I have a 40" folding dobby loom, but I think I would like to get the Compudobby for it.

Any thoughts, ideas, suggestions?  Is it a crazy idea, is the outlay of that much money worth it??

 

I am kind of clueless here.  Love the mechanical dobby, but it has its limitations.

Comments

Dawn McCarthy

Hillary, I have a 40 inch compudobby, I have previously owned several AVL mechanical & compudobby.  I love my compudobby II, it is reliable, I vary the design in minimal time however the box itself to purchase is almost as much as a whole new loom.  I would wait and see if one comes for sale and sell the mechanical.

Dawn

crazyasaloom (not verified)

I just emailed you Dawn.....don't know if I had the right email address.   The Compudobby IV  is $3400 on the AVL site. 

I can't buy an AVL WDL for that, and I can't buy a Weavebird for that.

 

crazyasaloom (not verified)

I just emailed you Dawn.....don't know if I had the right email address.   The Compudobby IV  is $3400 on the AVL site. 

I can't buy an AVL WDL for that, and I can't buy a Weavebird for that.

 

danteen (not verified)

I bought my AVL in 1989  (at least the first one).   I soon found out that I wanted the computer interface rather than the mechanical dobby.

It took 1.5 hours to peg a chain for a complex pattern.  ( I had about 100 bars and that was often not as many as I wanted to use).  It takes about 10 minutes to get that file keyed in.  Plus I was able to save it and use it again another time.

 My ability to do many different kinds of weaving expanded exponentially by having the Compudobby.   I know it is expensive.  And you have to have a computer for it and a weaving program, also. But for me it was worth it.  I can pursue anything that takes my fancy, because I have the means to realize it.  I can weave a whole scarf of 3000 picks and no repeats, for example.  I have a laptop dedicated to my looms and move it around depending on which of them I am weaving.  (now have three AVL's, small, medium and large, all with CD's III or IV.)

 If you really love to weave  and enjoy complex patterning, you may want to invest in this.

Teena Tuenge

Dawn McCarthy

Hillary, didn't get your email, I'll email you.  Sometimes you can find the whole thing for around $4000 or just under.  It is a lot of $ to buy just the compudobby, but if you use this loom frequently then compudobby will make a huge difference in time and frustration!  It is fast to change the pattern, you are not limited by number of picks/lags and there is no fussing with a long length of lags with large pattern repeats. I still have my mechanical parts in the event my box has to ever be repaired but use the compudobby frequently.  If this is a go to loom then it is worth biting the bullet IMO.

Dawn

crazyasaloom (not verified)

Thanks Teena and Dawn.  I think my "weaving experience" is taking me that way.  I am going to get my flyshuttle hooked up and running, as well.

What weaving program do you recommend, and where do you buy that?

danteen (not verified)

I have used both Fiberworks and Weavepoint to design, but only Weavepoint to run the loom.  Didn't need to by two drivers.  Fiberworks will also run a Compudobby if you get their loom driver for AVL.  I use both of the programs, for different features in each one.  I've had Fiberworks the longest and found it easiest to understand from the beginning with a great manual.  But each weaving program is like each loom, they all have their pluses and minuses.  Might depend on what kind of designs you like to do.  Most of the software programs have demos for free that you can try out.

I think that you could also have Weavemaker, from AVL and run the dobby.  There may be others as well, but I've not experienced other programs.   

Fiberworks is available from   fiberworks-pcw.com

and Weavepoint and Weavemaker are available from AVL.

Good luck on your adventure.

Teena Tuenge

 

 

Bonnie Inouye (not verified)

I also use both Fiberworks and WeavePoint. Fiberworks is available for both Windows and Mac computers. WeavePoint is Windows only, but there are ways to run Windows programs on a Mac. I have used both programs to drive the loom. I prefer Fiberworks at the loom but either will work.

It makes a lot of sense to start with weaving software. You can download a free version and try it out. You will need to become familiar with a program before you can make good use of the compu-dobby. In the meantime, there are lots of ways to use the bars and pegs for longer designs because it is easy to reverse the direction on the bars.

Bonnie Inouye

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