This blog contains information about the making of a charpoy. This is a kind of bed or cot often seen in the rural villages of India and in Pakistan. The bed is also called a charpai, a manja, a manjaa, a manji or a khartiya. There are other names for the beds. The bed frame traditionally was made of wood and it has four legs. The part of the bed you sleep on is made of rope that is woven. Modern day Charpoy are made of many different types natural and synthetic materials.
Saturday, December 18, 2010
A work in progress
I am still working on this blog feel free to look around as the blog is being developed.
I've been planning on buying charpai legs the next time I visit India, and adding the sides the rope weave here. So this is very helpful :). They also have a version of a charpai which uses a wide strap instead of a rope for the weave. That might be easier ...
Thanks for your post. I have some of the wide material you mentioned. I will try working with it and see how things turn out. If you wanted to start making a charpoy you can find some good furniture legs in places like Home Depot. The ones I liked ran about 8 or 9 dollars each. Good luck with you project.
I have made a charpai/charpoy using pvc pipe and clothes line rope. It took some time to figure out the weave. It is a simple version with three strands beside each other throughout the weave. A difficulty that I have not found a solution to is that the entire length of rope (approx. 100 ft.) must be pulled through each weft. There must be a short cut to this. I have searched the internet in vain to find a video that shows a charpai being woven from beginning to end. Thank you for the great blog.
It is a pleasure to speak to someone who has actually made a charpoy! Is it possible that you could send us a picture of your chapoy? Any info you can give us about making the charpoy would be greatly appreciated.
in searching on the Internet I found that there are many different forms of rope or string management used in the different weaving techniques. One of the things I discovered is the shuttle. While on vacation in Mexico, I was talking with some weavers about weaving a bed and they sold me a stick about 12 inches long and an inch thick with a 2 to 3 inch notch on each end. They showed me how to wrap the thread or rope around the stick. The stick held a lot of rope. When I got home I looked on the Internet and I found that the stick was called a shuttle. If you wrap your thread or rope on a shuttle it will not tangle and will be easy to manage. Here are some examples of shuttles.(http://www.mielkesfarm.com/wv_shut.htm) and (http://halcyonyarn.com/weaving_shuttles.html) The shuttles are often used in weaving cloth. I have made shuttles out of cardboard but they only lasted for one project. I have found that coroplast is easy to work with and the shuttles made of it can be used again and again. Coroplast is the corrugated plastic material used in making yard signs.
In your post you said that you made your frame out of PVC. I have found that PVC is very easy to work with. I have made the frame in 2 sizes, one 10 by sixteen inches for practicing weaving using 3/4 inch pipe and one 3ft by 6 ft full sized made out of 1and1/2 inch pipe. For the corners I am using the three way elbow joint. It works out great.
embeadke, A trick, if it can be called that, to working with pvc is to reinforce the pipe by inserting a length of wood just under the width of the inner diameter of the pipe. This reinforcing, I have found, is especially needed with the longer horizontal sections on either side. I have used 3"i.d. pvc for the legs and 1 1/2"i.d. for the horizontal supports. I drilled through the legs and let the horizontal sections through the holes, much like a mortise and tenon joint in wood. If you post a picture of yours I will attempt to get a picture of mine to you.
Thanks for the great tip about putting wood inside of the PVC pipe. I am very happy with using pvc for the 10 by 16 inch model size using the 3/4 inch pipe. It is a great size for practicing weaving. However, my larger project did not turn out so well. I made the frame out of 1and 1/2 inch pipe schedule 40 (the same size used for most pvc furniture). I checked with someone who uses pvc and he said that if I gave the sides support every 36 inches it would work, so I added another pair of legs in the middle of the sides. The frame looked great and I thought it would be fine but when I tried laying on it, it poped! When I checked the pipes I found that none had broken. I do not feel comfortable trying to sleep on something that pops when I move around on it. So it is back to the drawing board for me as far as the large (32"x72") frame goes. I will consider your suggestions when I try to make a frame in the future. I am thinking of experimenting with wood or metal. I am sure with a little more research and effort I will find something that will work!
From Houston, TX. I have been looking to make, buy one for such a long time. This weekend just decided to build it myself. your Blog is a great first step in the process. BTW, I found that the centuries old charpoy making is now used for the modernized furniture you will find at Pier1 imports etc.
I found some great videos of what australians called sea grass bed (furniture) and in US these things are sold as "hand made" wicker furniture.
Following website is of good help. http://wickerworks.com.au/
Also if you search You Tube for "PE rattan wicker fiber" you will find bunch of videos there on the weave, and modernized use of the weaving techniques.
Thanks for responding to my blog. Good luck on your charpoy project. The instructions for weaving the straight weave can be purchased from the site listed on the blog. The straight weave can produce beautiful results. the diagonal weave is the one most often seen on the charpoy it seems to be a bit quicker to weave, if you can figure out how to do it. I look forward to seeing your charpoy.
Hi embeadke, Thank you for posting your very interesting and informative article on weaving a charpoy. I've been wanting to make one for a long time, and now I think I'm ready! I think I'll use some turned wood legs from a table I found at a thrift store, and buy some lengths of hardwood closet pole for the frame. I'm pretty good at weaving and macrame,so I think I can figure out how to weave the bed onto the frame, but I don't quite understand how to tighten it afterwards. Can you explain that? Thank you! kt
After reading your blog, I decided to get my son (who is a mechanical engineer) to make a charpoy. Hopefully it will be done this week and next will be trying to figure out what type of rope or webbing to use for the frame.
Thank you!!! I have been looking for how to weave a charpoy, for forever.
