11. Open Source Hardware - From Fibers to Fabric¶
Research & Ideation¶
Thinking about my tools as part of my creative process is an essential aspect of my approach as a designer. I am equally interested in industrial and artisanal machines ; by understanding them, I can hybridise them and create new ones according to my needs and the needs of the material. Building on Alexander Marinus’s research on flax felting, I later developed a new machine that allows me to felt larger surfaces with different needle-density settings.
To better understand my process, let me tell you the story of needle felting. Needle felting did not originate as a craft technique but as an industrial process. In the 19th century, textile manufacturers were seeking a way to produce felt without water (unlike traditional wet felting). They invented a machine equipped with long barbed needles capable of mechanically entangling fibres to form compact sheets. The first industrial uses included automobile padding, technical felts, insulation, hats, and moulded objects. In the 1980s, American and Japanese artists began to repurpose industrial needles to use them by hand. This is how the craft technique of needle felting emerged. Since the 2000s, it has become a recognised textile design technique explored in art, fashion, and contemporary design.
The needle contains barbs (tiny microscopic hooks) that catch the wool fibres and cause them to interlock as you stab. Each puncture builds a strong, dense network, without water, soap, or heat. Unlike wet felting, needle felting makes it possible to sculpt 3D forms, create hard or soft internal volumes, make very fine details, and combine different fibres locally. This is why the practice is often described as “wool sculpting.”
You can add small amounts of fibres to build volume, or sculpt by felting more densely in specific areas. You can also felt inside a mould (to create a counter-form), on a foam support (to stabilise the fibres and allow the needles to pass through), or around 3D structures. This allows the creation of architectural forms, textured surfaces, embossed effects, and more. It is very similar to modelling.
It is for all these reasons that this felting technique fascinates me, not only because it allows us to push the limits of the material, but also because it opens possibilities to imagine entirely new tools.
A few months ago, I bought a tufting gun with the intention of hacking it and turning it into a felting gun, in order to make certain steps of manual felting easier thanks to its motor and adjustable speed. This week was the perfect opportunity to finally work on this project, and fortunately Carmen and Annabelle agreed to collaborate on developing this new felting gun.
References & Inspiration¶
- Felting Needles and Different Types of Supports
- FeltLoomMe using this felting machine
- Low-tech Tools for Carding Wool
Tools¶
- Tufting Gun
- Fusion 360
- 3D Printer
- PLA / FLEX Filaments
- Hardware
Tufting Gun¶
Before starting, I did an introductory session with the tufting gun so she could understand its main function. A tufting gun is an electric tool used to quickly create rugs, textiles, or wool surfaces by punching yarn into a base (often a woven fabric). Here’s a simple guide to understanding how it works and how to use it:
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Prepare the base Use a tightly woven fabric (like monk’s cloth or Aida cloth). Stretch it firmly on a frame or loom so that it is flat and stable. The tighter the fabric, the more precise the tufting will be.
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Choose the yarn Tufting guns generally accept wool, cotton, or acrylic yarn. Check the recommended thickness for your gun model. Use a yarn winder to make a spool that unwinds easily from the center.
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Set up the machine Plug in the tufting gun. Some machines have a speed control, which is useful for adjusting according to your comfort and the desired density. Make sure the needle is securely fixed and straight.
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Tufting (punching) Position the gun’s needle on your fabric. Press the trigger so the needle pushes the yarn through the fabric, forming a small loop or tuft. Move the machine following the desired pattern. Make sure the gun’s foot stays parallel to the fabric, guiding it only with the front handle while it follows the rear arm. There are different types of guns: the loop gun for loops and the cut gun for fringes. Choose depending on the effect you want.
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Finishing Once the surface is completely filled, you can sew or glue a backing to stabilize the fabric. If making a rug, cut the loops if necessary. Remove the textile from the frame and trim the edges.
Precautions! - Always hold the gun with both hands for control. - Tie back hair and keep clothing and fingers away from the needle. - Use in a well-ventilated area if using synthetic yarn (some may release fumes when hot). - Do not leave the machine plugged in unattended; always turn it off after use, even for a one-minute break.
Take off the scissors¶
We each have a Cutting Gun, and the particular feature of this model is that it has a pair of small scissors built into it. With every back-and-forth movement of the needle, the scissors follow to cut the yarn pushed through the fabric to create fringes. The first step, therefore, is to remove these scissors since we don’t need them, they can even become dangerous.
To do this, we followed this tutorial up to 3:43. The tutorial is in French, but I think it’s clear enough for anyone to follow. Once the scissors are removed, make sure to also take out the metal rod that connects the scissors to the bearing ; if you don’t, it can be very dangerous once the gun is turned on ! Then, reinstall the front handle by reversing the steps you used to remove it.
Careful : do not reinstall the two-screw block shown in the picture above, so that the needle’s hook remains unobstructed.
Carmen and I made a first mock-up using cardboard, modeling clay, and felting needles to understand how we could design the attachment that will hold the felting needles. We immediately noticed that we would need to place something inside the eye of the needle to secure the structure so it wouldn’t be ejected by the repeated movements. Meanwhile, Annabelle started designing a more technical piece so it could fit on different tufting guns, since we realized that our three guns had needle dimensions that differed by a few millimeters.
Once we got started, each of us began developing an idea: Annabel worked on the piece that will connect the gun to the needles, and Carmen, using Annabel’s concept, decided to create it not with 3D printing but with laser cutting to explore another manufacturing method. As for me, I’m working on the attachment that will hold the needles. I invite you to check the girls’ documentation to learn more about their design steps.
The Needle Holder¶
Based on Annabel’s part, we agreed that the needle holder would be attached using four holes, as shown in the plan below. Once the positions of these four holes were determined, I could design any shape I wanted, and I chose a circular form, almost like enlarging the traditional tool.
The needle holder includes grooves so the needles can slide in properly. After the first print, the needles didn’t fit correctly, so I made the holes 0.2 mm larger to ensure they could be inserted.
I then redesigned my piece so that the needles would fit properly, and I also decided to arrange the holes in a circular pattern for aesthetic reasons. I added a thickness of 30 mm to ensure the needles are well guided and secure. I continued to design the cover to close in the same way, with a notch that slides into the needle holder.
Later, through Carmen’s experiments, we realized that the shape of the attachment was not ideal, because it didn’t grip the needle of the gun well and moved too much. So we rethought the design, but to avoid wasting this first print, I created a manual handle so it could still be used by hand.
Felting Gun¶
As mentioned earlier, we noticed that the initial part we designed wasn’t suitable because it moved too much. So I started thinking about a new, simpler design by visualizing it with modeling clay and pieces from other existing tools. The idea was to keep the tip of the traditional felting tool and slide it onto the hook of the tufting gun needle.
First, I modeled a rectangular counter‑shape that fits snugly around the gun’s tip. I chose to print it in FLEX so it would grip better and be soft enough to absorb the movement’s impacts. This part has two holes passing through the needle’s eyelet so a screw can be inserted to secure it.
A second piece, printed in PLA, slides onto it. This piece holds the wooden needle tip, and a screw passes through it and exits on the other side. The screw must be 3 mm in diameter to match the standard tool. Once it is mounted, the FLEX part can be inserted into it.
Here is a short video that explains the felting gun assembly more clearly.
Result¶
