Vintage Tool Patch

The loom is complete. The finish applied, and my daughter has been happily weaving. The finishing process did not go smoothly. I took a few scraps of Purpleheart, applied various different oils and finishes, and she decided she like the one with https://www.shaneskelton.co.uk/shop/p/peacock-oil-wick-clear-figure-250ml-27nzn the best. It turns the Purple heart more of a red purple, but its still an attractive shade. I have read that oil finishes usually do this to Purpleheart. I’m not sure what I would use if I wanted to preserve the original purple colour. Maybe shellac? In any case, applying the oil was no problem.

The last piece of the loom project has been made. Now its just a matter of applying finish. The last few weeks have been hard on the loom project. First I spent time sizing a thin piece of stock for the comb, only to realise the grain direction was all wrong. The widest piece of Purpleheart I had left was only 2 inches. So I had to order a new board and wait for it.

Work holding is a never ending struggle in my woodworking life. I’m at the point in the loom project where I need to make a small comb to allow the weave to be packed down after each pass of the shuttle. This needs a pretty thin piece of stock to be worked. None of my normal work holding solutions work for something this small and flexible.