ReplyDeleteHello Anonymous
ReplyDeleteThanks for visiting my blog and for your comment. Please let me know if you need any help and let us know how your charpoy turns out.
I've been planning on buying charpai legs the next time I visit India, and adding the sides the rope weave here. So this is very helpful :). They also have a version of a charpai which uses a wide strap instead of a rope for the weave. That might be easier ...
ReplyDeleteYa
DeleteHello, I have successfully made my charpai(khatlo) with cloth thick straps
DeleteHello Nandini
ReplyDeleteThanks for your post. I have some of the wide material you mentioned. I will try working with it and see how things turn out. If you wanted to start making a charpoy you can find some good furniture legs in places like Home Depot. The ones I liked ran about 8 or 9 dollars each. Good luck with you project.
I have made a charpai/charpoy using pvc pipe and clothes line rope. It took some time to figure out the weave. It is a simple version with three strands beside each other throughout the weave. A difficulty that I have not found a solution to is that the entire length of rope (approx. 100 ft.) must be pulled through each weft. There must be a short cut to this. I have searched the internet in vain to find a video that shows a charpai being woven from beginning to end. Thank you for the great blog.
ReplyDeleteHello Anonymous
ReplyDeleteIt is a pleasure to speak to someone who has actually made a charpoy! Is it possible that you could send us a picture of your chapoy? Any info you can give us about making the charpoy would be greatly appreciated.
in searching on the Internet I found that there are many different forms of rope or string management used in the different weaving techniques. One of the things I discovered is the shuttle. While on vacation in Mexico, I was talking with some weavers about weaving a bed and they sold me a stick about 12 inches long and an inch thick with a 2 to 3 inch notch on each end. They showed me how to wrap the thread or rope around the stick. The stick held a lot of rope. When I got home I looked on the Internet and I found that the stick was called a shuttle. If you wrap your thread or rope on a shuttle it will not tangle and will be easy to manage. Here are some examples of shuttles.(http://www.mielkesfarm.com/wv_shut.htm) and (http://halcyonyarn.com/weaving_shuttles.html) The shuttles are often used in weaving cloth. I have made shuttles out of cardboard but they only lasted for one project. I have found that coroplast is easy to work with and the shuttles made of it can be used again and again. Coroplast is the corrugated plastic material used in making yard signs.
In your post you said that you made your frame out of PVC. I have found that PVC is very easy to work with. I have made the frame in 2 sizes, one 10 by sixteen inches for practicing weaving using 3/4 inch pipe and one 3ft by 6 ft full sized made out of 1and1/2 inch pipe. For the corners I am using the three way elbow joint. It works out great.
embeadke,
ReplyDeleteA trick, if it can be called that, to working with pvc is to reinforce the pipe by inserting a length of wood just under the width of the inner diameter of the pipe. This reinforcing, I have found, is especially needed with the longer horizontal sections on either side. I have used 3"i.d. pvc for the legs and 1 1/2"i.d. for the horizontal supports. I drilled through the legs and let the horizontal sections through the holes, much like a mortise and tenon joint in wood. If you post a picture of yours I will attempt to get a picture of mine to you.
Hello anonymous
ReplyDeleteThanks for the great tip about putting wood inside of the PVC pipe. I am very happy with using pvc for the 10 by 16 inch model size using the 3/4 inch pipe. It is a great size for practicing weaving. However, my larger project did not turn out so well. I made the frame out of 1and 1/2 inch pipe schedule 40 (the same size used for most pvc furniture). I checked with someone who uses pvc and he said that if I gave the sides support every 36 inches it would work, so I added another pair of legs in the middle of the sides. The frame looked great and I thought it would be fine but when I tried laying on it, it poped! When I checked the pipes I found that none had broken. I do not feel comfortable trying to sleep on something that pops when I move around on it. So it is back to the drawing board for me as far as the large (32"x72") frame goes. I will consider your suggestions when I try to make a frame in the future. I am thinking of experimenting with wood or metal. I am sure with a little more research and effort I will find something that will work!
From Houston, TX. I have been looking to make, buy one for such a long time. This weekend just decided to build it myself. your Blog is a great first step in the process. BTW, I found that the centuries old charpoy making is now used for the modernized furniture you will find at Pier1 imports etc.
ReplyDeleteI found some great videos of what australians called sea grass bed (furniture) and in US these things are sold as "hand made" wicker furniture.
Following website is of good help.
http://wickerworks.com.au/
Also if you search You Tube for "PE rattan wicker fiber" you will find bunch of videos there on the weave, and modernized use of the weaving techniques.
I will share pictures once I have mine ready.
Hello there in Houston!
ReplyDeleteThanks for responding to my blog. Good luck on your charpoy project. The instructions for weaving the straight weave can be purchased from the site listed on the blog. The straight weave can produce beautiful results. the diagonal weave is the one most often seen on the charpoy it seems to be a bit quicker to weave, if you can figure out how to do it. I look forward to seeing your charpoy.
Hi embeadke, Thank you for posting your very interesting and informative article on weaving a charpoy. I've been wanting to make one for a long time, and now I think I'm ready! I think I'll use some turned wood legs from a table I found at a thrift store, and buy some lengths of hardwood closet pole for the frame. I'm pretty good at weaving and macrame,so I think I can figure out how to weave the bed onto the frame, but I don't quite understand how to tighten it afterwards. Can you explain that? Thank you! kt
ReplyDeleteAfter reading your blog, I decided to get my son (who is a mechanical engineer) to make a charpoy. Hopefully it will be done this week and next will be trying to figure out what type of rope or webbing to use for the frame.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the inspiration!
Hello Anonymous
ReplyDeleteGood luck with making your charpoy. Please let us know how it turns out.