r/weaving • u/animal_shapes_ • 14d ago

Help What is this tool?

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Hi I received this weaving tool as a gift but I have no idea what this is. Can someone explain what this is for me and how to use it?

Thank you all! This has been very helpful. I would have never have guessed I was gifted a Japanese tool for braiding. Here I was looking through all my weaving books wondering why this beautiful piece was not mentioned in any of them

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141

u/phiala 14d ago

It’s a square-topped Japanese braiding stand. The round marudai is more common. You’ve also got some of the bobbins, called tama, which are carefully weighted and surprisingly expensive.

Regardless of shape, it’s used for kumihimo and now that you know what to search for you can find so many examples and instructions.

46

u/SpyQueenLiz 14d ago

It’s upside down. The square is the base for stability.

18

u/gjb1 14d ago

It can be oriented and used both ways. Having a square top is very useful for certain patterns

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u/Bramhs 14d ago

It looks as a kakudai (a japanese braiding tool). If you reverse it, it looks as a marudai.

It is neither, but probably someone tried to make both dais.

It is not for weaving, it is for braiding.

And the little hanging somethings are called tamas and they are for tensioning.

Search for kumihimo.

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u/Distinct_Proposal_10 14d ago

If you want it can also be used for Victorian hair jewelry making!

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u/jojocookiedough 14d ago

r/kumihimo may have some resources for you

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u/RuxeFuchs 13d ago

Very much this, though it’s a bit of a “quiet” community, and most people are doing disk and plate braiding rather than marudai (or other stands). There are a couple standard books on marudai braiding; I’d recommend Jacqui Carey’s Creative Kumihimo as a first, along with Catherine Martin’s Kumihimo as a supplement. They’re both good introductions, with the latter offering very good notes on how each of the braids should be approached. Both are available from Braider’s Hand, which will become your New Favorite Place once you give this a shot.

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u/Bramhs 12d ago

There are lots of books for marudais. And Iknow at least one book for kakudais.

Jacqui Carey has lots of good books. And Makiko Tada's 'comprehensive treatise of braids' is in japanese and english (but normally you only need the marudsi book or the disk sbd plsre books (there are 7 books for several dais)

With those crafters you have a lot to learn. And there are many more good books published.

Catherine Martin's book is difficult to find 😟, very small, butalso very good.

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u/Blueberry_eater_89 13d ago

I would never have guessed that pieces was used for braiding silk, but I know of Kumihimo. There are newer tools (much smaller) used and that's probably why it's not in your books. You can probably also use it for a beading technique because that is how I know of Kumihimo and have some of the smaller tools. Personally, I could never do it. Either way, it's a wonderful piece. Enjoy it while you use it or as a beautiful conversation piece!

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u/Bramhs 12d ago

I have a marudai. I bougth it from an english crafter. Nowadays there are seversl european crafters that make them.

I know even of a crafter that makes takadais (in Europe).

But these is not a real dai. It has no well in the mirror. You can use it to braid, but it is not the same.

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u/ink_everywhere 12d ago

Marudai - a Kumihimo weaving stand - it looks double sided so you can weave round and square braids - pretty cool!