. However in some tabletop looms, heald frames are also controlled by levers.<ref name="tableloom">{{cite web |title=Learn to weave on the Brooklyn Four Shaft Loom |publisher=Ashford |url=https://www.ashford.co.nz/images/download_pdfs/learn_to/learn_to_weave_brooklyn_four_shaft_loom.pdf |access-date=3 December 2024}}</ref>{{better source needed|date=December 2024}}

====Treadle-controlled looms====
In treadle looms, the weaver controls the shedding with their feet, by treading on [[treadle]]s. Different treadles and combinations of treadles produce different sheds. The weaver must remember the sequence of treadling needed to produce the pattern.

The precise mechanism by which the treadles control the heddles varies. Rigid-heddle treadle looms do exist, but the heddles are usually flexible. Sometimes, the treadles are tied directly to the staves (with a Y-shaped bridle so they stay level). Alternately, they may be tied to a stick called a ''lamm'', which in turn is tied to the stave, to make the motion more controlled and regular. The lamm may pivot or slide.

[[Counterbalance loom]]s are the most common type of treadle loom globally, as they are simple and give a smooth, quiet, quick motion.<ref name="glim_types"/> The heald frames are joined together in pairs, by a cord running over heddle pulleys or a heddle roller. When one heald frame rises, the other falls. It takes a pair of treadles to control a pair of frames. Counterbalance looms are usually used with two or four frames, though some have as many as ten.<ref name="glim_types"/> 

In theory each pair of heald frames has to have an equal number to warps pulled by each frame, so the patterns that can be made on them are limited.<ref name="ask_Madelyn"/> <!--although the number of sheds can be increased by adding heddle sticks and shedding sticks as supplementary shedding devices.{{cn}}--> In practice, fairly unbalanced tie-ups just make the shed a bit smaller, and as the shed on a counterbalance loom is adjustable in size and quite large to start with (compared to other types of loom), so it is entirely possible to weave good cloth on a counterbalance loom with unbalanced heald frames,<ref name="js_diff_types">{{cite web |title=Different types of looms – Jane Stafford Textiles |url=https://janestaffordtextiles.com/knowledge-base/different-types-of-looms/ |website=janestaffordtextiles.com |access-date=3 December 2024}}</ref><ref name="glim_types"/> unless the loom is extremely shallow (that is, the length of warp being pulled on is short, less than 1 meter or 3 feet), which exacerbates the slightly uneven tension.<ref name="glim_types"/> Limited patterns are not, of course, a disadvantage when weaving plainer patterns, such as tabbies and twills.

[[Jack loom]]s (also called single-tieup-looms and  rising-shed looms<ref name="JackloomsP1"/>), have their treadles connected to jacks, levers that push or pull the heald frames up; the harnesses are weighted to fall back into place by gravity. Several frames can be connected to a single treadle. Frames can also be raised by more than one treadle. This allows treadles to control arbitrary [[combination]]s of frames, which vastly increases the number of different sheds that can be created from the same number of frames. Any number of treadles can also be engaged at once, meaning that the number of different sheds that can be selected is two [[to the power of]] the number of treadles. Eight is a large but reasonable number of treadles, giving a maximum of 2<sup>8</sup>=256 sheds (some of which will probably not have enough threads on one side to be useful).{{Cn|date=December 2024}} Having more possible sheds allows more complex patterns,<ref name="ask_Madelyn"/><ref name="JackloomsP1">{{cite web |last1=Joanne |first1=Hall |title=Jack Looms - part 1 |url=https://fiberarts.org/design/articles/jackloom1.html |website=Fiberarts.org |publisher=Fiber Arts |access-date=3 December 2024 |date=30 May 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190530012643/https://fiberarts.org/design/articles/jackloom1.html |archive-date=30 May 2019 }}</ref> such as [[diaper weave]]s.{{cn|date=January 2025}}

Jack looms are easy to make and to tie up (if not quite as easy as counterbalance looms). The gravity return makes jack looms heavy to operate. The shed of a jack loom is smaller for a given length of warp being pulled aside by the heddles (loom depth). The warp threads being pulled up by the jacks are also tauter than the other warp threads (unlike a counter balance loom, where the threads are pulled an equal amount in opposite directions). Uneven tension makes weaving evenly harder. It also lowers the maximum tension at which one can practically weave.<ref name="ask_Madelyn"/><ref name="JackloomsP1"/> If the threads are rough, closely-spaced, very long or numerous, it can be hard to open the sheds on the jack loom.<ref name="JackloomsP1"/> Jack looms without castles (the superstructure above the weft) have to lift the heald frames from below, and are noiser due to the impact of wood on wood; [[elastomer]] pads can reduce the noise.<ref name="glim_types"/>

[[File:Schloss Heubach, historischer Handwebstuhl im Miedermuseum.jpg|thumb|upright=2.5|A countermarch loom, with upper staves attached to the outer ends of the jacks, above. Below the heddles, there are two rows of lamms. The inner ends of the jacks are tied, in bridled pairs, to the upper lamms, which are tied to the treadles. The lower lamms are tied to the bottom staves and to the treadles. The roles of the upper and lower lamms may be swapped.<ref name="xeniakis"/>]]

In [[countermarch loom]]s, the treadles are tied to lamms,<ref name="xeniakis">{{cite web |last1=XENAKIS |first1=DAVID |title=ABOUT TYING UP A COUNTERMARCH LOOM |url=https://www.weaversschool.com/docs/Countermarch.pdf |access-date=3 December 2024}}</ref><ref name="ask_Madelyn">{{cite web |last1=van der Hoogt |first1=Madelyn |title=Ask Madelyn: Jack Looms and Counterbalance Looms |url=https://handwovenmagazine.com/looms/ |publisher=Handwoven Magazine |access-date=3 December 2024 |language=en}}</ref> which may pivot at one end or slide up and down.<ref>{{cite web |title=Different types of looms – Jane Stafford Textiles |url=https://janestaffordtextiles.com/knowledge-base/different-types-of-looms/ |website=janestaffordtextiles.com |access-date=3 December 2024}}</ref> Half of the lamms in turn connect to jacks, which also pivot, and push or pull the staves up or down.<ref name="xeniakis"/> Some countermarches have two horizontal jacks per shaft, others a single vertical jack.<ref name="glim_types"/> Each treadle is tied to ''all'' of the heald frames, moving some of them up and the rest of them down.<ref name="glim_types">{{cite web |title=Types of Looms {{!}} Learning About Looms |url=https://www.glimakrausa.com/types-of-looms/ |website=Glimakra USA |access-date=3 December 2024 |language=en}}</ref> This allows the complex [[combination|combinatorial]] treadles of a jack loom, with the large shed and balanced, even tension of a counterbalance loom, with its quiet, light operation. Unfortunately, countermarch looms are more complex, harder to build, slower to tie up,<ref name="xeniakis"/><ref name="ask_Madelyn"/><ref name="glim_types"/> and more prone to malfunction.<ref name="xeniakis"/><ref name="treadle_diagrams">{{cite web |title=Counterbalance Loom, Jack-Type loom, Countermarch loom and NEW Jack-Type loom with back hinge treadle: TECHNICAL INFORMATIONS |url=http://www.leclerclooms.com/cont.htm |website=www.leclerclooms.com |publisher=LeClerc Looms |access-date=4 December 2024}}</ref>
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====Figure harness and the drawloom====
{{anchor|Drawloom|Figure harness}}
[[File:高機模様裂-Textile fragment with incomplete repeating pattern of loom, weaver, and drawboy MET DP11389.jpg|thumb|Drawloom, with drawboy above to control the harnesses, woven as a repeating pattern in an early-18-hundreds piece of Japanese figured silk.]]
A drawloom is for weaving figured cloth. In a drawloom, a "figure harness" is used to control each warp thread separately,{{sfn|Burnham|1980|p=48}} allowing very complex patterns. A drawloom requires two operators, the weaver, and an assistant called a "drawboy" to manage the figure harness.

