A loom is a machine or device for weaving thread or yarn into textiles. Looms can range from very small hand-held frames, to large free-standing hand looms, to huge automatic mechanical devices. The ancient Egyptians and Chinese used looms as early as 4000 BC.

The basic purpose of any loom is to hold the warp threads under tension to facilitate the interweaving of the weft threads. The precise shape of the loom and its mechanics may vary, but the basic function is the same.

HANDLOOM

Elements of a foot-treadle floor loom

1.Wood frame
2.Seat for weaver
3.Warp beam- let off
4.Warp threads
5.Back beam or platen
6.Rods – used to make a shed
7.Heddle frame - heald frame - harness
8.Heddle- heald - the eye
9.Shuttle with weft yarn
10.Shed
11.Completed fabric
12.Breast beam
13.Batten with reed comb
14.Batten adjustment
15.Lathe
16.Treadles
17.Cloth roll- takeup


The earliest looms were wooden vertical-shaft looms, with the heddles fixed in place in the shaft. The warp threads pass alternately through a heddle and through a space between the heddles (the shed), so that raising the shaft raises half the threads (those passing through the heddles), and lowering the shaft lowers the same threads -- the threads passing through the spaces between the heddles remain in place