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Know the qualities and drawbacks of different floor
and table looms.
By Stacey Harvey-Brown
How to choose the best loom for your
needs
There are a bewildering choice of looms in the market – both
new and second-hand. How do you know what sort of loom suits
you and your weaving? “Is one sort of loom better suited to
rugs?” “Can I weave things other than rugs on it?” “If I
want to weave tapestries, will a shaft loom be useful?”
These are a few of the questions I’ve been asked over the
years, and there’s a lot of confusion about the different
types of looms and what they do.
As a teacher and practising weaver for 18 years, I’m often
asked for advice on choosing a loom. Over the years, I’ve
come across a number of different looms and have gained a lot
of experience - in 2008, I set up a weaving workshop for 60
weavers in Oman for the Omani government, including putting
together many different makes and models of looms. So I’ve
written this guide to help clear up the confusion and point
you in the right direction to find the loom for the weaving
you want to do.
The guide contains the following :
1.
The 4 generic types of looms that you are most likely to
come across – rigid heddle, tapestry, table and floor looms.
2.
More specific descriptions of the different types of
floor looms.
3.
How do you choose between them?
1.
The 4 generic types of looms that you are most likely to
come across.
i)
Rigid heddle loom
ii)
Tapestry loom
iii) Table loom
iv)
Floor loom
This is a description of each of these 4 generic types of
loom.
i)
Rigid heddle loom.
Ashford Knitter’s Loom shown with heddle in the raised position
A rigid heddle loom is a frame loom with one shaft/reed which
has alternate slots and holes where you thread your warp. It
will give you plain weave structure (threads in the holes rise
for one weft insertion, and the threads in the slots are
raised for the other weft insertion) when you raise and lower
the rigid heddle, so called because there are no individual
heddles to be manipulated separately.
ii)
Tapestry loom.
Ashford tapestry loom with heddle bar and string heddles.
This can be:
a)
a simple wooden, metal or plastic frame with pins or
nails or slots inserted on top and bottom edges which hold the
strung single warp thread in place;
b)
it can be a more sophisticated frame for multiple
warp threads with two heddle bars or rods to lift alternate
warp threads and with a system for moving the warp and woven
fabric around the frame;
c)
it can be a 2-shaft loom, looking very similar to a
traditional 4-shaft loom, with a warp beam and a cloth beam.
For tapestry weaving, you need to be able to create a shed for
weaving plain weave, or sometimes twill. Many tapestry
weavers don’t require any mechanical assistance at all, as
they weave discontinuous weft, which they put in place by
hand-selecting just the areas of warp they wish to weave. The
looms are generally horizontal looms – used in a similar way
to shaft looms, vertical looms – used in an upright position,
or lap looms – mobile and used without any particular
orientation, quite often propped on the weaver’s legs and
leaning against a table.
iii) Table loom.
Four-shaft table loom with side levers (Leclerc Dorothy)
Table looms are shaft looms that sit on a horizontal surface
such as a table, workbench or stand. Each shaft operates
individually and contains individual heddles, and the shafts
can be used on their own or in combination with the other
shafts. The loom has a warp beam with a brake system to store
and tension the warp threads at the back of the loom. It also
has a cloth beam at the front of the loom, with a ratchet
brake, to wind on and hold the woven cloth. The warp yarn
passes from the cylindrical warp beam over the back beam,
through the individual heddles and then the reed, over the
breast beam and onto the cylindrical cloth beam at the front
of the loom.
The essential differences between the table loom and the floor
loom are the table loom’s smaller size and that it is totally
operated by hand. There are models of table loom that have an
optional treadle facility, but you cannot then use them on the
table, so they then fall into the floor loom category.
Some table looms can be folded for easier storage and
transportation.
