Saturday, May 10, 2014

New to me -- F.J. Ahrens Loom


After much contemplation I decided to make the jump from a table loom to a floor loom (mostly for ergonomic reasons!). We found this beauty on Craigslist where it had been sitting in a garage covered for almost 12 years. After the dust was cleaned off and new coat of wax applied it is ready to go! It's an F.J. Ahrens loom, 10 shaft, 10 treadle, 40" weaving width. Built of solid birdseye and tiger maple. It was built in Oakland, California I think in the 40's but info on this loom is really hard to find. I was only able to locate one other loom like it on the web. So if you have any info, please leave a comment...now on to warping and weaving!





3 comments:

Judith said...

Your new loom is a beauty! I am sorry to say that I do not have info about it. Maybe some experienced weavers will be able to tell you some stories. Enjoy your new adventure!
(I sent your post to a friend)

sonoma33 said...

I just acquired a very similar loom. I've been trying to find out more info. Mine was in storage for 30 years, so is a bit dirty, but otherwise appears to be in good shape. I'm cleaning her up now. I also got a little 4 shaft loom, different style but I believe made by Jim Ahrens in the same time period. Both have patent pending tags on them.

I've been emailing with Peggy Osterkamp, who apprenticed with Jim Ahrens in the 70's. She is starting a blog to share info about his looms, and how to use them, etc. The address is http://ahrenslooms.com. Peggy will be adding more information to it soon.

Your loom is very beautiful! How do you like weaving on it?

Jill said...

Hi sonoma! I have been weaving pretty consistently with this loom since I got it. I love it! It has so many wonderful ergonomic features that make it really easy to set up. The side tie up system is especially great since I am not a fan of spending hours on the floor tying up treadles. It makes it so easy to warp with one threading and then change to different patterns. This loom has really changed my weaving experience. I also like how quiet the Texsolv heddles are, no crashing of metal heddles every time you change a shed. I'm glad that Peggy is going to set up a website. These looms are so wonderful and there is very little info on them on the web. I'm sure there are things that I am not utilizing because I don't know how to use them. So hopefully she'll be able to shed some light on them. I would love to see some pictures of your looms!