Toika have built traditional treadled looms in the Scandinavian style for over a century. Adding computer control to a floor loom allows you to add complexity to your design, simplify setup and makes weaving a breeze. Let’s look at how Toika (and non-Toika) looms can be computerised.
The Toika ES+
At the heart of a computer controlled loom is the electronic dobby, Toika’s ES+. This metal cased box sits on top of the castle and directly connects to each shaft, lifting and lowering individual shafts under computer control. Depending on the size of your loom, the ES+ can be equipped with 16, 24 or 32 shafts.
The Toika ES+ is an upgrade to the ES series. Learn more about Toika ES+.
Benefits
- Clean, wide sheds.
Shafts are raised or lowered by the ES+ to form a consistent shed, even when weaving with 32 shafts. - No more tie-up!
No treadles, no lamms, no adjusting pegs and cords. Computer control of individual shafts eliminates tie-up, and you can change patterns instantly and weave multiple patterns on the same warp. - More shafts.
Foot treadled looms limit how many shafts can be actioned, even with the strongest calf muscles! ES+ units make it as easy to treadle 32 shafts as it is to treadle one! - Easy treadling.
The treadles are replaced with a single foot operated switch which advances to the next pick. You can also press a button to reverse the picks and un-weave to correct a mistake. - Never lose you place.
The computer display shows the current, previous and next picks, including the weft colour required. It can also remember where you left off the night before!
Toika Looms with ES+
You can order Toika’s Eeva, Liisa and Jaana floor looms with ES+. Choose a loom to request a quote:
Eeva
Toika’s largest loom features a hanging beater.
Liisa
With Toika’s worm gear tension control.
Jaana
A mid-sized loom for the home weaver.
Upgrading to computer control
Already got a Toika, Glimåkra , Öxabäck or Varpapuu treadled loom? You may be able to upgrade to ES+ computer control.
| Loom Model | ES16+ | ES24+ | ES32+ |
|---|---|---|---|
| Toika Jaana | ✔ | ||
| Toika Liisa | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
| Toika Eeva | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
| Glimåkra Ideal | ✔ | ||
| Glimåkra Standard | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
| Öxabäck Ulla Cyrus | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
| Varpapuu Finlandia | ✔ |
Key:
| ✔ | Compatible with the standard loom. |
| ✔ | Compatible with an extended model of the loom. |
| ✔ | Compatible with new crossbars fitted to a castle with an inner width between 720mm and 1580mm. |
Other loom conversions may be possible with additional hardware – contact us with your loom details and we will check.
You can request a quote for a Toika ES+ Upgrade for your loom.
Software
There are many weaving pattern design packages available for PCs and Macs, and even some that let you draft on the web, but not all of them can control a loom directly. Weavepoint (runs on Windows) and Fiberworks (runs on macOS or Windows) both have drivers for Toika ES+ looms.
There are try-before-you-buy versions of both packages: they allow you to experiment with the design tools but not save, print or weave your work.
Of the two, we find Weavepoint easier to use and more capable. You can buy Weavepoint from us here.