Eight-shaft table loom with front levers (Ashford)
Whilst table looms predominantly have 4 shafts, they can also
have 8, 12 or 16 shafts. The more shafts, the heavier the
loom and the less easily transported. Sometimes, you will
also find that looms with more shafts have two warp beams, and
two back beams. This allows different yarns to be used in the
warp which have different shrinkage rates. The different
yarns can be tensioned separately, one on each warp beam.
The levers to operate the shafts are usually found either
across the front of the castle, facing the weaver, or along
the sides of the top of the castle, either on one or both
sides. The action varies from a simple pivot lever which you
depress to raise the shaft (found more usually on side-action
looms), through a pull cord with a knot or bell-pull knob
(like a light cord) where you physically raise the shaft
directly, and then lock the pull cord into a slot to keep the
shaft raised (found on both side-, centre- and front-action
looms), to a magnetised lever which is very similar to the
pull cord but locks through the use of magnets (found usually
on front-action looms). The magnetised lever is the modern
version of the pull cord.
The beaters on table looms can vary from underslung (which
means they pivot from the bottom of the loom frame), overhung
(which means they are attached to the top of the castle), or
sliding (which means they slide along grooves like a drawer
closing or opening).
8-shaft table loom
(Louet Jane) with stand and folded
iv)
Floor loom.
A floor loom is a larger version of the table loom but uses
treadles (pedals) which are foot operated to control the
shafts. The weaver quite often sits on a bench built within
the frame of the loom.
The number of treadles restricts the combinations of shafts
that can be lifted in one tie-up. In order to change this
combination, the weaver is generally required to get
underneath the loom to alter the connections between the
treadles and the shafts.
Some floor looms have a different system which does not
include climbing under the loom and that is explained in the
next section.
Floor loom beaters, which hold the reed and are used to beat
the reed against the fell of the fabric, can be underslung or
overhung like table looms. Underslung beaters are pivoted at
the base of the loom, usually at the bottom edge of the breast
beam frame, or along the bottom side pieces of the main frame.
They rest close to the front shafts, or against the breast
beam. Overhung beaters are suspended from the castle and hang
freely.
2.
More specific descriptions of the different types of
floor looms.
Here’s where it gets a bit more involved and the confusion
arises. Basically, there are 4 different types of floor loom:
i)
Counterbalance
ii)
Countermarche (countermarch)
iii) Jack
iv)
Dobby
Each sort of loom suits different people and different weaving
styles. Each have good points and drawbacks. I will give you
the basic descriptions of all four types of looms and then
will go into the attributes and drawbacks between the
different looms.
i)
Counterbalance – this is usually a 4-shaft loom (although
you can get 8-shaft versions but they are rare), where each
shaft is connected to the other three through a roller system
(think pulleys) or a horse system (think balance scales).
For a 4-shaft counterbalance loom you will generally have 6
treadles. The action is that as you depress a treadle (say
that it is tied to shafts 1 and 2), it will lower those shafts
to which it is attached. At the same time, the pulley/horse
action raises the other two shafts, so creating a shed. The
advantage to this system is that only a small movement is
required to open the shed to a good size and the action is
balanced. The disadvantage is that the shed is not so good
when you are using 1/3 or 3/1 twill, although if the shed is
still wide enough to pass your shuttles through, this is not a
problem.
4-shaft counterbalance with a roller system (Leclerc Fanny)
ii) Countermarche – this system can be used on any number of
shafts as each treadle is attached to every shaft. There are
two sets of lamms, the upper set is attached to the bottom of
the shafts, and the lower set attached to the top of the
shafts through a pulley system. When you tie up the treadles,
you attach the treadle to the upper set of lamms for the
shafts you wish to lower. You then tie up the remaining
shafts to the lower set of lamms so that those shafts are
raised. For a full tie-up, you do this for each treadle.
The advantage is that the shed is very clear. The
disadvantage is that you are moving all the shafts all the
time, which can be physically quite taxing. On 4-shaft looms
this is not usually a problem (the same happens on the
counterbalance). However, on looms with 12 or more shafts,
especially with metal heddles, this can be very tiring.
