New Loom Developments: vLoom Jacquard & The Oxford Frame Loom

This post features two new weaving loom developments. The vLoom is a prototype and The Oxford Frame Loom  is available now

vLoom

Miles Visman is a computer programmer by profession, creating games for consoles, PCs and mobiles. He learnt how to code in the late 1980s while doing a Fine Art degree which led to programming computers to generate visuals for pop videos and interactive installations. In the last ten years he has been teaching himself to weave and he codes algorithms to create both the patterns and weave structures which he then hand weaves.

Six years ago he attended a Jacquard weaving course, run by Julie Holyoke and Eva Basile, at Lisio Foundation in Florence and learning how traditional Jacquard looms work and their part in the development of computers. Subsequently he visited the TextileLab in the Netherlands where under the guidance of Stef Miero he learnt how to produce textiles on their state of the art computer controlled looms.
Inspired by these experiences he developed an obsession to build his own Jacquard loom. With the wide availability of laser cutting and 3d printing combined with the whole electronic maker world of Arduinos etc it is much easier to build prototypes. (And over the years there have been quite a few!) In the last twelve months he has found a design that works and has steadily built up a loom capable of controlling 176 individual warps. Alongside which he has developed software available on his website  to both generate new patterns and that can also be used to fill those patterns with weave structures.

 

The Oxford Frame Loom is the most practical weaving frame loom on the market. Designed for beginner and advanced weavers, this frame loom helps you to explore your style of weaving by accessing the unique design features at each stage of your development as a weaver. From basic tapestry weaving to double-cloth hand-weaving!

Their new frame loom design aims to bridge the gap between beginner and advanced weavers. Its unique design has features that enable beginner weavers to quickly and easily set up a warp, practice basic weaving techniques and develop their skill set by weaving on a smaller, portable frame loom.  Once the student is ready to progress to more complicated weaving patterns, structures and projects (usually only possible on a table or floor loom), The Oxford Frame Loom comes into its own.

Unique Features:

  • Heddle Bar spacing sett at up to 16 EPI (experiment with warp sett and yarn thicknesses to create different quality cloth)
  • Double-Sided Heddle Bars as standard (for double cloth applications and mirrored projects)New side-bar channels to adjust double-sided heddle bar height (adjust tension, weave longer or shorter projects)
  • Disassembles for easy transport and storage
  • Optional extras like extra double-sided heddle bars (add extra warps, separate delicate warps to adjust tension independently, loom stand (XL only) and weaving tools (medium and XL sizes)

Sizes Available:

Medium: 30cm x 37cm (Optional Extras: Medium double-sided heddle bar, Medium weaving tools)X-Large: 56cm x 56cm (Optional Extras: XL double-sided heddle bar, XL stand, XL weaving tools)

Hailing from an engineering background and trained as a hand-weaver, The Oxford Frame Loom is the culmination of The Oxford Weave Studios experiences as a weave student, professional working in the textile design industry, textiles educator and frequent traveller. This loom will help you to continue to explore your love for weaving by purchasing an affordable, space saving  loom that facilitates exploration

Click on the link to learn more about or to purchase the The Oxford Frame Loom  Students and recent graduates (up to 2 years) will also receive a discount of 10% using discount code STUDENT10 and upon presentation of a student ID card.

With thanks to vLoom and The Oxford Weaving Studio for the text and images
This entry was posted on Friday, June 18th, 2021 at 3:01 pm and is filed under Company Profile, General, New weave developments. You can follow any comments to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback.

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