Hi - I'm Virginia from New Jersey and I have just acquired a Toika Eeva computer loom with 16 shafts. It's all assembled now and I am in the process of getting my computer in order but I also have a question about lights. I'm fine during the day because I have  many windows but I often weave at night and really appreciate good direct light. Does anyone have a lighting system that works really well on this loom?

Thanks a lot.

Comments

Thu, 02/16/2012 - 16:10

laurafry

I chose to not mount lights on my loom because of the vibration (although this might not be an issue with a Toika).  I have swing arm lights that can be shone onto the loom from either side (or both when threading).  They can be moved to where I need the light.

cheers,

Laura

Thu, 02/16/2012 - 20:03

sally orgren

Hi Virginia!

I had to link to a photo of the Eeva first, to see what kind of top it has. I do virtually all my weaving at night, so I know about needing a good lighting source. This is tough nut to crack! 

I use two Ott (color correct) telescoping clamp lamps on my loom. They seem to be resistant to vibration as I have had them for years and have not had to replace the bulbs. The cheap IKEA telescoping clamp lamps broke a long time ago and I went through bulbs like crazy! 

I *think* these long, tube-type lamps could possibly clamp to the top posts of the Eeva, on the left and right side of the front. (In front of the notches where you can re-position the beater.)

The critical question is how wide will the clamp open, and how big is that piece of wood? I measured the clamp opening — max is 1.5". Is that big enough?

Sally

Thu, 02/16/2012 - 20:16

fairhavenweaver (not verified)

Thanks, Laura and Sally - helpful comments. Laura, I do have a floor lamp I could use but I don't think I will get even light distribution. I was just trying out the lights I already had and came up with a solution similar to Sally's! I don't have Ottlites but I do have two very inexpensive "shop" lights from Lowes that I used with my Glimakra and had a hard time finding a place to clamp them to on the Toika. Well, probably at the moment Sally was writing, I climbed on a stool and started clamping them to any piece of wood I could find and discovered (probably from Sally's mental telepathy) that I could clamp them right in front of the beater support! Ha! Now I haven't tried them yet and it would be helpful to have a warp on the loom but it looks like it will work! Thanks to you both!  Oh, and here's a photo:

Clamp light on Toika 

Thu, 02/16/2012 - 21:14

Kade1301

I am fast becoming a BIG fan of fluorescent tubes. The older, thicker ones (T8 - 26 mm big) are very reasonably priced (I paid € 5,50 per 36-W-tube - had to search on the internet for that and had to import them) and they are available for all sorts of lighting requirements. I got daylight-identical ones that are made for printers, graphic artists and dental labs for exact colour matching (Philips Masters Graphica. Osram makes comparable ones, but I only found them at twice the price.)

I really, really don't understand how Ott justify the prices for their lamps - and why people pay them.

So far my lights are all ceiling mounted in good quality lamps (the bit of hardware between the tube and the ceiling, might be called something else in electrician-speak). By the way, the difference with cheap lamps is visible and audible, I tried it out (the "expensive" ones were € 30/piece - obviously you can pay a lot more for designer hardware). But I am thinking about mounting one lamp on a tripod to be able to put it wherever I need it at the moment.

The only disadvantage of the fabulous (work)shop lighting is that now I'm really aware of how dark the traditional, incandescent lightbulbs in my home are - and how badly they show colours.

A last tip: I found the best information about light, colour temperature, which bulbs/tubes offer what on web sites for reptile fanciers and aquarium owners.

Happy weaving! Klara