Anyone in this forum have a combination drawloom?  I think it may be the best option for me, but would like to hear from others who have and use one.  I have a Toika 16 shaft loom that I am thinking of converting to a compu-dobby for the ground shafts and adding a combination draw attachement to.  Any insights??

Comments

Sat, 08/01/2009 - 01:09

Dawn McCarthy

 Hi Su, I have a Varpa countermarche which I have been told has very similar dimensions as the Toika. 2 years ago I retro fitted it to be a drawloom with Lashes, however I had to move the loom to an area with less headroom.  I built my own single draw unit and am currently in the process of adding a shaft draw also.  

The drawloom with pattern saving lashes required the loom harness construction to be raise about 12 inches to allow clearance for the horizontal countermarche and a resting area for the lashes.  I am in the process of making the new drawcords on a jig for the the single draw and will add onto the front the shaft draw using rods for the shafts containing heddles and lingoes.  Are you thinking of purchasing the Myrehead combi?  I spoke with Becky from Vavstuga and came to the conclusion that it would be difficult to add it to my particular loom - as a result I designed my own.  I call her ugly betty as she is made of rough 2x4's - but so far it has worked on the test pieces.  When I am all done I would be happy to forward pics.

As to the compudobby, I am not sure how that would work, but when you figure it out, please let me know!  

Regards, Dawn

 

 

 

 

 

Sat, 08/01/2009 - 01:09

Dawn McCarthy

 Hi Su, I have a Varpa countermarche which I have been told has very similar dimensions as the Toika. 2 years ago I retro fitted it to be a drawloom with Lashes, however I had to move the loom to an area with less headroom.  I built my own single draw unit and am currently in the process of adding a shaft draw also.  

The drawloom with pattern saving lashes required the loom harness construction to be raise about 12 inches to allow clearance for the horizontal countermarche and a resting area for the lashes.  I am in the process of making the new drawcords on a jig for the the single draw and will add onto the front the shaft draw using rods for the shafts containing heddles and lingoes.  Are you thinking of purchasing the Myrehead combi?  I spoke with Becky from Vavstuga and came to the conclusion that it would be difficult to add it to my particular loom - as a result I designed my own.  I call her ugly betty as she is made of rough 2x4's - but so far it has worked on the test pieces.  When I am all done I would be happy to forward pics.

As to the compudobby, I am not sure how that would work, but when you figure it out, please let me know!  

Regards, Dawn

 

 

 

 

 

Tue, 08/04/2009 - 00:43

spinweavedenny (not verified)

Hello, I am not sure if I introduced myself.  If so, please ignore this ... I live in the Kootenays of B.C. and have a 51 shaft Woolhouse drawloom.  I am still setting it up.  I understand that a vinegar and water solution  will deal with the rust on the reed and on the lingos (sp?).  Can someone tell me the proportions of water to vinegar?  Will duck tape work well to retape my reed?  Thanks so much.  Denice

Tue, 08/04/2009 - 00:54

Sara von Tresckow

 Vinegar and water will only increase the rust - don't even think about it.

Sanding the lingos would help, though it won't make a lot of difference if they are corroded - they don't touch the thread.

If the reed is only lightly rusted, just using it will take care of a lot - if you're talking about the reed to hold the drawcords, the rust is not that much of an issue - so what if you have rusty cords?

 

Tue, 08/04/2009 - 12:03

Su Butler

HI Dawn....sorry it took so long to get back to you.....I have just returned from teaching at MAFA and had 334 emails to deal with before visiting Weaveolution!  I appreciate your comments and am quite interested to know more about how you made the conversion on your loom.  A long while back I talked with some people about adding a single unit draw attachment to my Toika.  I'd love to know more detail about how you managed to add both the SUD and the shaft draw attachments to your loom. 

One of the things I am considering is adding the Myrehead combination, but have yet to see if that will work.  I plan to try to add the Toika compu-dobby to my loom, and have been assured by Toika that my loom could be retrofitted with the attachment.  I think adding in stages is the best option for me, and the computer system is the first step.  After that is installed, I will try to add the combi draw system.  I plan to visit Sara von Tresckow's studio/shop in Fond du Lac, WI, before adding anything,  She has added the Toika computer head to her Oaxaback loom (I think that is the brand, Sara??) and I want to see how it all works before committing to the addition.  Ideally, I would sell three of my looms and just buy a new one with the configuration I desire, but since no one seems to want used looms, that probably isn't going to happen!

I'd appreciate seeing your pics and hearing as much as you care to share about your conversion.  If you would rather do that via private email, you can contact me at [email protected]    Thanks Dawn!

Su :-)

 

Tue, 08/04/2009 - 13:53

spinweavedenny (not verified)

Hi.  Your reply is interesting to me.  I am still setting up my combination loom - 8 shafts on one harness and 51 pattern shafts on the other.  The person who sold it to me told me to use vinegar and water for the rust.  Anyways, I won't now!  Will duck tape do to retape the reed.  The original tape is ragged.  Thanks, Denice