There are many similarities between rigging sailing ships and building weaving looms - both were the height of technology of their day. Many components familiar in traditional ships such as hand-built blocks and hemp rope feature in my eight-shaft floor loom.

Loomsmith Eric takes his skill and inspiration from working more than a decade-long career of rigging and operating traditional square-rigged sailing ships. Accumulating skills of working with wood and natural fibres. He has in recent years, adapted these skills to the challenge of designing, constructing and refining his own-design weaving looms.

It came to light soon after meeting, that Eric and myself both share an interest in weaving. Together Eric and I taught ourselves to weave in 2020, and Rae continues this work on producing high quality woven products. I had never even seen a manual handloom before then. I began weaving tiny coasters on a frame loom made of a picture frame and pins. Eric soon put and end to this as to build me a more efficient and capable weaving contraption. As in June 2020, he built a prototype four-shaft table loom, with the intention to master the principles of this technology.

This early loom was built of repurposed pallet wood and cotton string, hence it being a little rough and ready. Through constant use, it had been chopped and changed through many iterations, and now is long-since retired. It soon was suprassed by Eric’s next creation - The eight-shaft floor loom complete with flying shuttle.*

Since spring 2024, this loom now houses Eric’s design of a Dobby Control Mechanism. With some fine-tuning of this new-improved weaving instrument I am pleased to have this second rendition of the loom helping aiding me in production, providing me with efficiency, class and the ability to bring to fruition a whole host of exciting and intricate patterns. Please see the Shop for examples