Edited by Carol Strickler.New with "Clicker" Pawls, Cogs und Handles (see PDF) If you do decide on 8 harnesses, I suggest and excellent book -“ A Weaver’s Pattern book of 8-Shaft Patterns” by Handwoven Magazine. Retired now, I get as much joy out of my 4 harnesses. I did have an AVL 16 harness mechanical 60” fly shuttle dobby for years for production weaving as a career. So I can set up different warp designs on the one and then the treadling speed and rhythm on the other. And then also got a 4 harness 22” Harrisville loom with direct tie up. I realized I didn’t enjoy the warping and set up of the tie ups as much as the rhythm of weaving, and traded it for the 4 harness version with a support table. I once had a 24” 8 harness table loom that could have the treadles added made by mountain looms. Does the aspect of working with delicate and different designs and yarns intrigue you enough to put up with the pain in the butt factor of hours spent warping 8 to 16 harnesses? Or do you enjoy the rhythm and seeing your work proceed. Think about how you will really enjoy weaving. You may find the time investment worth it in the long run. Being fast on a loom isn't necessarily important, but I have ADD, so my floor loom is the best option for me. If this kind of time investment isn't an issue for you, go for the most shafts you can afford so you can grow into the loom. I used it at a workshop at which everyone else was using a portable floor loom (mostly Baby Wolf looms), and I got so much less out of that workshop due to the time it took to change sheds. Personally, I find even my 8-shaft table loom to be cumbersome and slow when weaving patterns requiring more than 4 shafts. This is offered simply as another thing to consider. The advantage, in general, of such a loom would be that it is one into which you can grow as a weaver, and it's a dobby, which solves the time issue with a 16-shaft table loom. There are some reviews out there you can Google if you wish. I don't have one, although I have a Louet Delta 12 shaft, so cannot speak to how it works. It can be a table loom, although it comes with a stand. So, I guess I'm saying, a floor loom is faster, but - like you, perhaps - if it's a table loom, I'd go for more shafts.Īn option to consider if you can afford it is the Louet magic dobby, 24 shafts. For myself, if I were to get another table loom, I'd go for the 16 shaft version simply because I'd find it hard to convince myself that having to determine which of the 8 levers needed to be lifted would be all that much faster than deciding which of the 16 to use. I'm currently putting together a 16 shaft mechanical dobby loom, having exchanged both the David loom and actual money for it - not so much because of the extra shafts (though I am quite pleased by that) as much as the fact that I'd not considered how having to stretch my legs to reach the furthest away treadles would impact the bursitis in my hip. I could definitely weave more quickly by using my legs for the treadles over my arms and hands for the levers, even though I'd doubled the number of shafts. My table loom sits on a card table - when I had enough money to get another loom but had no extra space, I chose the Louet David, an 8 shaft floor loom that took up perhaps another 2 inches on one side more than the card table. I think the idea of how much work it will take to weave is an important one to consider. Most guilds allow the rental of looms on a per-month basis-whether that means you can take a table loom home or have to use the loom at the guild varies. If you are absolutely set on getting a table loom, I can't recommend testing one out before buying enough. 16–32+ shafts are almost universally dobby looms. When it comes to floor looms, 12 shafts tends to be the maximum in terms of purely manual looms. A 24" floor loom that can fold up for storage (most of which can fold even with a project warped on it) could very well take up less floor space than a dedicated table for your table loom. I've seen horror stories of people who adored weaving only to get burnt out because they didn't know just how much work flipping so many levers on a table loom can be.Īlso note 16-shaft table looms are large beasts in and of themselves. It doesn't sound like a huge difference, but the shift from 4 to 16 shafts is massive. No matter how much you love weaving, swapping so many levers for each pick is a monumental task if you're making any kind of project-and if it's a longer project, it just compounds. While it's true you can weave many, many designs on a 16-shaft loom, I would never recommend anyone get a 16-shaft table loom unless they didn't have use of their legs for health reasons.
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