8 shaft countermarched loom (Louet Spring). Every shaft is attached to
every treadle via the horizontal lamms beneath the loom.
You also have an option to tie each treadle to just the upper
lamms or just the lower lamms and only use the shafts you want
to use. This gives you a split shed if some of the treadles
are tied to upper lamms and some are tied to lower lamms. The
split shed can then be used to create some unusual weaving,
but this is usually not tackled until the weaver has some
experience.
iii) Jack – the jack loom uses shafts in a similar way to
table looms. The shaft is generally raised to create the
shed, although there are jack looms where the shaft is lowered
to open the shed. This makes it easy to tie-up, but puts
considerable tension onto the warp as the moving shafts are
doing all the work and moving the full distance to create the
shed unlike the counterbalance and countermarche systems where
all shafts move and only move half as much. Jack looms are
also more likely to have folding beams for storage and ease of
mobility.
(Leclerc Colonial V2).
12-shaft jack loom with 14 treadles
The jacks can be seen at the top of the castle.
iv) Dobby – dobby looms are essentially multi-shaft jack
looms but with only one or two treadles. They usually have 12
or more shafts, and have a dobby box attached to the side of
the loom in place of treadles and tie-up. The action is
similar to a table loom, and the dobby box, either mechanical
or computer-driven, selects the shafts pre-programmed into the
system. The mechanical system works on pegs and lags, where
lags are small bars with holes in according to the total
number of shafts on your loom. Pegs are inserted into the
holes of a lag to denote which shafts you want raised for that
particular pick. Each lag denotes one passage of a weft.
Lags are joined together in the order you choose with chains
or ties to create the pegplan, and each one is advanced
through the selecting mechanism on the box with the use of a
treadle. The pegs push forward the raising mechanism on each
shaft selected which connect into a sweep arm which pulls the
selected shafts up as the arm is moved down by the direct
action of the treadle. Where you have two treadles, only one
is used at a time - one lifts, then the other is used to
advance the lags. Where you have one treadle, the treadle
lifts the shafts, and the dobby box has an automatic advancing
mechanism to move onto the next lag.
32-shaft mechanical dobby loom (Louet Megado) showing the bars and pegs
which determine the shafts to be lifted.
The computer system works through a computer which is attached
to the loom. A simple binary code tells the dobby box whether
the shaft is to be on or off. If it is on, a little solenoid
pushes forward to engage the raising mechanism on each shaft
selected, similar to the peg on the lag. The sweep arm is
pulled down with the pressing of the treadle which engages the
raising mechanism and raises the selected shafts. As before,
where you have two treadles, one lifts, and the other cancels
the lift and advances the programme to the next lift.
AVL V-series dobby loom
Computer system
for a dobby loom (Louet Megado)
The main advantage of the dobby system is that you have the
ability to change from one lifting plan to another without
having to clamber under your loom to change the tie-up. On
older dobby looms, the main disadvantage is the wear and tear
on your right leg, knee and hip, especially if you have many
shafts and use lots of them together, as your right leg, knee
and hip are lifting all the shafts you have selected. More
modern versions have electronic assistance or compressed air
assistance so you press a button either with your foot or your
hand, and the power system you’ve bought operates the lifting
of the shafts.
Some dobby looms, especially ones built in the early 1900 –
1980s, have one treadle and are very tall. The treadle is
attached to a rope that goes right to the top of the loom –
about 8 – 9 feet – and gives you the leverage to raise large
numbers of shafts under tension with just your body weight. If
you come across a George Wood dobby, that is what you will
find.
Quite often the preference of an overhung beater or an
underslung beater can make a difference to which loom you buy.
Ideally, you need to try out both versions to see which you
prefer.
3.
How do you choose between them?
You can see from the descriptions above that each loom has
attributes and each loom has drawbacks. Depending on what you
want to do, those play a smaller or larger part in selecting
which loom you would like for your weaving.