The earliest confirmed drawloom fabrics come from the [[Chu (state)|State of Chu]] and date c. 400 BC.<ref name="broudy 1979 124">{{harvnb|Broudy|1979|p=124}}.</ref> Some scholars speculate an independent invention in ancient [[Syria]], since drawloom fabrics found in [[Dura-Europas]] are thought to date before 256 AD.<ref name="broudy 1979 124"/>{{sfn|Forbes|1987|pp=218, 220}} The draw loom was invented in China during the Han dynasty ([[State of Liu]]?);{{contradictory inline|reason=that was two centuries later, minimum|date=January 2023}}<ref name="auto">{{Cite book |title=Explorations in the History of Machines and Mechanisms: Proceedings of HMM2012 (History of Mechanism and Machine Science) |url=https://archive.org/details/explorationshist00moon |url-access=limited |last1= Ceccarelli |first1= Marco |last2=López-Cajún |first2=Carlos  |year=2012 |publisher=Springer |pages=[https://archive.org/details/explorationshist00moon/page/n226 219]–220 |isbn=978-9400799448}}</ref> foot-powered multi-harness looms and jacquard looms were used for silk weaving and embroidery, both of which were cottage industries with imperial workshops.<ref>{{Cite book |title=A History of Mechanical Inventions |last= Usher |first= Abbott Payson |year=2011 |publisher= Dover Publications |page=54 |isbn=978-0486255934}}</ref> The drawloom enhanced and sped up the production of silk and played a significant role in Chinese silk weaving. The loom was introduced to Persia, India, and Europe.<ref name="auto"/>

====Dobby head====
[[File:Hand loom Weaving in Hooghly District 17.jpg|thumb|upright=2|Dobby-loom control mechanism. The pegs driven into the bars (hung in a loop on the left) each lift one "treadle" in a pre-determined pattern, like lifting the teeth of a [[music box]]. Hooghly District, West Bengal, 2019]]
{{main|dobby loom}}
A dobby head is a device that replaces the drawboy, the weaver's helper who used to control the warp threads by pulling on draw threads. "Dobby" is a corruption of "draw boy". Mechanical dobbies pull on the draw threads using pegs in bars to lift a set of levers. The placement of the pegs determines which levers are lifted. The sequence of bars (they are strung together) effectively remembers the sequence for the weaver. Computer-controlled dobbies use [[solenoid]]s instead of pegs.

====Jacquard head====
{{main|Jacquard loom}}
The '''Jacquard loom''' is a mechanical loom, invented by [[Joseph Marie Jacquard]] in 1801, which simplifies the process of manufacturing figured textiles with complex patterns such as [[Brocade (fabric)|brocade]], [[damask]], and [[matelasse]].<ref>{{cite book |first=Eric |last=Hobsbawm |title=The Age of Revolution |location=London |publisher=Abacus |orig-year=1962 |date=2008 |page=45}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.christinalynn.com/fabric-glossary.shtml |title=Fabric Glossary |work=Christina Lynn |access-date=21 November 2008 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090105170019/http://www.christinalynn.com/fabric-glossary.shtml |archive-date=5 January 2009 }}</ref> The loom is controlled by [[punched card]]s with punched holes, each row of which corresponds to one row of the design. Multiple rows of holes are punched on each card and the many cards that compose the design of the textile are strung together in order. It is based on earlier inventions by the Frenchmen [[Basile Bouchon]] (1725), Jean Baptiste Falcon (1728), and [[Jacques Vaucanson]] (1740).{{sfn|Razy|1913|p=120}} To call it a loom is a misnomer. A Jacquard head could be attached to a power loom or a handloom, the head controlling which warp thread was raised during shedding. Multiple shuttles could be used to control the colour of the weft during picking. The Jacquard loom is the predecessor to the [[Punched card input/output|computer punched card reader]]s of the 19th and 20th centuries.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Geselowitz |first1=Michael N.|title=The Jacquard Loom: A Driver of the Industrial Revolution|url=http://theinstitute.ieee.org/tech-history/technology-history/the-jacquard-loom-a-driver-of-the-industrial-revolution|work=The Institute: The IEEE news source |date=18 July 2016 |publisher=IEEE |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180401074908/http://theinstitute.ieee.org/tech-history/technology-history/the-jacquard-loom-a-driver-of-the-industrial-revolution|archive-date=1 April 2018 |access-date=31 March 2018|url-status=dead}}</ref>

<gallery>
File:Loom.jpg|The punched-card control mechanism of a [[Jacquard loom]] in use in 2009, [[Varanasi]], [[Uttar Pradesh]], India.
File:JacquardLoomsSAFALodzPoland.jpg|Hand operated Jacquard looms in the Textile Department of the Strzemiński Academy of Fine Arts in [[Łódź]], Poland.
File:JacquardWeavingPoland.jpg| Battening on a Jacquard loom in Łódź.
File:Industry during the First World War- Leicestershire Q28124.jpg|A female worker changing jacquard cards in a lace machine in a Nottingham factory (1918).
File:Indian boy and looms.jpg|Boy next to two weaving looms with the weaving pattern on reams of paper (India).
File:PunchingJacquardCardPoland.jpg|Following the pattern, holes are punched in the appropriate places on a Jacquard card.
File:Telar manual y máquina de Jacquard 12.jpg|Manual loom with double width and Jacquard loom, Colegio del Arte Mayor de la Seda of Valencia.
File:Masson Mills WTM 13 Hattersley Jacquard 5976.JPG|The Jacquard cards control the heads on a loom.
</gallery>

==Picking (weft insertion)==
{{anchor|Weft insertion|picking}}

[[File:Lautanauha weaving.jpg|thumb|Shuttleless tablet weaving, Finland ([[:File:Lautanauha pattern change.JPG|image of finished band]]).]]
<!--[[File:History of Inventions USNM 30 Shuttle.png|thumb|A selection of shuttles.]]-->
The weft may be passed across the shed as a ball of yarn, but usually this is too bulky and unergonomic. Shuttles are designed to be slim, so they pass through the shed; to carry a lot of yarn, so the weaver does not need to refill them too often; and to be an ergonomic size and shape for the particular weaver, loom, and yarn. They may also be designed for low friction.

