I want to share a little bit about the loom that has arrived in our house. I’m working on several different projects on this loom and on today’s Lo Meets Loom vlog, I want to talk a bit about the challenges of buying a used weaving loom online and what I’ll be doing to fix up this old loom.
The story behind this loom started at last year’s Knit City where I had a conversation with Kim Werker, part of Digits & Threads online publication, partnered along with Kate Atherley. Kim was talking about her own weaving journey – telling me about her rigid heddle loom and the possible steps she could take to achieve weaving a wide piece of cloth. But the more and more we talked about it, it led us to the rabbit hole of looking at looms on various marketplaces. In any case, Kim got set up with her own Leclerc floor loom, but as I was doing the research, I discovered a few more floor looms that were listed. One which just so happened to fit perfectly in the corner of my dining room.
I would love to hear about your own old loom. Did you buy yours on an online marketplace… did you have a disaster or has it worked out really well? I’d love to hear more about what you’ve done to fix up or restore your loom in the comments!
IN THIS EPISODE:
-
- what I mention in today’s video: Here are links to items from today’s video…
- My new-to-me floor loom is a 27″ wide Leclerc Fanny counterbalance loom made in 1968. I replaced all of the heddles with Texsolv heddles. Kim’s new-to-her loom is a Leclerc Artisat 36″ floor loom. If you are interested in these floor looms, or any other looms or parts, contact us and we can look into ordering these in for you!
- Follow along Kim’s weaving journey (and much more!) at @kpwerker.
- Shown in the TNNA photo is a Glimåkra rigid heddle loom.
- The loom at our SweetGeorgia studio is a Leclerc Mira II 4-Shaft counterbalance loom. You can find the video of me and Dan setting up this loom here.
- The vlog episode talking about the old table loom which I restored is here.
- The yarn used in my current overshot weaving project is Ashford 5/2 mercerised cotton. You can also see more on this project, and future weaving projects, over at @lomeetsloom.
- want to learn more about weaving and the fibre arts? I encourage you to come and visit us over at the School of SweetGeorgia (SOS)! You can browse through all of the weaving content, with courses available for all levels of weavers. We hope to see you there!
- what I mention in today’s video: Here are links to items from today’s video…
I was recently gifted an old Kessenich 4 shaft table loom. I know nothing about weaving (although I knit – often with SG yarn – and sew), but so far the repairs have been pretty straightforward. I have taken care of the wood, ordered replacement heddles for the hopelessly rusty ones, replaced the cords, and cleaned the rust off of other parts of the loom.
Now comes the difficult part: figuring out how to use it! I’m hoping your videos will be of some help.
I always said I’d never learn how to weave, because you eventually end up with a floor loom that takes up too much space. Then my spinning teacher told me about a great deal on a 27” Ashford Knitter’s loom, so I got it, loved weaving. Took a course through our school board, I can access a floor loom there. I thought I was safe. However, a non-fibre friend saw a Leclerc Nikes put out for garbage and took it home for me. What could I do? It had no crank, only a 6 dent reed, no lease sticks, etc. I have actually acquired used parts from Kijiji ads and my big splurge will be Teksolv heddles, which I plan to paint or otherwise colour to make the warping process easier on my old eyes. Fortunately, I’m an empty nester, so I’ve taken over two rooms for spinning and weaving.
Oops, Leclerc Nilus
It was great to see how your old loom turned out for you, and the various idiosyncrasies that you’ve discovered! I also have an old loom, and it has frustrated me to the point of wanting to either spend a bunch of money and effort to convert it, or buy something new that is less fuss.
My table loom is 27″ wide, so I’m wondering what length Texsolv heddles you used? I want to replace my string heddles with Texsolv, pop it on legs to make it a table loom, and reproduce the counter balance action using rollers. Fiddling with a broomstick for a roll bar, I also noticed a tendency for the shafts to walk sideways. Could it be the loop cords need to be symmetrical over the roll bar?
I’m also interested in how quiet the counter balance is, compared to a countermarch (my loom is a jack with loud tight springs that make a racket when returning to rest, which I rather hate). I’ve seen videos with old counterbalance loom that clatter as the shed changes, but your Mira loom sounds whisper quiet!
I’m very inspired to weave right now, having seen your videos, so thank you!
I just watched the very informative Utube video about the counterbalance loom, since I’m used to the Jackloom, and know nothing about the counterbalance. A friend gave me a little counterbalance, made by Arthur A. Allen in the 1940’s.
My problem is that the front beam has a ratchet mechanism, but the backbeam has this big rubber tube, which makes no sense to me. How does it work and is it possible to convert it to a ratchet, (without losing it’s antique value)??
I’d love to use it since it folds up like a baby wolf.
Hi Cornelia! Sounds like a beautiful loom! What a gift! I’m not sure how to convert the rubber tube on the back brake to a ratchet, because I imagine the ratchet would need to be custom made to fit your back beam. Perhaps it would be easier to replace the rubber? Maybe it’s aged to the point where it’s not grippy anymore and doesn’t function as a brake? Not sure, I hope you are able to restore it to working condition.