Kirsten Floor Loom
Kirsten is a full featured Scandinavian style floor loom covering the smallest possible floor area. Overhead beater, rising and falling shed with countermarch action, rear hinged treadles--Kirsten has them. An added bonus for Kirsten: assembly is a cinch. We ship Kirsten with the upper lever assembly, shafts, and lower lam cord connections already done.
Kirsten comes in one model: 36" weaveable, 8 shafts, 10 treadles. Rear hinged treadles and countermarch action mean light treadling. An overhead beater allows precise control and rhythmic action. Brakes for both cloth and warp beams are absolutely positive ratchet and pawls with 36 stops per turn. Both back and breast beams can be easily removed for threading.

We supply Kirsten with one reed--6, 8, 10, 12, 15, or 20 d.p.i., 800 Texsolv polyester 12 1/2" heddles--100 per shaft, 24 warping sticks, a pair of lease sticks, and all the cord (pre-cut) and pegs required for a standard tie-up. The bench in the picture is optional.

Among the options listed one deserves special note: our 20+ device. The device moves the lam/treadle tie-up from between the lams and treadles to the rear of the loom. Once set up, the weaver can sit at the rear of the loom and do the complete tie-up there.

Kirsten's overall dimensions are 68" height, 47" width, and 40" depth.

Sturdy, stable, and handsome, Kirsten's bench is available separately. The width between the posts is 22". The seat width is 9 1/2". The seat height is adjustable in 1 1/2" increments from 20" to 26".

20+, to put it simply, adds 20 years of weaving to a weaver's life. The device transfers the Kirsten's countermarch tie-up from under the loom to behind the loom. Each column pair in the peg board is for one treadle. Each pair's left side is for the lower lam tie-ups. Each pair's right side is for the upper lam tie-ups. One cord per pair is pegged with a Texsolv straight peg. The unused peg of each pair is parked in an unused cord end loop to stop the unused cord from slipping back through the peg board. No countermarch tie-up can be easier or simpler. The one treadle tied-up in the picture (one only for clarity's sake) is for the most left of Kirsten's 10 treadles. The device is also available for our Gertrude floor looms.

For more description about the 20+, see the 20+ description with the Gertrude Loom below.

20+
Gertrude Floor Loom
The Gertrude, a contemporary and especially handsome version of a centuries old Scandinavian design.

The Travelling Bench is an optional extra. The seat moves right and left on ball bearings which roll on a stainless steel track. The seat can be locked in its center position or at either end.

For the same price as the Travelling Bench we offer a Hanging Bench and a Traditional Bench. The Hanging Bench hangs off the loom's front posts. It adds the weaver's weight to the loom's weight which, if the weaver has any significant weight at all, reduces loom "walking" when heavy beating.

The Traditional Bench has the same pegged construction as the Gertrude loom. It looks a fitting partner.
Our Gertrude has unparalleled ease of treadling because of its floating lam countermarch tie-up system. We make the loom of tough birch with seven of the horizontal beams laminated for strength. For good looks and loom rigidity, we make real dovetail joints for three main beams--the back, knee, and breast beams. The brake mechanisms for both cloth and warp beams are absolutely positive ratchet and double pawl (thirty-six stops per complete turn), with both cloth and warp beams controlled from the front.

The Gertrude's overhead beater delights weavers with its unequalled control for transparency light beating or weft-faced heavy beating. We hand rub the loom with a boiled linseed oil finish for a silky glow and easy maintenance.

The loom is supplied with a pair of lease sticks, a reed of 6, 8, 10, 12, 15, or 20 d.p.i., 1000 12 1/2" Texsolv heddles for the 45", and 1200 for the 58" loom, all cord and pegs needed for a complete tie-up, and tools necessary for assembly and maintenance--and no-cuss instructions.

Gertrude's overall dimensions are height--71", front to rear depth--63", and width--58" for the 45" model, and 71" for the 58" model.

Options are:

-- 4, 8, 12, or 16 shafts
-- as many treadles as will fit under the loom, 16 for the 45", and 20 for the 58"
-- warping stick
-- second warp beam
-- sectional warp beam kits in 1" or 2" intervals
-- pattern shaft drawloom addition for damask weaving - 21 or 51 pattern shafts
-- 24" and 42" back beam extensions, necessary when adding the drawloom additions, good to have in place for heavy rug beating
-- three bench designs--hanging off front posts to add weaver's weight to loom, travelling, and standard

The 20+ device--unique to Woolhouse Tools--moves the treadle/lam tie-up from between the lams and treadles to the rear of the loom. The weaver sits at the rear of the loom and does the complete tie-up from there. Doing a tie-up becomes an easy & pleasant occasion. We call the device 20+ because it adds 20 years of weaving to a weaver's weaving life.

We also offer the 20+ as an add-on kit for some looms other than our Kirsten and Gertrude looms. The 20+ can be fitted to most countermarch looms with rear hinged treadles.

How it works: In a standard countermarch loom there's one tie-up cord for each treadle eye. The weaver raises each cord to the corresponding lower or upper lam eye and pegs the cord in place there. For the 20+ the single cord for each tie-up becomes two long cords, one for the upper lam eye and one for the lower lam eye. The cords, in pairs, descend to a pair of eyes to the treadles and then are lead to a peg board at the rear of the loom. To do a tie-up, the weaver simply tugs on the appropriate cord and pegs it. The cords not engaged are left slack.

The pricing formula is in two parts, a base price added to a price relating to the loom's number of shafts and treadles. The formula: Base price + (number of shafts X number of treadles X tie-up price). For example, the pricing formula for an 8 shaft 10 treadle loom would be (base price) + (8 X 10 X tie-up price). For a sample pricing, please see FAQ, no. 1.

Our 20+ kit package consists of a pegboard custom dimensioned and drilled for your loom, the woodwork and hardware required to attach the pegboard to your loom, a complete set of new lam to pegboard tie-up cords, two sizes and sets of screw eyes for your treadles, a Texsolv peg for every cord hole in the pegboard, and no-cuss installing and use instructions. You supply an ability to use an electric hand drill, a capacity to follow instructions to the letter, a rear hinged, counterbalance loom with which under-loom-tie ups have become awkward--to say the least, and a profound desire to weave for another 20 years. See a picture just below our Kirsten floor loom above.

Travelling Bench

Though originally designed for our Gertrude Scandinavian style floor loom, popular demand tells us our Travelling Bench does well with virtually any floor loom. The seat moves left and right on ball bearing wheels gliding on stainless steel rails. The box design offers immediately accessible storage for the many tools weavers always need "right now". Built in two widths: 36" o.a. and 51" o.a. Height is adjustable.