| ============================ Weaving Bench - Thoughts and Info ============================ For comfort at your loom make sure that your bench is at or above a critical height. That is, measure the height of the treadles on your loom where your place your foot just prior to pressing down. On most jack looms with treadles hinged under the breast beam this height is in the range of 3 to 4 inches. Now measure your lower leg length, from the crease in the back of your knee (find it by bending your knee) down to the floor, in the footware you typically use when weaving (barefoot, socks, moccasins, slippers, ..., ski boots (ha, ha)). Add the two numbers and that is the minimum seat height for your bench (Baby Wolf has 3 inch treadles and my wife has 17 inch lower legs so her bench is 20 inches high, I have 19 inch lower legs so I have a 22 inch bench at the same loom). This puts your thigh horizontal. DO NOT sit any lower!!! You can sit higher to position your arms over the breast beam if necessary. This is why you are uncomfortable at those workshops where you use a folding chair at your loom. Other dynamics can come into play depending upon your loom and your own physical make up. There are two critical concerns when deciding on a loom bench. One is the minimum bench height which is calculated by measuring the treadle height of your loom with the treadles at rest. (Where you place your foot on the treadles.) Then measure your lower leg length (in the footwear you wear when weaving) which is from the back of the knee to the floor. The sum of the treadle height and lower leg lenght is the minimum height for your bench at that loom. Second is determined by measuring the breast beam height of you loom and then have someone measure the height of your elbow is above your seat when sitting comfortably erect. Breast beam height minus elbow height is the bench height. The second bench height needs to be equal to or higher than the minimum (or first) bench height. However, I would recommend no more than 2 or 3 inches as a bench too high causes the front edge of the bench to cut into your leg as you treadle. To minimize the edge cutting into you leg I make my benches with a woven cotton cord seat that is saddle shaped (low front and back and high on the sides). The taut woven seat flexes as you move, gives firm support and breathes. I make each bench a fixed height for the weaver and their loom. For wide looms, I make a sliding seat bench (with some friction so as not to glide down hill or shoot across the room). On bench width, consider how much room you would like between the bench and the end of the loom to make it easier to get up and around. Usually, I recommend a bench at least 12" shorter than the loom is wide. The baskets I have made are rounded ('D' shaped top) to make them less intrusive. I have a flat basket made that fits on the stretchers of my benches (under the seat) for those who need the room at the end of the bench. Both are made with the smoother side of the basket materials on the inside to minimize snagging of yarns (the outsides are not rough either). On Sliding Seat benches, there are a few being made commercially. Fireside Fiberarts has their 'Commuters' (with and without back), Kessenich has a plank slider, mine, and maybe Schact Spindle (I've heard something about one but not seen one). FF uses really fine rollers in metal tracks to glide the seat effortlessly, I use UHMW polyethelyne (about as slippery as teflon but more abrasion resistant) on hard maple rails and Bruce (Kessenich owner) uses a dado with a high center to ride on the edge of an oak rail. Lots of choices. For convenience my seat is removable to be used as a threading bench. Walt T. NE Tennessee ( More notes from Walt ) Ah, what is a comfortable seat to sit on for weaving? For the last 10 years I have been pondering that myself. The postion of your body relative to the loom is the primary issue and no one is 'normal' so no one bench is right for everyone. The your position relative to your loom has four measurements and two approaches to getting the right height: The Measurements - ON THE LOOM - Treadle Height (TH), the height from the floor to the top of the treadle where you place your foot just before pressing down and Breast Beam Height (BBH), the height from the floor to the top of the breast beam. - ON YOU - Elbow Height (EH), the height of your elbow (relaxed, upper arm vertical and forearm at 90 degrees) above a hard seat and Lower Leg Length (LLL), measured from floor (in your typical weaving footwear) to the bend of the back of you knee (there is a little crease there). The calculations: Lower Leg Length + Treadle Height = Bench Height #1 example: LLL = 18" TH = 4" makes a bench height of 22" Breast Beam Height - Elbow Height = Bench Height #2 example: BBH = 32", EH = 9" makes a bench height of 23" Which one is right? Both