===Stick shuttles===
====Unnotched stick shuttles====
At their simplest, these are just sticks wrapped with yarn. They may be specially shaped, as with the bobbins and bones used in tapestry-making (bobbins are used on vertical warps, and bones on horizontal ones).<ref>{{cite web |title=Tapestry Weaving with Soumak |url=https://betweenandetc.com/product/tapestry-weaving-with-soumak/ |website=Between and Etc.}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Churchill Candee |first1=Helen |title=The Tapestry Book |date=1912 |publisher=Fredrick A. Stokes |edition=The Project Gutenberg eBook [EBook #26151] |url=https://www.gutenberg.org/files/26151/26151-h/26151-h.htm}}</ref>
<gallery mode="packed">
File:Greekurnwithweavers (cropped to warp-weighted loom).jpg|Shuttles are passed, not thrown, through [[warp-weighted loom]]s. These Ancient Greek weavers have a yarn-wrapped stick.<ref name=Pakenham>Article describing the experimental reconstruction of the 6th-7th century [http://suffolkinstitute.pdfsrv.co.uk/customers/Suffolk%20Institute/2014/01/10/Volume%20XXXIX%20Part%203%20(1999)_Anglo-Saxon%20loom%20from%20Pakenham%20Suffolk%20S%20J%20Plunkett_273%20to%20298.pdf#search=loom Anglo-Saxon warp-weighted loom from Pakenham, Suffolk]</ref>
File:Rea-Menzies in studio.jpg|Tapestry bobbins are used on vertical-warp looms.
File:Nécessaire du licier (haute lice).jpg|Tapestry bobbins, empty and full
Principaux outils de la tapisserie de basse lisse sur le métier à tisser (flûtes, grattoir, peigne, poinçon).jpg|Tapestry bones are used on horizontal-warp looms
File:Chantier de fouilles à Morigny-Champigny en juin 2012 24 (cropped to bones).jpg|Tapestry bones actually made from [[cannonbone]]s (those in the last image are wooden)
File:Dhaka weaving machine.JPG|Paper quills (paper bobbins) used as tapestry bones in [[Dhaka]], Bangladesh.
</gallery>

===Notched stick shuttles, rag shuttles, and ski shuttles===

<gallery mode="packed">
File:Navette tess.JPG|
<!--File:Abydos-Bold-hieroglyph-V27.png|Shuttle hieroglyph-->
File:RugMakingWomanPassesShuttle (cropped).jpg|Stick shuttles must be passed, not thrown, which is inconvenient for wide warps. 
File:Chantier de fouilles à Morigny-Champigny en juin 2012 20.jpg|Belt or band shuttle, a short shuttle used for inkle weaving. This extra-sturdy shuttle is also used at a batten, to beat the newly woven weft against the previously woven fell.<ref name=schacht>{{cite web |title=Choosing the Right Shuttle for the Job |url=https://schachtspindle.com/blog/choosing-the-right-shuttle-for-the-job/ |website=Schacht Spindle Company |date=20 December 2021}}</ref>
File:Weaving tool (AM 8823-1).jpg|Netting shuttle.<ref name=stickflatrag>{{cite magazine |last1=Moncreif |first1=Liz |title=Choosing and Using Shuttles: Stick Shuttles, Flat Shuttles, and Rag Shuttles |url=https://handwovenmagazine.com/choosing-and-using-shuttles-stick-shuttles-flat-shuttles-and-rag-shuttles/ |magazine=Handwoven Magazine |access-date=12 January 2023 |language=en}}</ref> Also used for [[Net (textile)|netting]].
File:Väv, Mattgarnsskyttel.jpg|Ski shuttle.<ref name=rugski>{{cite magazine |last1=Moncreif |first1=Liz |title=Choosing and Using Shuttles: Rug and Ski |url=https://handwovenmagazine.com/choosing-and-using-shuttles-rug-and-ski/ |magazine=Handwoven Magazine |access-date=12 January 2023 |language=en}}</ref>
Weavers at work LOC 2163450764 (cropped to rag shuttle).jpg|A rag shuttle has two skis; it is used for weaving strips of rag into carpets, whence the name.<ref name=stickflatrag/>
File:Stick shuttles.jpg|Stick shuttles wound in a figure-of-eight.
</gallery>

===Boat shuttles===
Boat shuttles may be closed (central hollow with a solid bottom) or open (central hole goes right through). The yarn may be side-feed or end-feed.<ref name=boat>{{cite magazine  |last1=Moncreif |first1=Liz |title=Choosing and Using Shuttles—Boat Shuttles, Bobbins, and Quills |url=https://handwovenmagazine.com/choosing-and-using-shuttles-boat-shuttles-bobbins-and-quills/ |magazine=Handwoven Magazine |access-date=12 January 2023 |language=en}}</ref><ref name=endboat>{{cite web |last1=Moncreif |first1=Liz |title=Choosing and Using Shuttles: Double-Bobbin Boat Shuttles and End-Feed Shuttles |url=https://handwovenmagazine.com/choosing-and-using-shuttles-double-bobbin-boat-shuttles-and-end-feed/ |work=Handwoven Magazine  |access-date=12 January 2023 |language=en}}</ref> They are commonly made for 10-cm (4-inch) and 15-cm (6-inch) bobbin lengths.<ref name=woodworks>{{cite web |title=Weaving Shuttles |url=http://blusterbaywoodworks.com/shuttles/ |publisher=Bluster Bay Woodworks}}</ref>

<gallery mode="packed">
File:Väv, Skyttlar.jpg|Top, an open boat shuttle (the other two are closed). Bottom, a Swedish-style asymmetrical shuttle with a paper quill. All are side-feed; the topmost one runs on rollers
File:Rhode Island weaving (51015839030) (square).jpg|Boat shuttle inside the shed. It floats on the lower warp threads. This only works on horizontal looms. [[Rhode Island]], USA.
File:Navettes de métier.JPG|Boats with square-ended recesses are intended for bobbins with end flanges. Other shuttles have round-cornered recesses. They are often intended for use with paper quills (tubes of rolled paper).
File:%D0%A1%D0%BE%D0%BB%D0%BA%D0%B8_1.JPG|Macedonian open shuttles with paper quills.
File:Човники для ткацьких верстатів в етнопарку "Ладомирія" 2.jpg|A collection of open and closed shuttles in Ukraine, some clearly handmade.
File:Balint-napra keszitett kalotaszegi vetelo 1883-bol.jpg|This Transylvanian shuttle was a Valentine's Day gift.
File:মাকো.jpg|These Assamese shuttles, presumably for very fine silk, are slender and do not hold much volume.
File:Shuttle for silk weaving. Khotan, Xinjiang. 2010.jpg|Asymmetric open boat shuttle, [[Khotan]].
File:Bobbins used inside shuttles.JPG|Two end-feed pirns and a side-feed bobbin (bottom)
File:Rebozo-Weberei in San Luis Potosí, Mexico.jpg|Simple closed, side-feed boat shuttle with a paper bobbin, Mexico
File:Shuttle with bobbin.JPG|How the conical pirn loads on an end-feed shuttle.
File:Kangasteljed Vormsi rahvamajas.jpg|Using two shuttles for weft stripes, [[Estonia]]
File:CSM Textiles2.jpg|Weaving with three shuttles
</gallery>

