The reed is arguably the most important part of your loom. Not only does it control the warp spacing, it also beats the weft in to place.
We stock traditional Toika reeds in a selection of weaving widths and densities. The dents of these reeds are made from SS430 stainless steel which resists corrosion in a normal studio environment and makes them strong enough to beat the most resilient weft.
If you weave with a flying shuttle you will need to use full metal profile reeds. These have stainless steel end, top and bottom caps and resist damage from a mis-thrown shuttle. These can be ordered from us in the full range of dent densities and custom lengths. Contact us with your requirements.
Metric or Imperial Densities
Metric reed densities are used in most of Europe. These are specified in dents per 10 cm, e.g. 50/10 dpcm would be a reed with fifty dents in every ten centimetres of its length. (This equals five dents in every centimetre of its length, but this isn’t the preferred numbering convention.) Metric weavers will use wraps per centimetre (wpcm) and ends per centimetre (epcm) and when calculating their sett.
Imperial reed dimensions are used almost exclusively in the USA, and since many English language patterns, drafts, books and courses originate from there, they are commonly seen in the UK, Australia and New Zealand. Imperial weavers will use wraps per inch (wpi) and ends per inch (epi) when calculating their sett.
If your loom is equipped with a section warping beam, check the pitch of its section dividers; if metric then match it with metric reeds.
Ordering a Reed
To order a Toika reed, click or tap on one of these buttons. Any problems? Contact us.
Reed Substitution
Experienced weavers will have a selection of reeds that they can choose from depending on the count of the yarn and the structure they are weaving.
In some cases you may want to substitute a reed that you do have in your collection for the sett specified in a pattern. This isn’t always practical, and we would always advocate weaving a test piece to make sure that the substitution works and, especially with more fragile yarns, doesn’t abrade the warp threads.
We have reed substitution tables for imperial (dpi) and metric (dpcm) reeds. To use them, find the size of the reed that you have on the top line of the table. Trace the column to find the nearest value to the sett you need to weave. Then trace across to the left hand column where you will find the sleying pattern you need to use to achieve the same density.
For example, if you have a 12 dpi reed but need to weave at 20 epi you would need to sley 1-2-2, that is to say one end in the first dent, two ends in the second dent, and two ends in the third dent. You then repeat this sequence across the width of the reed.
Reed Substitution Chart – Imperial Densities
Reed Substitution Chart – Metric Densities
Reed Conversion Chart – Approximate Metric and Imperial Equivalents