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Thursday, November 15, 2018

Selling my Glimakra/Toika Loom


After many happy years together I am sadly selling my main loom. 

Overview

The loom is a hybrid consisting of;
  • Frame, beater assembly, front and back warp, cloth and knee beams. GLIMAKRA STANDARD (120cm weaving width)
  • Shedding mechanism and harnesses; TOIKA EW24 CONTROL UNIT  (Dobby) with 24 SHAFTS

The photo below shows the loom. It is a Glimakra Standard with a Toika Control unit which can be seen on the top of the loom. The control unit manages each of the 24 shafts via weaving software which is installed on the laptop. The whole mechanism is activated by the pedal which can be seen on the floor.





Background

I bought the 10 shaft 120 cm Glimakra Standard Countermarch loom (2nd hand) in mid-2011 and later in the year I imported and installed the Toika EW24 Control unit. The installation involved removing the countermarch mechanism and shafts and replacing them with the Toika Control Unit and 24 shafts. My blog posts show what  was involved in this upgrade.
Since then this has been my main loom. I have found it the most versatile and easy to use set-up. I have enjoyed all the benefits of a big "European Style" loom combined with effortless operation and shaft configuration. Most of the posts in this blog after 2011 relate to work that I have done on this loom.

Toika EW24 Control Unit

The photos below show various views of the control unit. 



It has three connections;
  • Power
  • Computer
  • Pedal
The computer is loaded with Weavepoint  which provides the software element of the shaft control. The shafts are effortlessly raised and lowered by use of the pedal, The explanation of the operation is clearly explained on the Toika web site

Double Warp Beam

The loom is equipped with two warp beams. The picture on the left shows the double warp beam set-up whilst that on the right shows the operation with just a single beam. Note that this is a sectional beam.
I used two warp beams when I was weaving scarves with supplementary warps.

Glimakra Standard

For details about the Glimakra Standard Counter-march loom have a look at the Glimakra web site. I have kept all the counter-march components  (see photo below) so the loom can be reverted to its original state.

Original Specification Summary:
  • 10 shafts
  • 120cm weaving width
  • Dimensions 1.75m H x 1.60m D x 1.50m W
  • 48 warp sticks
  • 2 lease sticks
  • 10 lamms
  • 10 treadles
  • 1 fabric protection board
  • 4 rubber feet
  • 2 tie bars
  • 2 shaft holders






Accessories and Extras

The photos below show the accessories that are included with the loom.

  • 60 Warping sticks (46")
  • 4 Lease sticks (46")
  • 1 Raddle (takes 39" warp)
  • 8 Reeds (see picture below for condition)
48" 5 D
48" 12 D
48" 15 D
47" 18 D
40" 12D
40" 16 D
32" 10 D
30" 15 D









The manuals are shown below;






































Also included is an elderly Dell Laptop (Windows XP) loaded with Weavepoint software and with the software disc.


Summary

To summarise, what is on offer is;

  • 120cm weaving width 24 shaft loom (Glimakra Standard) with automated control unit (Toika EW24)
  • Double warp beams
  • Accessories and reeds
  • Manuals
  • Computer and Weaving Software



What next

All I have to do now is decide on a fair and reasonable asking price and determine how to advertise it. And don't change my mind!


Wednesday, September 26, 2018

Sprang

I have been looking at my looms for over a year now; I think  that the time has come to give it away.
Now this Sprang looks quite interesting with a nice small footprint.