Ashford Rigid Heddle, Unfinished 24".
Price: $216.00 Updated, 2019 Price: $225.00
Updated, Price 2024 $295

Made of New Zealand Silberbeech (a hard wood that is used for furniture but not durable for outdoors use), the Ashford rigid heddle loom actual width is 28” with weaving width of 24”. The heddle blocks on the inside of the loom are conveniently notched to hold the heddle in place when needed.

Each loom comes:

• Unassembled and Unfinished
• 7.5 dent heddle/reed for DK/Light Worsted Weight Yarn
• (2) 22in stick shuttles
• Warping peg with clamp for direct warping
• Reed/heddle hook
• Basic book: Learn to weave on a Rigid Heddle.

You can use the loom to weave cushion covers, table mats, runners, fabrics, garments, floor mats, shawls, place mats and just about anything. The Ashford rigid heddle loom offers a sturdy ratchet system with clicker paws (see image) on the outside of the weaving loom so your warp will not snag. Heavier in construction than the Ashford Knitters Loom (a foldable loom that may snap shut on you).

The Ashford Rigid Heddle Weaving Loom is great for beginning weavers! It keeps weaving fun as it's easy to warp, this loom actually warps in minutes! The Ashford Rigid Heddle is super versatile and can create a variety of projects like placemats, fabrics, garments, floor mats, scarves, pillow covers and more! It is also capable of weaving complex weaving patterns.

Educational Video:
Which Ridged Heddle Loom is right for you??

Locate your local Ashford dealer

Some Finishing Options:
1) While wax is appropriate for lightly used furniture and requires never ending applications, here is a video on
How to Apply a Wax Finish

2) To finish your loom without applying and reapplying wax, consider taking the free Craftsy class: Flawless Finishing.

3) Check out everwonder’s alternative burnt loom finish

Books:
The Ashford Book or Rigid Heddle Weaving books are highly recommended as great informational guides for learning about the rigid heddle and making basic projects. Something else that is really fun is the ashford boat shuttle. This is awesome for use with the larger rigid heddle looms. The boat shuttle uses a bobbin which you wind yarn onto and then load into the boat. The boat is then tossed across back and forth and the bobbin releases yarn as necessary, this is the most fun and way cooler than the included stick shuttle shuttles. Also make sure to get a few additional reeds so you can use different yarn for your warps. Recommendations below.

Accessories:
Ashford 28" Knitters Loom Carry Bag.
Price: $100.00
Learn to Weave on the Rigid Heddle Loom
Price $5.50
Ashford 24" Heddle Loom Stand, Unfinished.
Price: $152.00
Ashford, Second Heddle Kit
Price $33.50
Finishing Wax Polish
Price $26.50
Ashford Boat Shuttle
Price $53 - $57
Ashford Cardboard Warping Sticks - 20ct
Price $6
Ashford Rigid Heddle Freedom Roller cannot be used with the Rigid Heddle Stand, it is designed to use on a table top.
Price $91.00
Ashford Weaving Bobbins - Set of 10
Price $16.50
Boat shuttle bobbin winder - wooden
Price $
tekapo 8 ply yarn for Rigid Heddle Project
Price$
Ashford Hobby Bench 2
Price: $415.00
tapestry loom warping thread
24” Reeds for Ashford Rigid Heddle Loom
Price $37.00 each.

Reeds Available in 6 dents:
Dent = the number of threads per inch, so a 12 dent reed will have 12 slots/holes per inch. The lower the dent size, the thicker the yarn you need to use for your warp.

• 2.5 dpi
• 5 dpi Worsted to Light Bulky Yarn
• 7.5 dpi (Included) DK or Light Worsted Weight Yarn
• 10 dpi Sport Weight Yarn
• 12.5 dpi Fingering or Lace Weight Yarn
• 15 dpi

These dent/yarn weights are general recommendations and will create a fairly even weave which is a great starting point. So what happens if I use a thicker yarn than is recommended? You’ll find it’s hard to thread through the Reed and will rub badly when moving the reed and will cause problems. So…what happens if I put thinner yarn on my rigid heddle than in recommended? If you use thinner yarn say a lace weight yarn on your 5 DPI reed you will have a very lacey looking weave which may be what you are looking for but try and stay close to the recommended yarn size for each reed for an even weave when learning the ropes on your first weaving projects.

