RodCrafters; I can't say fellow RodCrafter since I don't consider myself a crafter at this point. Her is the question:

I have read Dale Clemens book titled Custom Rod Thread Art and viewed Artie Hebert's "Decorative Rod Wrapping Volume 2 Weaves" and all that leaves me short of one thing to understand. Artie says that you will probably use NCP Size A thread which wraps at about 120 threads per inch. So here is the question; the width of the weaved figure is not too important since it will extend up the rod, however, the height of the figure is important. Should the figure wrap around the circumference of the rod by 100%, 75%, 50% or 25% for a reasonable looking weave? In looking at some of the sample figures in Dales's book the number of threads in the height varies anywhere from 10 to 50 threads. When laying out a weave what height should you target?

Thanks
Bill

For rods that are relatively small such as 10 cm diameter a fifty count weave is good however some weaves are designed to go all the way around. My loom will handle sixty five threads and I seldom need more. As you do more you will be able to judge what size pattern you need for a specific blank size.
Pat

Pat: Thanks for your reply. Would you mine telling me what Loom you use?

Thanks
Bill Wilson

Bill I posted on the other site, I have a mudhole 60 thread loom to sell if you want it. It has never been used as I got a Renzetti Womderweaver from Santa.

Let me know via email.

Kevin

Bill,
The weave size will vary according to how tightly you pack the threads and what kind of thread it is, but you can expect a good 20% more in height than what you would expect if you simply took the number of threads and multiply it by the stated thread diameter.
The wrap threads are under tension so you can't really use them as a guide (the diameter may be smaller even than the stated size).
In @#$%& I did a little image that shows you the blank coverage based on the thread size and count, but you can achieve the same thing by printing an image at the real size you expect the weave to be and holding it on the blank.
The size I get on my weaves might not correlate directly to your results which is why I made all the thread diameters and stretch factors user configurable.

Some designs are fine if you can't see the whole thing without rotating it, others like a name may not be.
Don't forget when you lay it out that the exact middle of the weave count is not necessarily going to be at the center line of the rod.
It depends on what features you want the viewer to see without having to rotate the rod.
For example a fish like one of your rooster fish should probably be centered on the body, rather than 1/2 the thread count.
It doesn't matter so much that the very long fins go around the blank where you can't see them without rotating the blank.
If you tried to make the weave small enough to see the whole thing then you may end up too small to get the detail you want.

cheers,
Owen Dare

I'm not speaking for Pat, but knowing the type of rod he builds alot of, I think he meant 10mm diameter, not cm.
Jerry

Take a spool of thread, the size you plan on using, and count the distance provided by 10 threads. Once you know that, you'll have a fairly good idea of the overall height you'll get with varying multiples of 10 thread widths. Because thread is wound onto the spool under light tension, it will be a little less than it is on the spool, but it'll be close.

This is the easiest way I've found to figure these sorts of things.

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