Holly, I think you'll find that each weaver has his or her own favorite brand of loom. I've had several different brands pass through my studio.
A long time ago, I won a Schacht jack loom in a contest and have owned a couple of Allens, a 12-harness Bergman and an 8-harness Schacht table loom with legs. The Allen looms are all counterbalance and the Bergmans countremarche. I've also built an Allen look-alike. Through a weaving study group, I've had an opportunity to weave on LeClerc and Macomber looms. One thing you might consider is what yarns you will be weaving with most of the time. I weave a lot with handspun singles warp so I prefer to have either a counterbalance or countremarche. With these types of looms, when making a shed, all warp threads are either raised or lowered meaning that all threads receive the same amount of tension throughout the weaving. With a jack loom, some threads are raised while the rest remain in what might be called _at rest_. In some weave structures, using a jack loom can cause individual threads to be stressed more often than others and as a result, depending on the yarn, become stretched. Shed size is not necessarily dependent on the type of loom but on the style manufacture. As another list member pointed out, it takes more leg muscle to raise harnesses on a jack loom. My Bergman had 12 harnesses and even though it was a countremarche, required more effort than looms with fewer harnesses. Weaving width and number of heddles in use can also influence the power needed. The Bergman came with string heddles and tie-ups which I switched to texolv. I love the texolv but it is slightly more abrasive to warp threads. If you have a choice, I'd avoid the wire or flat steel heddles and opt for the expanded-eye heddles. I may have the wrong name for them ... they come with two different sized eyes and I think the largest one is the expanded-eye. Anyway, on the Allen-type loom I built I got the smaller eyed ones. Picture a wire heddle that has had the eye dipped in liquid such that the eye ended up a smooth oval. (Terrible description, but they are great for textured yarns, nothing ever hangs up on them, even knots.) The Macomber, which many consider the Cadillac of looms, is very noisy. If the loom you end up with doesn't have a sectional or second back beam, you can rig these if you are carpentry-handy. The Allen and the Bergman looms are old and not currently being made. Mr Allen died years ago. Both of these looms fold up which is a nice feature. Some looms are so big as to need a good-sized room all of their own. My studio space is limited and my house is tiny so currently I only have three looms, the Schacht table loom and two Allens, a 24-inch weaving width and a 42-inch one. Julie Owens Sheep Hollow Farm and Fiber -- sellers of dyes and fiber http://www.sheephollow.iwarp.com To stop mail temporarily mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] with the message: set nomail To restore send: set mail