===Flying shuttle===
{{main|Flying shuttle|Narrow cloth}}
<gallery mode="packed">
File:Handloom Telar artesanal Webstuhl 02.ogv|Handloom with a flying shuttle. The shuttle runs in a shuttle race attached to the front of the beater bar. Subtitles describe step-by-step.
File:Narrow shuttle loom.webm|An early fully-automated loom. The arms at the sides can be seen swinging to bash the flying shuttle back and forth. 
File:Jacquard weefgetouw in actie.webm|The automated shuttle moves almost too fast to see
File:QSMM Shuttles 2630ca.JPG|Manufacture of a [[Cornelian cherry|cornelwood]] flying shuttle
File:Großschönau - muzeum damaškové a smyčkové tkaniny 7787.jpg|In the shuttle race.
19C (late) Japanese hand loom with flying shuttle.jpg|Narrow [[tanmono]] loom with a shuttle race. Late 18-hundreds Japan.
</gallery>
Hand weavers who threw a shuttle could only weave [[narrow cloth|a cloth as wide as their armspan]]. If cloth needed to be wider, two people would do the task (often this would be an adult with a child). [[John Kay (flying shuttle)|John Kay]] (1704–1779) patented the [[flying shuttle]] in 1733. The weaver held a picking stick that was attached by cords to a device at both ends of the shed. With a flick of the wrist, one cord was pulled and the shuttle was propelled through the shed to the other end with considerable force, speed and efficiency. A flick in the opposite direction and the shuttle was propelled back. A single weaver had control of this motion but the flying shuttle could weave much wider fabric than an arm's length at much greater speeds than had been achieved with the hand thrown shuttle.

The ''flying shuttle'' was one of the key developments in [[weaving]] that helped fuel the [[Industrial Revolution]]. The whole picking motion no longer relied on manual skill and it was just a matter of time before it could be powered by something other than a human.

[[File:Métier à tisser Jacquard 01.webm|thumb|Jacquard ribbon loom, showing distinctive sliding ribbon shuttles.]]

===Weft insertion in power looms===
[[File:Greifer.JPG|thumb|A [[Picanol]] rapier loom]]
[[File:Computer(tapijten) Weeknummer 66-18 - Open Beelden - 23025.ogv|thumb|Weft insertion at 15 seconds]]
[[File:1906 Toyoda Circular Loom.jpg|thumb|1906 Toyoda circular weaving loom]]
Different types of power looms are most often defined by the way that the weft, or pick, is inserted into the warp. Many advances in weft insertion have been made in order to make manufactured cloth more cost effective. Weft insertion rate is a limiting factor in production speed. {{asof|2010}}, industrial looms can weave at 2,000 [[weft|weft insertion]]s per minute.<ref>{{cite web |first=S. |last=Rajagopalan |title=Advances in Weaving Technology and Looms |publisher=S.S.M. College of Engineering, Komarapalayam |url=http://www.pdexcil.org/news/40N1002/advances.htm |via=Pdexcil.org |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101129031824/http://www.pdexcil.org/news/40N1002/advances.htm |archive-date=29 November 2010 |url-status=dead}}</ref>

There are five main types of weft insertion and they are as follows:
* Shuttle: The first-ever powered looms were shuttle-type looms. Spools of weft are unravelled as the shuttle travels across the shed. This is very similar to projectile methods of weaving, except that the weft spool is stored on the shuttle. These looms are considered obsolete in modern industrial fabric manufacturing because they can only reach a maximum of 300 picks per minute.
* [[Air-jet loom]]: An air-jet loom uses short quick bursts of compressed air to propel the weft through the shed in order to complete the weave. Air jets are the fastest traditional method of weaving in modern manufacturing and they are able to achieve up to 1,500 picks per minute. However, the amounts of compressed air required to run these looms, as well as the complexity in the way the air jets are positioned, make them more costly than other looms. 
* [[Water-jet loom]]: Water-jet looms use the same principle as air-jet looms, but they take advantage of pressurized water to propel the weft. The advantage of this type of weaving is that water power is cheaper where water is directly available on site. Picks per minute can reach as high as 1,000. 
* [[Rapier loom]]: This type of weaving is very versatile, in that rapier looms can weave using a large variety of threads.  There are several types of rapiers, but they all use a hook system attached to a rod or metal band to pass the pick across the shed. These machines regularly reach 700 picks per minute in normal production.
* Projectile: [[Projectile loom]]s utilize an object that is propelled across the shed, usually by spring power, and is guided across the width of the cloth by a series of reeds. The projectile is then removed from the weft fibre and it is returned to the opposite side of the machine so it can be reused. Multiple projectiles are in use in order to increase the pick speed. Maximum speeds on these machines can be as high as 1,050 ppm.
* Circular:  Modern circular looms use up to ten shuttles, driven in a circular motion from below by electromagnets, for the weft yarns, and cams to control the warp threads. The warps rise and fall with each shuttle passage, unlike the common practice of lifting all of them at once. Circular looms are used to create seamless tubes of fabric for products such as hosiery, sacks, clothing, fabric hoses (such as fire hoses) and the like.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.starlinger.com/en/packaging/circular-looms/ |work=Starlinger |title=Circular Looms |access-date=27 June 2016}}</ref>

{{clear}}

==Battening==
{{main|Beater (weaving)}}
[[File:Needle, sword beater, pin beater, and loom weights, Shechem and Dothan, Iron Age I and II, bone or fired clay - Harvard Semitic Museum - Cambridge, MA - DSC06036 (cropped to loom).jpg|thumb|upright|Bone sword beater (2) and adjacent bone pin beater (3), Iron Age, Middle East]]
<gallery mode="packed">
File:Salish Baton.JPG|[[Coast Salish]] sword beater, North American west coast
File:Greekurnwithweavers (cropped to warp-weighted loom).jpg|Sword beaters (or battens) on upright looms are indeed swung like a sword
File:Egypt - Weaving.jpg|Sword beater on an Ancient Egyptian horizontal ground-pegged loom, being held by two people
Weaving in Braga (cropped to weaving).JPG|Weaving comb used for battening, Braga, Portugal
File:QSMM Pemberton loom 2582.JPG|[[Reed (weaving)|Reed beater]] mounted in a beater bar
File:Pettine-liccio.JPG|[[Rigid heddle]]s are a shedding device that can also act as a reed.
</gallery>

The newest weft thread must be beaten against the fell. Battening can be done with a long stick placed in the shed parallel to the weft (a sword batten), a shorter stick threaded between the warp threads perpendicular to warp and weft (a pin batten), a comb, or a reed (a comb with both ends closed, so that it has to be sleyed, that is have the warp threads threaded through it, when the loom is warped). For rigid-heddle looms, the heddle may be used as a reed.

