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WorK? WORK? I think they will be perfect for this. That suggestion is, compared to me, brilliant. Not only will they work but after they are used once they can be used again for the same weave in the same holes, thus limiting the damage to the loom.
The odd thing about this suggestion is that one of the things I do at the courts is volunteer to mediate all or most of their Small Claims Cases. I mediate about 4 or 5 cases a week on thursday afternoons. Once in a while I'll have a blank period when a case has gone away so I usually sit there in the room looking at some now blank cork bullitin boards that still have a couple of handfulls of the newer plastic headed thumb tacks in them. I even got up one time and arranged a bunch of them into a kind of smiley face that stayed there for a long time. Even with that the thought of using them here never occured to me. Thanks for this suggestion. I'm off to Walmart or the Office Depot.
I bought a couple packets of what are now called Press Pins which I think is pretty much what thumb tacks have evolved into. They have a plastic body and about a 3/8 inch pin. Then I also found on-line some of the same but with aluminum bodies which I think will work better since I kind of plan to tap these into place with a small hammer. What I intend to do is put some masking tape around the loom edges and then mark the spacing for the pattern on the tape. Then I'll drill a very tiny hole in the middle of each space for the pins and leave enough in the holes for the pins to be snug. The aluminum pins came in the mail yesterday.
One thing I still need to develop is my little ironing board so that while these weavings are still in the loom I can put the board under it and iron the backing on and at the same time activate the cement that is coated on the raw side of all the leather strips. I tried to do that with just a couple pieces of the strips and it work great without having to coat both surfaces. It the strip ends are pulled out to 180 degrees from each other the cement will release, but there is no apparent tendency for the glue to let go with just shear pressure to the joints.
One thing I am thinking is that I may want to change the backing I bought because most of what they had at the fabric store was a kind of iron on backing and I was thinking then of only regular contact cement. I think what I have will iron on to the heat activated cement, but it might be better to have something sticky also on the backing.
Last edited by Jerry Feather; 03-03-2023 at 10:45 AM.
Would flex seal brand tape work for you? It’s mighty strong stuff.
Thanks Mike for your input, but I do not know where you suggest I might use the tape. You guys keep coming up with some great suggestions.
At this point the only place I have for any kind of tape is around the perimeter of the loom where I am going to put the marks for the strips on masking tape as they relate to any given pattern that I will be weaving. I just picked up some 3/4 inch masking tape for that purpose because all I have around here otherwise is about 1 inch wide. Actually it only measures 15/16 inch wide; so I suspect that what I just bought is also about a16th short in width,
Last edited by Jerry Feather; 03-05-2023 at 12:11 AM.
My thought was as a substitute for your backer. It is a substrate with strong adhesive. It’s about 3-4” wide and is flexible. You may need to cut it so a piece lands at the midpoint of a leather strip or alternatively you could put down two layers, the second going in the opposite direction so there would not be weakness at the seam.
I bought a couple packets of what are now called Press Pins which I think is pretty much what thumb tacks have evolved into. They have a plastic body and about a 3/8 inch pin. Then I also found on-line some of the same but with aluminum bodies which I think will work better since I kind of plan to tap these into place with a small hammer. What I intend to do is put some masking tape around the loom edges and then mark the spacing for the pattern on the tape. Then I'll drill a very tiny hole in the middle of each space for the pins and leave enough in the holes for the pins to be snug. The aluminum pins came in the mail yesterday.
Jerry - the aluminum bodied ones (or at least some of them) have much longer pins - the ones I have here have 3/4" pin sections - probably much better for grip. Hopefully yours are the same?
Jerry - the aluminum bodied ones (or at least some of them) have much longer pins - the ones I have here have 3/4" pin sections - probably much better for grip. Hopefully yours are the same?
Alan
I see on the box of these pins that they are actually called "Push Pins." My thought is kind of contrary to yours, Alan. There is going to be a certain amount of in and out for these pins so I don't really need such a strong or permanent hold. The ones I obtained are labled at 3/8 inch but in fact measure .420 inch long. I think with a short tiny hole just tight around the body of the pin and leaving some "punch" into the wood is going to be just about right, especially since the holes are going to be used at least twice and probably a bit more for this project.
Last edited by Jerry Feather; 03-05-2023 at 12:12 AM.
My thought was as a substitute for your backer. It is a substrate with strong adhesive. It’s about 3-4” wide and is flexible. You may need to cut it so a piece lands at the midpoint of a leather strip or alternatively you could put down two layers, the second going in the opposite direction so there would not be weakness at the seam.
Mike, I think your suggestion about the tape would be overkill. Right now I think I have the stability of the weave solved simply with the heat activated contact cement between the leather strips in the weave. I think that the only purpolse now for the backing is to have something over the back where I have sprayed the cement so that I can iron it from the back and not have the cement all over the iron. I found that ironing it from the front irons the texture out of the leather which is not good. It might even be that after the cement is heated and set the backing can be pulled off, but I don't think I will.
The main problem with even the backing I'm going to use is that with the original seats there is only one layer of fabric over the cushion sections and then only one layer of leather over the leather ones. Here I am ending up with a double layer of leather and then the thin backing, so that is quite a bit more than might be most desirable from an appearanc or comfort standpoint. I dont think I need anything heavier and certainly not a double layer.
Last edited by Jerry Feather; 03-05-2023 at 12:13 AM.
Jerry, not to suggest "more" overkill, but what about stitching along both edges of each strip? Through the top strip, the strip below, and through the substrate sheet below everything...
I'm not even sure if that's possible, unless it's some giant specialty industrial machine.
Just spitballing.
Amazing project to take on and prototype. Avidly following.
Cheers
Jerry, not to suggest "more" overkill, but what about stitching along both edges of each strip? Through the top strip, the strip below, and through the substrate sheet below everything...
I'm not even sure if that's possible, unless it's some giant specialty industrial machine.
Just spitballing.
Amazing project to take on and prototype. Avidly following.
Cheers
Thanks, Harry, for your input. At the outset of this project the idea of stitching the weave together lasted so short a time in my mind that it did not even deverve rejection. I don't mean to put you off about this; and my son, Tim, the engineer, actually came up with just the same suggestion when I was telling him about the displacement issue, and I did formally regect it then. The problem is that I think that stitching will completely take away from the weaveing concept. In addition, I have to consider what the thread might be to stitch with and how it will contrast with both of the colors of leather or even just one of them.
I think the displacement issue is already very well delt with with the heat activated Contact Cement.
I do appreciate your input nevertheless, and in particular to know that you are staying tuned to this thread, That is much of what keeps me motivated.
I am getting close to some weaving and here is a picture of where I have put one half of the long strips into the loom. I need to cut a few more strips of leather for the longways part of it, but that is kind of complicated to explain. Let's see how it goes.
Last edited by Jerry Feather; 03-05-2023 at 11:23 AM.
By this evening, with some other things I had to get done, I have both sides of the loom nearly filled with the up and down strips. I am going to cut 4 more 3/8 inch strips in the morning and then I'll begin to weave.
Last edited by Jerry Feather; 03-05-2023 at 12:25 AM.
I decided not to add the extra strips; and it turns out too that weaving this just on the saw horses rather than the quadra-pod may work out the best. Here are a few pictures of the first of the weaving.
02-28-2023, 12:36 AM
