of shuttles and makers and III

here's how the two pirn shuttle works:

the bobbins are inserted on a clip like metal shaft threads are passed through plastic eyelet1 up through a series of metal eyelets and out through plastic eyelet 2 at the top . the metal eyelets on the contraption insure tension on the yarns. you can extrapolate this to the 4 pirn one

on the left hasegawa-san and his wife and assistant.

 a catalog of his shuttles:

my loot:

the second and third are kind of end feed shuttles notice the  metal hoop that catches the thread and acts as tensor. hasegawa-san insisted that they were fly shuttles. i kept saying yes,yes totally convinced that if i hesitated about having a fly shuttle he would not have sold them to me because of  that very japanese thing that uses  cannot be interchanged.

this one is very special. during my visit to nishijin textile center i asked one of the ladies where i could buy shuttles.after talking to another lady she made a phone call and then got back to the lady. some talking was done none of which i could understand. the second lady who is as the firts one one of the resident weavers went to her loom space, opened a drawer and pulled out this shuttle. she handed it to me saying " presentto" and insisted on me taking it.

her very own shuttle used, tamed with fur lining.my eyes got misty.

the bobbins were another " presentto" these from hasegawa-san.

neki desu

of shuttles and makers II

the finishing: filing to shape and polishing the wood. i think this is also done to prevent the wood from drying and cracking. sandra? chime in.
notice the placement of the eyelet.
the bottom shuttle is 17 cms long and 1 cm high used for silk brocading the top one is 24 cms long and 1.5 cms high for weaving the ground fabric.

there is a simple wire with a spring that holds the bobbin in place.it is flexible  from north to south and rigid  from east to west at the same time.
since japanese looms are not wide, a kimono fabric is 36 cms. wide,  the shuttles are not going to travel too far on the warp. thus this simple mechanism controls the bobbin and doesn't let it spin wildly.







neki desu
 

of shuttles and makers I

while in kyoto i had the opportunity to visit hasegawa-san's workshop housed in a traditional machiya in nishijin.

hasegawa-san is a third generation kyoto shuttle maker; a soft spoken man who downplays his importance  and fame in that very japanese way. 

his family supplied the shuttles to  silk weavers in nishijin during years and although there are not many weavers left in nishijin , hasegawa- san still continues to practice his craft.

the shuttles are made of oak blocks which are carved and filed into shape. most of the work is done by hand although drills are used to drill holes and a hand press like machine is used to force an eyelet into the holes so that the fine silk threads don't get caught.

 except for  one or two all photos are from the catalogs he gave me.
i was too enthraled and at the same time excited to take photos

neki desu