World’s Only Folding Floor Loom

World’s Only Folding Floor Loom FARM HOME Miscellaneous The custom-designed Rio Grande Style Folding Loom is hand-built by Dave Baber Southwestern Wood Design “Molly Manzanares with Tierra Wools asked me to build a large floor loom ” recalls Baber “I asked if anyone had made a large one that could be moved through a doorway Standard designs have to be knocked down and disassembled to move Everything has to be taken apart ” Baber’s loom has a 40-in weaving width and can hold more than 15 yds of warp Set up for weaving it has a 57 in width a 52 1/2 in depth and stands 76 in tall Unlike any other loom known on the market it can be folded into a transport depth of only 33 1/2 in narrow enough to slide through a standard doorway Designing a foldable loom required a deeper understanding of weaving mechanics if not weaving itself It took him a year to plan engineer and design the folding loom That included time building mock-up models to test out his plans The transition is made possible by an overhead beater and a back that folds forward “Once I had a functional model I started building it ” says Baber “Most of it was made from Douglas fir I made all the reels and other components myself except for the cogwheels A local metal fabricator used a laser cutter to hand cut cog wheels out of 3/8-in steel ” When he finished it worked exactly as he hoped “Molly couldn’t believe it ” says Baber The Rio Grande Folding Loom is priced at $2 788 While this was the most challenging loom he had built it isn’t the only one He builds several traditional designs from lap looms they start at $25 to a smaller Rio Grande Loom $2 335 Contact: FARM SHOW Followup Southwestern Wood Design P O Box 1232 Chama New Mexico 87520 ph 575-910-0040; swwooddesign@icloud com or Tierra Wools 2540 Hwy 64/84 Box 432 Chama New Mexico 87520 ph 575-756-1650; tierrawools@gmail com; www handweavers com/shop

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