Determine Sett
You can determine the sett yourself unless you have woven with the thread before.

If you have no source of information, wind the thread around a ruler with the threads snug up against each other. Count the number of threads in an inch and divide by two. This will give you an estimate for the number of threads per inch for plain weave.

Yarn Sizes
8/4 Cotton: What does that mean?

These numbers tell you the weight, yardage, and number of strands in the yarn. The industry standard is based on a single strand of cotton that has 840 yards in a pound. A 1/1 yarn would have a single strand of cotton and in one pound of it, would measure 840 yards.

In 8/4 yarn, the top number tells us the size of the threads. In 8/4 the thread used is 8 times thinner than the industry standard so you end up with 6720 YPP (840 * 8). The higher this number, the thinner the thread and more yards per pound.

The bottom number, the 4, tells us the ply or how many of these threads are used to make up the yarn. An 8/4 yarn would be 4 very thin strands of yarn, which works out to 1680 YPP (6720 / 4). 8/4 yarn is in the “sport weight” category.

Here’s a chart to show you the different sized yarns, the weight category and the recommended heddle size for plain balanced weave.

Yarn Type, Wraps/Inch, Yards/Pound, Recommended Heddle Size

Ultrafine, 18, 2600, 10DPI
(Lace or Baby Weight) or more

Fine, 16, 1900-2400, 8DPI
(Fingering Weight)

Medium, 14, 1200-1800, 8DPI
(Sport Weight)

Heavy, 12, 900-1200, 5-6DPI
(Worsted Weight)

Bulky, 10, 600-800, 5 DPI

Very Bulky, 8 or fewer, 400-500, 4 DPI

Links about “sett” and why it’s important:
articles on sett

sett chart

Master Yarn Chart

Accessories

Weaving Links of Interest:

WEAVERS FAQ

Weavolution like Ravelry for weavers

Weaving Calculator

Handweaving draft resource for weavers.

Painted-Skein Warps

Chocolate Mint Swirl

Article on Weaver-Manipulated Lace Weaves on Ridged Heddle.

Color Gamps

Piles Peak Weavers Guild

Jannie Taylor

Magic-Step Towels

3 Ways to Warp

Just like casting on use different methods:
1) Direct Warping
2) Indirect Warping with a Warping Board
3) Using Two Heddles

Shop

Lonestar Loom Room

The weaving technique called “double weave” allows you to weave two layers at once and in that way make a cloth twice the width of your loom… The extra heddle used can either add more warp per inch for more intricate weaving or double with width of the fabric by weaving through warp 1 then 2, back through 2 and then 1, thus taking 4 passes to complete a weave and not two.

FiberObsessions wrote:
With each additional shaft (heddle), you increase the number of threading and pattern combinations that can be produced by the loom without manual manipulation. So, with 2 shafts you can do plain weave and it’s variations, with 4 shafts, you can do that + twills, overshot, crackle, summer and winter, M’s & O’s, (there are many more) and variations. with 8 shafts you can do more complex twills, network drafting, add different threaded borders, do double width twill and other variations, and so on. And so it goes, adding complexity with each addition of shafts (like 16, 24…). A high percentage of weavers use 4 shafts and rarely go beyond that because there is so much to explore. With 8-shafts, you could spend a lifetime working through the possibilities and not even make a dent… So, in chosing how many to use, it’s helpful to know what kinds of things you like to weave… more simple structures that maybe allow lots of freedom to freeform and make use of color are easy to do on a 2-shaft and 4-shaft loom. more complex structures can be done easily on the 8-shaft loom and you can also produce anything you can do on a 2- or 4-shaft loom. As with all things with additional complexity, the downside is that it requires more attention to detail to produce the results.

Use brown wrapping paper from Staples. It is 30 inches wide and you get a lot on the roll. Cut it to the width you need. On my 36 inch floor loom if I need to use the entire loom width I use the 30 inch paper width and then I add another width. This paper is very cheap and I reuse it.

For further detail on weaving, leashing on your warp, spreading your warp, winding a shuttle etc. refer to our weaving video page on website www.ashford.co.nz

Additional Rigid Heddle Videos:
Spreading a warp on your Rigid Heddle Loom http://youtu.be/A-SW47MtrsQYeT

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