Where to get looms

A rigid heddle is a fixed panel that moves the warp threads as a group, as opposed to individually thread movement like a wire or Texsolv heddle. The equivalent of a 2-harness loom, it will allow you to weave light work, such as placemats, dishtowels, scarves, shawls or fabric for clothing. The skills and techniques developed on a rigid heddle loom are all transferable to other types of looms, including the larger table and floor looms.

It assembles in minutes, although the included instructions can be a little difficult to decipher. The adjustable stand can also be a little wobbly, but all in all, this is an excellent loom for the price.

All Rights reserved. August 19, pm. Buy it. Powered by WordPress. Our Sites. Close the menu Menu. Do you want to weave rugs or blankets? Like rep weave or double weave or jacquard? Is the fabric wide? Is it narrow? What kinds of yarns do you need to use to make that cloth? Is it wool which is very elastic and stretchy? Or is it cotton or linen which has much less elasticity? Does the cloth need to be beat firmly like a rug or rep weave?

Consider if you want to weave for production, like you need to weave yards and yards of fabric very efficiently and ergonomically. Or if you are weaving the occasional scarf in your free time. The second thing is to know your limits. What are your constraints? Is it space? Is it cost? Is it time? How much space any particular loom takes up is relative to the size of the room. A table loom that sits on a dining table designed for 2 people is going to be impractical and feel suffocating.

The same table loom placed in a large living room that used to hold a grand piano will feel positively miniscule. These table looms come as 4 or 8 shafts. The possibilities are really endless.

Cost is all relative. Generally smaller, less complex looms will be less expensive. As looms get more features and functions like stands or multiple shafts or sectional beams or computer dobby systems, those features will increase the overall cost of the loom. Finer or stronger woods might increase the cost. There are looms that you can get for less than a hundred dollars and other looms that run tens of thousands of dollars. There are plenty of looms that cost more than my first car.

Remember to go back to your initial thoughts about what you want to weave. The new Leclerc Mira loom that I ordered is not an expensive floor loom, relative to the other floor looms on the market , but it is hopefully exactly what I need for the kind of weaving that I want to do.

One of the things that holds people back from trying weaving is hearing stories about how long it takes to warp a loom. So winding a warp, threading heddles, sleying the slots of the reed… I enjoy every single bit of it. In any case, if the thought of the length of time required for the warping process is holding you back from weaving, then perhaps you will be drawn to the simplicity of warping with a rigid heddle loom.

You can get a rigid heddle loom warped and be weaving on it within an hour as opposed to sometimes taking weeks to get my floor loom warped. The Schacht product line includes hand looms, rigid heddle looms, inkle looms, tapestry looms, table looms and floor looms. Toika — Based in Finland, this family owned and operated business dates back to Toika produces floor looms as well as a full line of weaving supplies and floor loom accessories.

A loom can be defined as any device used to weave thread or yarn into cloth, a rug or a tapestry. At its core, a loom holds one group of parallel threads under tension the warp while enabling the weaving of another set of parallel threads the weft perpendicular to the threads under tension. The pattern of the weave is typically determined by the manipulation or movement up or down of the warp threads.

Dating back to BC, weaving is one of the world's oldest and continuously practiced crafts. In fact, weaving is mentioned some nine times in the Old Testament. By most accounts, flax was one of the popular weaving fibers in ancient Egypt, producing linen. Wool , Linen and Hemp were the dominant yarns of choice until the advent of the cotton gin in which greatly reduced the cost and increased the availability of cotton fiber.

In , Joseph Marie Jacquard invented a system using punched wooden cards to control the design of a loom. Jacquard based his system on the earlier loom automation work of Jacques de Vaucansan some 60 years earlier.

In addition to playing an important role in the Industrial Revolution, the Jacquard Loom is credited as a precursor to the punch card systems used by early mainframe computers. Today, weaving looms can be found in all sizes, designs and configurations.

For example, one of the largest looms can be found in Iran, producing 50m wide rugs. From the mountains of Afghanistan to the factories in Asia, weaving and weaving looms continue to play an important role in our daily lives.