==Secondary motions==
===Dandy mechanism===
{{main|dandy loom}}
Patented in 1802, [[dandy loom]]s automatically rolled up the finished cloth, keeping the fell always the same length. They significantly speeded up hand weaving (still a major part of the textile industry in the 1800s). Similar mechanisms were used in power looms.

===Temples===
[[File:QSMM Butterworth & Dickinson Loom 2681.JPG|thumb|A temple on a loom]]
{{main|temple (weaving)}}
The temples act to keep the cloth from shrinking sideways as it is woven. Some warp-weighted looms had temples made of [[loom weight]]s, suspended by strings so that they pulled the cloth breadthwise.<ref name=Pakenham/> Other looms may have temples tied to the frame, or temples that are hooks with an adjustable shaft between them. Power looms may use temple cylinders.<!--, which have helical grips and act like soft [[worm gears]].accurate?--> Pins can leave a series of holes in the [[selvage]]s (these may be from [[stenter|stenter pin]]s used in post-processing).

==Frames==
Loom frames can be roughly divided, by the orientation of the warp threads, into horizontal looms and vertical looms. There are many finer divisions. Most handloom frame designs can be constructed fairly simply.<ref>{{cite book |url=http://www.cd3wd.com/cd3wd_40/vita/handloom/en/handloom.htm |title=Handloom Construction: A Practical Guide for the Non-Expert |first=Joan |last=Koster |date=1978 |publisher= Volunteers in Technical Assistance, Inc. |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140302081647/http://www.cd3wd.com/cd3wd_40/vita/handloom/en/handloom.htm |archive-date=2 March 2014 |url-status=dead}}</ref>

===Backstrap loom===
The back-strap loom (also known as belt loom)<ref>{{cite journal|last=Kent |first=Kate P.|title=The Cultivation and Weaving of Cotton in the Prehistoric Southwestern United States |journal=Transactions of the American Philosophical Society |volume=47|issue=3 |page=485 |date=1957 |doi=10.2307/1005732 |language=en |jstor=1005732|hdl=2027/mdp.39015017458095 |hdl-access=free }}</ref> is a simple loom with ancient roots, still used in many cultures around the world (as in the weaving of [[Andean textiles]], and in Central, East and South Asia).<ref name="worldbackstrap">{{cite web |last1=Centre |first1=ARTISANS' |title=Around the World: Backstrap and Heddle Loom Weaving |url=https://artisanscentre.com/blogs/heritage-of-handmade/around-the-world-backstrap-and-heddle-loom-weaving |website=ARTISANS' CENTER |access-date=4 December 2024 |date=21 June 2023}}</ref> It consists of two sticks or bars between which the warps are stretched. One bar is attached to a fixed object and the other to the weaver, usually by means of a strap around the weaver's back.<ref name="samnoble_backstrap">{{cite web |title=Backstrap Looms |date=7 November 2014 |url=https://samnoblemuseum.ou.edu/collections-and-research/ethnology/mayan-textiles/weaving-technology/backstrap-looms/ |publisher=Sam Noble Museum |access-date=4 December 2024}}</ref> The weaver leans back and uses their body weight to tension the loom.

Both simple and complex textiles can be woven on backstrap looms. They produce [[narrowcloth]]: width is limited to the weaver's armspan. They can readily produce [[warp-faced]] textiles, often decorated with intricate pick-up patterns woven in complementary and [[supplementary warp]] techniques, and brocading. [[Balanced weave]]s are also possible on the backstrap loom.

<gallery mode="packed" heights="200">
File:Weaving (8263650937).jpg|A loom made of sticks and string. The top endbar is tied to a fixed object using green rope; the lower end bar is attached to a leather strap around the weaver's back. Between, two heddle rods and several shedding rods. The sticks to one side are probably sword beaters. No shuttles or bobbins are being used.
File:T'nalak weaver at Lake Sebu, South Cotabato.jpg|[[T'boli people|T'boli]] dream weavers using two-bar bamboo backstrap looms (''legogong'') to weave [[t'nalak]] cloth from [[abacá]] fiber. One bar is attached to the ceiling of the traditional T'boli longhouse, while the other is attached to the lower back. The cloth is being patterned by [[warp ikat|dying the warp]], so the loom equipment is simple; a heddle rod, a shedding stick, and a batten. She is also using a footrest. Philippines.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Lush |first1=Emily |title=Making of: T'nalak Weaving, Philippines |url=https://www.thetextileatlas.com/craft-stories/tnalak-weaving-philippines |website=The Textile Atlas |date=9 December 2017 |access-date=3 April 2019}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Abaca |url=http://whitechampa.com/craft/abaca/ |website=White Champa |access-date=3 April 2019}}</ref>
File:Traditional weaveing of the Li Ethnic Group.jpg|This [[Hlai people|Hlai]] weaver tensions her traditional backstrap loom with her feet. She is using a large number of slim heddle rods, attached to only a few warp threads; these are sometimes called ''pattern rods''. [[Hainan Island]], Southern [[People's Republic of China]].
File:Vevlærer Edel Hætta Eriksen med båndgrindveving. Kautokeino 1956 - Norsk folkemuseum - NF.05535-221.jpg|A [[Sámi people|Sámi]] weaver doing [[inkle weaving]] on a backstrap loom with a rigid [[heddle]]. She seems to be using a hollow half-bone as a beater and as a race for a bobbin. Norway, 1956.
File:Spjaldvefnadur.png|An Icelandic backstrap loom, 1903. The inkle workpiece is so narrow that no beams are needed; the warp ends are simply tied as one. [[Tablet weaving|Tablet]]s are used for the shedding.
</gallery>

===Warp-weighted loom===
[[File:Warp-weighted loom twill.jpg|thumb|[[Warp-weighted loom]] with three heddle-rods for weaving [[twill]]]]
{{main|Warp-weighted loom}}
The [[warp-weighted loom]] is a vertical loom that may have originated in the [[Neolithic]] period. Its defining characteristic is hanging weights (loom weights) which keep bundles of the [[Warp (weaving)|warp]] threads taut. Frequently, extra warp thread is wound around the weights. When a weaver has woven far enough down, the completed section (fell) can be rolled around the top beam, and additional lengths of warp threads can be unwound from the weights to continue. This frees the weaver from vertical size constraint. Horizontally, breadth is limited by armspan; making [[broadwoven cloth]] requires two weavers, standing side by side at the loom.