are. The first for your lower body and the second for your upper body. How to compromise? I typically recommend the taller bench height. That is, in this case you need the higher seat to assure your elbow clears the breast beam without lifting your shoulders everytime. The seat needs to be shaped or rounded to not interfere with your leg as you treadle. If the situation was reversed, i.e. your lower body dictated a higher bench then your elbow would clear the breast beam easily. You must have your knee the same height as your hip or below your hip as you begin to press on the treadle!!!! This is what gives you easy power. NEVER have your knee above your hip!!!! If you do, you have less power AND you will strain your lower back. Now if you are very long or short waisted or very long or short lower legs you may need to consider modifying your loom or try other looms that have slightly different treadle and breast beam heights. Every loom maker has slightly different proportions, jack looms are different proportioned to CB and CM looms, etc. Now that you have a 'right' height bench the seating surface is next. I have not been able to make a solid wood board seat comfortable for sitting let alone weaving for long periods. 80-90% of most weavers use some type of padding. If you do, make sure that the seat height with the pad is where it needs to be and the front edge of the bench is not cutting into your leg. I found that by tightly weaving a cotton cord seat in the shape of a saddle (low front and back and high on the sides) two things happened: the seat flexed as the weaver rocked back and forth and side to side and the curvature in front kept the edge away from the leg as they treadled. The resulting textured surface had the added benefit of minimal sliding as the weaver worked, so they didn't have to adjust their position all the time. Walt Turpening ------------------------------ When weavers come here to weave I have to remind them to put the bench up close enough. It is usually very easy to do that, but with so many things on their mind, they leave the bench out too far. If you leave the bench out too far, you will eventually feel it in your back, as you will be leaning forward to weave. So, don't put in so much storage in your bench that it becomes heavy. You will be happier with a ligth weight bench that is easy to move forward after you sit down. Very old looms had benches built in and I have not seen one with storage. You will NOT want to move the bench up close enough if it is too hard to do so. My personal vote is for no storage on the bench except for bobbins, scissors, tape measure and an extra shuttle or two. And if the bench is too long, it is harder to get into the loom. A bench that is too long is a nuisance and you don't need to center the bench to the loom. If you put the bench up to the loom so that one side ends about a foot from the side of the loom, you can easily get in without pushing the bench away from the loom each time. Some of the older looms had built in benches that were made this way: only attached at one side. Your back will be better if you get up frequently and the easier it is to do that, the better. Joanne ------------------------------ A bench is not hard to make, so if you know a woodworker give him the height and have it hinged at the front edge over a shuttle tray so you may adjust the tilt forever. I like a wooden peg at each end of the bench for snips so I can grab and use my snips to slice off loose ends or knots. I usually plan a bench so it fits between the treadles or over any loom brace or girt so I'm up touching the breast beam. I've used heavy bolts and buried nuts to make the benches so they're easy to take apart. If your bench has a tray or compartment, drill a one inch hole near one end, then your scissors will always be sitting upright in the hole and not buried somewhere. Toss a loose magnet into the tray and it'll slowly collect any stray needles or pins. Bill Koepp ------------------------------ I just have to tell you all what my bench is and it's wonderful. I am using an old end table that is smooth and shiny on top, has legs that are triangle shaped for extra support and is the perfect height. It's made of a type of MDF and is pretty heavy but moves easily. DH attached a plastic shoe box on each side, one for small tools: tape, sley hooks, clothes pins, etc., and the other for bobbins and shuttles. My "bench" fits on either side of the treadles so they are right in front of my feet without too much reach. I almost put this table out for a garage sale and sat down on it without much thought and have used it ever since. Pat, Flintstone Weaver |
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| For comfort at your loom make sure that your bench is at or above a critical height. |
| ...I have to remind them to put the bench up close enough... |