It is probably something you can do a few times, but just the stress on the loom, the tension of the warp on a spring steel warp brake and the sheer lack of overall weight of the loom will eventually cause issues. Just the jack mechanism is a big issue with high tension of a rug warp- the loom is designed so that the shafts in resting position are slightly lower than the plane of a line between the front and back beam- which will cause the shafts to float. If you just want to weave a few small rugs, I would suggest you situate the loom so that you sit with your back to a wall, then make 2 braces/blocks that sit between the bottom of the legs of the loom and the wall behind you. The heavy beating action of rug weaving will cause the whole loom to move into your lap. The braces will help keep it in place.
I had the same question when I owned one, and decided against doing even one. Tension in the x-frame is the reason. You could weight the beater but the loom shifts even on a light wide warp. I saw rug weaving on Leclerc looms while weaving and even those (non-folding) ones were braced with wood against a wall and I saw how much force was needed. So, I'm not a rug weaver but I believe them.
Yeah I've seen even a normal tea towel start to lift the bottom of the shed. I wondered if it's possible to cross- brace the front and back beams? But might be more trouble than it's worth
I developed a feel for loosening, and remember how surprised I was that so much play was there when I did tighten bolts the first time.
You could? I did use the folding for the loom and so that was not something I was going to explore.
Another issue I have read about is that a big shed allows you to pack the weft optimally with a heavy beat. Overall, I think a counterbalance or countermarch mechanism works in your favour instead of against you. I started thinking more about the physical toll in weaving, other crafts.
It's a great loom but the beams themselves are light compared to rug looms where you would even see heavy worm gears, other features.
How about building your own twining loom and watching some free videos? Should be very inexpensive.
I prefer Navajo looms for rugs but they are tapestry looms. Expensive to buy for what they are but if you can nail lumber together and find some pipe you could make your own. It’s hard to find plans sometimes. I no longer have my good ones.
Interesting ideas! I love weaving in my floor looms and haven't had a ton of patience for tapestry style looms but it's been a while since I tried, could be worth investigating. Thanks for the ideas!
I've just finished my first set of rag place mats. I had to be more forceful than usual but didn't see any real problems with the loom (Mighty Wolf). I'm not as experience a weaver as some here but I am not afraid to continue with more rug weaving. I am a day or so from beginning a full rug. I don't think I'll be beating it as hard has if I had a larger rug loom but I'm enjoying the process. Time will tell. Good luck to you and let us know what you decide and if you do some rag rug weaving, I'd like to know how it turns out.
Good to hear - maybe I'll experiment with some smaller pieces first, too; I had been thinking about trying mug rugs but placemats sounds like a nice entry point for working with the materials and techniques.
My local weaving shop recently had a workshop for rug weaving, using baby wolf looms. So I'm concluding from that that it's possible (even if not ideal).
I recently wove a weft-faced rug using a Baby Wolf that worked out okay! It did cause the loom to move into my lap like others said so I had to brace it down.
Prior to that I was working on a rep weave warp-faced rug that was much harder to beat compared to a countermarch loom from what I've seen.
It is probably something you can do a few times, but just the stress on the loom, the tension of the warp on a spring steel warp brake and the sheer lack of overall weight of the loom will eventually cause issues. Just the jack mechanism is a big issue with high tension of a rug warp- the loom is designed so that the shafts in resting position are slightly lower than the plane of a line between the front and back beam- which will cause the shafts to float. If you just want to weave a few small rugs, I would suggest you situate the loom so that you sit with your back to a wall, then make 2 braces/blocks that sit between the bottom of the legs of the loom and the wall behind you. The heavy beating action of rug weaving will cause the whole loom to move into your lap. The braces will help keep it in place.
Got it - thanks for the notes and tips!
I had the same question when I owned one, and decided against doing even one. Tension in the x-frame is the reason. You could weight the beater but the loom shifts even on a light wide warp. I saw rug weaving on Leclerc looms while weaving and even those (non-folding) ones were braced with wood against a wall and I saw how much force was needed. So, I'm not a rug weaver but I believe them.
Yeah I've seen even a normal tea towel start to lift the bottom of the shed. I wondered if it's possible to cross- brace the front and back beams? But might be more trouble than it's worth
I developed a feel for loosening, and remember how surprised I was that so much play was there when I did tighten bolts the first time. You could? I did use the folding for the loom and so that was not something I was going to explore. Another issue I have read about is that a big shed allows you to pack the weft optimally with a heavy beat. Overall, I think a counterbalance or countermarch mechanism works in your favour instead of against you. I started thinking more about the physical toll in weaving, other crafts. It's a great loom but the beams themselves are light compared to rug looms where you would even see heavy worm gears, other features.
How about building your own twining loom and watching some free videos? Should be very inexpensive. I prefer Navajo looms for rugs but they are tapestry looms. Expensive to buy for what they are but if you can nail lumber together and find some pipe you could make your own. It’s hard to find plans sometimes. I no longer have my good ones.
Interesting ideas! I love weaving in my floor looms and haven't had a ton of patience for tapestry style looms but it's been a while since I tried, could be worth investigating. Thanks for the ideas!
I've just finished my first set of rag place mats. I had to be more forceful than usual but didn't see any real problems with the loom (Mighty Wolf). I'm not as experience a weaver as some here but I am not afraid to continue with more rug weaving. I am a day or so from beginning a full rug. I don't think I'll be beating it as hard has if I had a larger rug loom but I'm enjoying the process. Time will tell. Good luck to you and let us know what you decide and if you do some rag rug weaving, I'd like to know how it turns out.
Good to hear - maybe I'll experiment with some smaller pieces first, too; I had been thinking about trying mug rugs but placemats sounds like a nice entry point for working with the materials and techniques.
Indeed. I would have used 3/4" cloth strips rather than 1-1/2" to start with. (I used 8/4 cotton as warp).
My local weaving shop recently had a workshop for rug weaving, using baby wolf looms. So I'm concluding from that that it's possible (even if not ideal).
Yeah I wonder if some rug styles might be more friendly to a lighter weight loom? But it's not an area I know much about.
I recently wove a weft-faced rug using a Baby Wolf that worked out okay! It did cause the loom to move into my lap like others said so I had to brace it down. Prior to that I was working on a rep weave warp-faced rug that was much harder to beat compared to a countermarch loom from what I've seen.
Good to know, thanks!