Simple weaves, and complex weaves that need more than two different sheds, can both be woven on a warp-weighted loom. They can also be used to produce tapestries.
{{clear}}

===Pegged or floor loom===
In pegged looms, the beams can be simply held apart by hooking them behind pegs driven into the ground, with wedges or lashings used to adjust the tension. Pegged looms may, however, also have horizontal sidepieces holding the beams apart.

Such looms are easy to set up and dismantle, and are easy to transport, so they are popular with nomadic weavers. They are generally only used for comparatively small woven articles.<ref name="Edwards, 1952">{{cite book|last1=Edwards|first1=A. Cecil |title=The Persian carpet : a survey of the carpet-weaving industry of Persia|date=1975|publisher=Duckworth|location=London |isbn=978-0715602560|edition=Reprinted 1952}}</ref> Urbanites are unlikely to use horizontal floor looms as they take up a lot of floor space, and full-time professional weavers are unlikely to use them as they are unergonomic. Their cheapness and portability is less valuable to urban professional weavers.<ref name=farahan>{{cite web |title=Types of carpets loom and knowledge of its components |url=https://farahancarpet.com/types-of-carpets-loom/ |website=Farahan Carpet |date=18 April 2021}}</ref>

<gallery mode=packed heights=140>
File:Historyofthe looms.jpg|A pegged loom from the Ancient Egyptian [[Middle Kingdom of Egypt|Middle Kingdom]] showing the use of [[heddle jack]]s. 1922 model.
File:Qashqai nomad sisters weave a carpet on a floor loom near Firuzabad, Iran (14288453190).jpg|[[Qashqai people|Qashqai]] nomad sisters, weaving a carpet on a floor loom. Near Firuzabad, Iran
</gallery>
{{clear}}

===Treadle loom===
[[File:Warsztat.svg|thumb|upright=1.3|Elements of a treadle loom:{{ordered list|Wood frame| Seat for weaver| Warp beam- let off| Warp threads| Back beam or platen| Rods – used to make a shed| Heddle frame - heald frame - harness| [[Heddle]]- heald - the eye| [[w:Shuttle (weaving)|Shuttle]] with weft yarn| Shed| Completed fabric| Breast beam| [[Beater (weaving)|Batten]] with [[reed (weaving)|reed]] comb| [[Beater (weaving)|Batten]] adjustment| Lathe| Treadles| Cloth roll- takeup}}]]

In a treadle loom, the shedding is controlled by the feet, which tread on the [[treadle]]s.

The earliest evidence of a horizontal loom is found on a pottery dish in [[ancient Egypt]], dated to 4400 BC. It was a frame loom, equipped with treadles to lift the warp threads, leaving the weaver's hands free to pass and beat the weft thread.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Bruno |first1=Leonard C. |last2=Olendorf |first2=Donna |title=Science and technology firsts |date=1997 |publisher=[[Gale Research]] |isbn=9780787602567 |page=[https://archive.org/details/sciencetechnolog0000brun/page/2 2] |url=https://archive.org/details/sciencetechnolog0000brun |url-access=registration |quote=4400 B.C. Earliest evidence of the use of a horizontal loom is its depiction on a pottery dish found in Egypt and dated to this time. These first true frame looms are equipped with foot pedals to lift the warp threads, leaving the weaver's hands free to pass and beat the weft thread.}}</ref>

A pit loom has a pit for the treadles, reducing the stress transmitted through the much shorter frame.<ref name="Know Your Handlooms"/>

In a wooden vertical-shaft loom, the [[heddle]]s are fixed in place in the shaft. The warp threads pass alternately through a heddle, and through a space between the heddles (the [[shed (weaving)|shed]]), so that raising the shaft raises half the threads (those passing through the heddles), and lowering the shaft lowers the same threads — the threads passing through the spaces between the heddles remain in place.

A treadle loom for figured weaving may have a large number of harnesses or a control head. It can, for instance, have a [[Jacquard machine]] attached to it<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://artless-store.com/blogs/the-artless-way/handloom-vs-powerloom|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20201201174856/https://artless-store.com/blogs/the-artless-way/handloom-vs-powerloom|archive-date = 2020-12-01|title = Handloom VS Powerloom|date = 19 March 2020}}</ref> {{see above|Loom#Shedding methods}}.

<gallery mode=packed>
File:Traditional loom at Ranipauwa-Muktinath, Nepal-WLV-1197.jpg|Traditional treadle loom at Ranipauwa Muktinath, Nepal ([[:File:Loom Muktinath Nepal.jpg|another image]])
File:Japaneseweavera.jpg|Japanese treadle loom, late 1820s-early 1830s
File:Silk Loom (5453100710).jpg|Weaving at a pit loom; the frame is built shorter, but set over a pit, so that the treadles are below ground level. [[Herat]], Afghanistan.
File:Studies in primitive looms (1918) (14784096942).jpg|A simple tripod frame supports, not a heddle pulley, but a horse (a sort of teeter-totter); from each heddle frame hangs a treadle, trod alternately to form shed and countershed. West African loom, early 20th century
</gallery>

<!--====Pit looms====-->
{{clear}}

===Tapestry looms===
{{main|tapestry}}
[[File:Tapestry Loom-colored.svg|thumb|upright|Medieval European ''haute-lisse'' tapestry loom. Oddly, while many dangling bobbins are shown, the different colours are not.]]
Tapestry can have extremely complex wefts, as different strands of wefts of different colours are used to form the pattern. Speed is lower, and shedding and picking devices may be simpler. Looms used for weaving traditional [[tapestry]] are called not as "vertical-warp" and "horizontal-warp", but as "high-warp" or "low-warp" (the French terms ''[[Warp (weaving)|haute-lisse]]'' and {{transliteration|fr|basse-lisse}} are also used in English).<ref>https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/bas-lisse and the other 3 entries</ref>

<gallery mode="packed">
File:Rea-Menzies in studio.jpg|Haut-lisse tapestry loom, 2022, New Zealand
File:Loom haute lisse DSC08774.jpg|Commercial haut-lisse tapestry loom, 2004
File:Loom basse lisse DSC08828.jpg|A commercial basse-lisse tapestry loom in the same factory, 2004
File:Principaux outils de la tapisserie de basse lisse sur le métier à tisser (flûtes, grattoir, peigne, poinçon).jpg|Tapestry tools, on the loom. [[Bobbin]]s, scrapper (with short teeth), comb (double-ended), and [[wikt:awl|awl]] (tip hidden).
File:Wandtapijt Nieuwe Kerk Middelburg.webm|A power loom in the [[TextielMuseum Tilburg]] weaving a tapestry for the [[Niewe Kerk Middelburg]]; note that the threads do not vary in colour along their length.
</gallery>

===Ribbon, Band, and Inkle weaving===
{{main|Inkle weaving}}
Inkle looms are narrow looms used for [[narrow work]]. They are used to make narrow [[warp-faced]] strips such as ribbons, bands, or tape. They are often quite small; some are used on a tabletop. others are backstraps looms with a rigid [[heddle]], and very portable.