For ease of changing lifting combinations, the table loom and
the dobby loom have the upper hand. However, the table loom
is slow, so if you want to weave lots of lengths, then the
table loom is probably not for you. If you want the ease of
changing lifting combinations quickly and weaving lots, the
dobby loom is the ideal loom for you. If you are trying out a
set of samples so that you can see what things will look like
before going on to another loom to weave the length, then the
table loom is ideal.
The counterbalance and countermarche looms are good for
weaving lengths or weaving projects that are related through
the same tie-up. The counterbalance is much easier to set up,
and quicker if you want to change the tie-up. However, it is
usually limited to 4 shafts. If you have a solid, heavy
counterbalance loom, it is ideal for weaving rugs, and yet is
equally at home with lighter weight fabrics. The
countermarche loom requires more time and effort in arranging
the tie-ups, and is not the loom to use if you want to change
tie-ups on a regular basis. Both counterbalance and
countermarche looms require that you get under the loom to
change the tie-up and this is not such an easy task if you
have mobility or joint problems. However, the countermarche
is a great loom for weaving projects that require 8 or more
shafts and a cheaper loom than the dobby. If you want to
weave linen (which does not have elasticity), the
counterbalance and countermarche looms are a better choice
than jack or dobby or table looms because the action of the
shafts gives all the warp yarns the same tension regardless of
what combination of shafts you are using.
The jack loom is a useful loom if you like to weave with some
changes of tie-up. Although you most often have to climb
under the loom to change the tie-up, it is a very simple
action, like the counterbalance loom. However, this loom is
not so good for rugs or linen, as the action of the shafts
imposes a high tension on the warp yarns. Also, if it is a
folding jack loom, the strength of the loom will not generally
be sufficient for weaving rugs.
Jack looms are also usually fairly compact and can take up
considerably less floor space than counterbalance,
countermarche and dobby looms. This can be a very important
factor. If it is a folding jack loom, this is a great loom to
have in an apartment or small property.
As you can see there is no wonderloom! Each has its own
attributes, and its own drawbacks. If the loom is sturdy
enough, it can weave items that require a heavy beat, but you
need to think about the kinds of items that you would like to
weave before you buy your loom. If you are a rug weaver,
avoid table, jack and dobby looms. If you prefer soft
furnishing fabrics, and change the tie-up often, then jack
looms or dobby looms would be better suited to your needs. If
you prefer to weave as many different patterns from one tie-up
as you can, the countermarche could be your loom. If you are
a linen person, look to counterbalance and countermarche
looms.
Price-wise there is a consideration too. The table loom will
usually be the cheaper option. Fixed floor looms take up more
floor space and are less moveable than folding looms, so you
may find a price variation there. However, folding looms are
not as sturdy as fixed floor looms, so that might be a
consideration.
Dobby looms are generally more expensive than the other types
of floor looms. Older dobby looms may also require
considerable ceiling height to clear the loom’s height. Check
that if you are considering a dobby loom, especially a
mechanical one.
Counterbalance looms are usually 4-shaft, so you will probably
find them to be a bit cheaper than countermarche looms.
However, it all depends where you are looking – whether you
are scouring the second-hand market or buying new. Do try out
your loom before you agree to purchase, just to ensure that it
is the right loom for you and your needs.
To help you Know what to look for when buying your loom
second-hand, or How to set up your loom when you get it home,
and for How to avoid the 10 most common pitfalls in preparing
your warp, you can download guides to cover these topics on my
website – www.theloomroom.co.uk/
I hope this has given you an understanding of the different
categories of loom and that you will be better equipped to
select the right loom for you and your needs.
Happy Weaving!!
Stacey Harvey-Brown
www.theloomroom.co.uk
e:[email protected]
Phone 01538 723000
Louet :
www.louet.nl
Leclerc :
www.leclerclooms.com
Ashford :
www.ashfordlooms.co.nz
AVL :
www.avlusa.com