===Darning looms===
{{main|Darning loom}}
There exist very small hand-held looms known as darning looms. They are made to fit under the fabric being mended, and are often held in place by an elastic band on one side of the cloth and a groove around the loom's darning-egg portion on the other. They may have heddles made of flip-flopping rotating hooks {{see above|[[Loom#Rotating-hook heddles]]}}.<ref>On darning loom function:
*{{cite web |title=Darning Mini Wooden Loom Machine |url=https://www.miupie.com/Darning-Mini-Wooden-Loom-Machine-p3176174.html |website=Miupie |language=en}} (commercial site, but with animation showing how it works)
*{{cite web |last1=Morley |first1=Jasmin |title=Darning Loom Instructions |url=https://purlandfriends.com/blogs/news/darning-loom-instructions |website=Purl and Friends |access-date=7 January 2023 |date=8 September 2022}}, {{cite web |first1=Allison |last1=[not given] |title=Darning loom |url=https://ontheneedles.com/tag/darning-loom/ |website=On the Needles |date=27 December 2021 |access-date=7 January 2023 |language=en}}
*{{cite web |title=How To Use A 1940s "Speed weve" Darner [repost of original 1940s instruction manual]|url=https://ragandmagpie.co.uk/blog/how-to-use-a-1940s-speede-weve |website=Rag & Magpie |date=16 April 2014 |access-date=9 December 2022}}</ref> Other devices sold as darning looms are just a darning egg and a separate comb-like piece with teeth to hook the warp over; these are used for repairing knitted garments and are like a linear [[spool knitting|knitting spool]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Katrinkles Darning Loom |url=https://aroundthetableyarns.com/katrinkles-darning-loom/ |website=Around the Table Yarns |language=en}} (darning loom without heddles, just a comb, for knits).</ref> Darning looms were sold  during [[Rationing in the United Kingdom#Clothing|World War Two clothing rationing]] in the United Kingdom<ref>{{cite web |last1=Boyne |first1=Jo |title=How To Use A Speedweve Loom To Mend Clothes ⋆ A Rose Tinted World |url=https://www.arosetintedworld.co.uk/how-to-use-a-speedweve-loom-to-mend-clothes/ |website=A Rose Tinted World |access-date=9 December 2022 |date=3 October 2021}} ('''not an independent source''')</ref> and Canada,<ref>{{cite web |title=the Swift Darning Loom from Worth Mending |url=https://worthmending.com/pages/swift |website=Worth Mending |language=en}}</ref> and some are homemade.<ref>{{cite web |title=Make Your Own Darning Looms |url=https://www.instructables.com/Make-Your-Own-Darning-Looms/ |website=Instructables |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Speedweve Style Darning Loom {{!}} Glowforge |url=https://glowforge.com/discover/t/85971/speedweve-style-darning-loom |website=glowforge.com}}</ref>

===Circular handlooms===
{{distinguish|circular knitting}}
<!-- Deleted image removed: [[File:Six shuttle circular loom machine.jpg|thumb|typical circular loom]] -->
Circular looms are used to create seamless tubes of fabric for products such as hosiery, sacks, clothing, fabric hoses (such as fire hoses) and the like. [[Tablet weaving]] can be used to knit tubes, including tubes that split and join.

Small jigs also used for [[circular knitting]] are also sometimes called circular looms,<ref>{{cite video |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XIA53WfVv04 | archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211114/XIA53WfVv04| archive-date=2021-11-14 | url-status=live|via=YouTube |title=How to: Cast on/Knit using a Circular Loom |author=Jocelyn C. |date=22 December 2008 |access-date=27 June 2016}}{{cbignore}}</ref> but they are used for knitting, not weaving.

==Handlooms to power looms==
{{anchor|handloom}}
{{Main|Power loom}}
[[File:QSMM Two Lancashire looms.ogg|thumb|Two Lancashire looms in the [[Queen Street Mill]] weaving shed, [[Burnley]]]]
[[File:Weben in der Tuchfabrik Müller.ogv|thumb|A 1939 loom working at the [[Mueller Cloth Mill]] museum in [[Euskirchen]], Germany.]]

A power loom is a loom powered by a source of energy other than the weaver's muscles. When power looms were developed, other looms came to be referred to as ''handlooms''. Most cloth is now woven on power looms, but some is still woven on handlooms.<ref name="Know Your Handlooms">{{Cite web |date=2020-10-18 |title=Know Your Handlooms |url=https://dastkarandhra.com/know/know-your-handlooms/ |access-date=2022-03-24 |website=DAMA Handloom Store |language=en-US}}</ref>

The development of power looms was gradual. The capabilities of power looms gradually expanded, but handlooms remained the most cost-effective way to make some types of textiles for most of the 1800s. Many improvements in loom mechanisms were first applied to hand looms (like the [[dandy loom]]), and only later integrated into power looms.

[[Edmund Cartwright]] built and patented a [[power loom]] in 1785, and it was this that was adopted by the nascent cotton industry in England. The silk loom made by [[Jacques Vaucanson]] in 1745 operated on the same principles but was not developed further. The invention of the [[flying shuttle]] by [[John Kay (flying shuttle)|John Kay]] allowed a hand weaver to weave [[broadwoven cloth]] without an assistant, and was also critical to the development of a commercially successful power loom.{{sfn|Marsden|1895|p=57}} Cartwright's loom was impractical but the ideas behind it were developed by numerous inventors in the Manchester area of England. By 1818, there were 32 factories containing 5,732 looms in the region.{{sfn|Guest|1823|p=46}}

The [[Horrocks loom]] was viable, but it was the [[Roberts Loom]] in 1830 that marked the turning point.{{sfn|Marsden|1895|p=76}}{{clarify|date=January 2023}} Incremental changes to the three motions continued to be made. The problems of sizing, stop-motions, consistent take-up, and a [[Temple (weaving)|temple]] to maintain the width remained. In 1841, Kenworthy and [[Howard & Bullough|Bullough]] produced the [[Lancashire Loom]]{{sfn|Marsden|1895|p=94}} which was self-acting or semi-automatic. This enabled a youngster to run six looms at the same time. Thus, for simple calicos, the power loom became more economical to run than the handloom – with complex patterning that used a dobby or Jacquard head, jobs were still [[domestic system|put out]] to handloom weavers until the 1870s. Incremental changes were made such as the [[Dickinson Loom]], culminating in the fully automatic [[Northrop Loom]], developed by the [[Keighley]]-born inventor Northrop, who was working for the [[Draper Corporation]] in [[Hopedale, Massachusetts|Hopedale]]. This loom recharged the shuttle when the [[pirn]] was empty. The Draper E and X models became the leading products from 1909. They were challenged by synthetic fibres such as [[rayon]].{{sfn|Mass|1990}}

By 1942, faster, more efficient, and shuttleless [[Sulzer (manufacturer)|Sulzer]] and [[rapier loom]]s had been introduced.{{sfn|Collier|1970|p=111}}

== Symbolism and cultural significance ==

The loom is a symbol of [[Creation myth|cosmic creation]] and the structure upon which individual destiny is woven. This symbolism is encapsulated in the [[Classical mythology|classical myth]] of [[Arachne]] who was changed into a spider by the goddess [[Athena]], who was jealous of her skill at the godlike craft of weaving.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Tresidder|first1=Jack|title=The Hutchinson Dictionary of Symbols|date=1997|publisher=Helicon Publishers|location=London|isbn=1-85986-059-1|page=127}}</ref> In [[Maya civilization]] the goddess [[Ixchel]] taught the first woman how to weave at the beginning of time.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Rosenbaum|first1=Brenda P.|title=Mayan Women, Weaving and Ethnic Identity: a Historical Essay|journal=Guatemala: Museo Ixchel del Traje Indigena|date=1990|pages=157–169}}</ref>

==Gallery==
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<gallery mode="packed">
File:Weaving jamdani at BSCIC Jamdani palli, Narayanganj 103.jpg|[[Handloom sari|Handloom]] used for [[Jamdani]] Weaving
File:Model of Loom, late 19th century. (square).jpg|''Model of Navajo Loom'', late 19th century, [[Brooklyn Museum]]
File:Japaneseweavera.jpg|An early nineteenth century [[Japan]]ese loom with several heddles, which the weaver controls with her foot
File:JakaltekBackstrapWeaving.jpg|A [[Jakaltek people|Jakaltek]] Maya brocades a hair sash on a back strap loom.
File:Hjerl Hede, krosno tkackie, ubt.jpeg|Handloom at Hjerl Hede, [[Denmark]], showing grayish warp threads (back) and cloth woven with red filling yarn (front)
File:Alberto Sa¦ünchez Marti¦ünez working.tiff|Oaxacan artisan Alberto Sanchez Martinez at loom
File:The Korkosz Croft in Czarna Góra 01.jpg|Handloom at the Korkosz Croft in Czarna Góra, Poland, 19th century
File:Stelles Slutišķu vecticībnieku lauku sētā.jpg|A loom in an [[Old Believers|Old Believer]] homestead in [[Slutiški]], Latvia
File:Handloom Weaver in an exhibition 1.jpg|Weaver from India showing handloom during an exhibition
File:Greekurnwithweavers.jpg|A Grecian urn showing a [[warp-weighted loom]]
</gallery>

==See also==
*''[[Bunkar: The Last of the Varanasi Weavers]]'' (documentary film)
*[[Fashion and Textile Museum]]
*[[Textile manufacturing]]
*[[Timeline of clothing and textiles technology]]
*[[Weaving (mythology)]]
*[[Luddite]]

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

==Bibliography==
*{{cite book
  |last= Barber
  |first= E. J. W.
  |title= Prehistoric Textiles
  |year= 1991
  |publisher= Princeton University Press
  |isbn= 0-691-00224-X
  }}
*{{cite book
  |last=Broudy
  |first=Eric
  |title=The Book of Looms: A History of the Handloom from Ancient Times to the Present
  |date=1979
  |publisher=University Press of New England
  |location=Hanover and London
  |isbn=9780874516494
  }}
*{{cite book
  |last= Burnham
  |first= Dorothy K.
  |title= Warp and Weft: A Textile Terminology
  |url= https://archive.org/details/warpwefttextilet0000burn
  |url-access= registration
  |year= 1980
  |publisher= [[Royal Ontario Museum]]
  |isbn=0-88854-256-9
  }}
*{{cite book
  |last=Collier
  |first= Ann M.
  |title=A Handbook of Textiles 
  |publisher=Pergamon Press 
  |year=1970
  |isbn=0-08-018057-4
  }}
*{{cite journal
  |last=Crowfoot
  |first=Grace
  |date=November 1937
  |title= Of the Warp-Weighted Loom
  |journal=The Annual of the British School at Athens
  |volume=37
  |pages=36–47
  |doi=10.1017/s0068245400017950
  |s2cid=193172489
 }}
*{{cite book
  |last=Forbes
  |first=R. J.
  |title=Studies in Ancient Technology, Volume 4
  |date=1987
  |publisher=E. J. Brill
  |location=Leiden / New York
  |isbn=9004083073
  }}
*{{Cite book
  |last=Guest
  |first=Richard
  |title=The Compendious History of Cotton-Manufacture
  |year=1823
  |url=http://www.spinningtheweb.org.uk/a_results.php?x=7&y=2&QueryName=KeyWord&KeyWords=Compendious+History
  |access-date=15 February 2009
  }}
*{{cite book
  |last=Marsden
  |first=Richard
  |title=Cotton Weaving: Its Development, Principles, and Practice
  |publisher=George Bell & Sons
  |year=1895
  |url=http://www.cs.arizona.edu/patterns/weaving/books.html
  |access-date=2009-04-19
  |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180629155159/http://www2.cs.arizona.edu/patterns/weaving/books.html
  |archive-date=2018-06-29
  |url-status=dead
  }}
*{{cite journal
  |last=Mass
  |first=William
  |year=1990
  |title=The Decline of a Technology Leader:Capability, strategy and shuttleless Weaving
  |journal=Business and Economic History
  |issn=0894-6825
  |url=http://www.h-net.org/~business/bhcweb/publications/BEHprint/v019/p0234-p0244.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050429023807/http://www.h-net.org/~business/bhcweb/publications/BEHprint/v019/p0234-p0244.pdf |archive-date=2005-04-29 |url-status=live
  }}
* {{cite book
  |last=Razy
  |first=C.
  |title=Étude analytique des petits modèles de métiers exposés au musée des tissus
  |year=1913
  |publisher=Musée historique des tissus
  |location=Lyon, France
  |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1CxEKUOCWv8C
  |language=fr
  }}
*{{cite book
  |last= Ventura
  |first= Carol
  |title= Maya Hair Sashes Backstrap Woven in Jacaltenango, Guatemala, Cintas Mayas tejidas con el telar de cintura en Jacaltenango, Guatemala
  |year= 2003
  |publisher= Carol Ventura
  |isbn= 0-9721253-1-0
  }}

==External links==
{{Wiktionary|loom}}
{{Commons category|Looms}}
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    ===========================({{NoMoreLinks}})===============================-->
* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=flUCPh9AsS0 Loom demonstration video]
* [http://www.woolfestival.com/articles/loomcare.htm "Caring for your loom" article]
* [https://archive.today/20011222203427/http://www.faculty.de.gcsu.edu/~dvess/ids/fap/weav.html "The Art and History of Weaving"]
* The Medieval Technology Pages: [https://web.archive.org/web/20150904045102/http://scholar.chem.nyu.edu/tekpages/loom.html "The Horizontal Loom"]

{{weaving}}

{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Articles containing video clips]]
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