My Trip to AVL

(My feeble impression of Vanna White after 350 miles of driving.)



Yesterday was the most exciting day of my life!

I have engaged in fibercrafts as a hobby for about 12 years, ever since I learned to knit and weave on a visit to a spiritual retreat center in southern Oregon. Last year I was looking for a new direction in my life and hit upon the idea of turning weaving into a serious profession capable of supporting me. After meeting with business analysts and consultants, spending hundreds of hours researching and writing a plan, I decided to skip weaving as a hobby and go straight into business.

Part of my research involved interviewing about a dozen people who have made a living from weaving. They all used AVL looms for their professional work. Several said the exact same thing, “If you’re serious about weaving for a living, you need to have an AVL. The features that hobbyists consider *nice* become essential when you try to make money.” They also tell me that it’s worth the extra cost to get a loom from AVL directly because they offer a generous warrantee and fantastic support even on used equipment. Apparently they can do this because their equipment is so well designed that it doesn’t need much support.

Getting this loom has been one happy surprise after another. I had been watching the Reconditioned Looms page on the AVL website for months while I begged friends and family for loans and worked to save my own money. Then I saw their holiday sale and couldn't believe my eyes. The loom I wanted had dropped to about 15% of the retail price. I secured it with a downpayment and went into fundraising overdrive! It took two months to get the rest of the money while they rebuilt the loom for me. Pam, the sales rep, was fantastically patient, especially considering that this is probably the cheapest loom she’s ever sold.

At the six week mark I got a call. "Blossom, there's been a mistake. In reconditioning it, we’ve found that the loom isn't exactly what we described.” My heart sank. “It has a heavier, more complicated beater that many people don't like. But it's yours for free if you want it." Well, it turns out that the double-box flyshuttle beater is exactly what I wanted. I was planning to buy it as an upgrade that would cost me about $1,600 with tax and shipping. Mine for free!? Yippee!

Pam told me that the only problem with this enhancement is that it usually doesn't come with the flyshuttles. So, I priced them out: about $380 for a pair of them with tax and shipping. Sigh. I can probably save that much in a few months, but I won't be able to weave wide pieces until I have them. No big deal. I’ve waited this long!

At last the big day had arrived. I finished paying for the loom and had enough money to rent a cargo van. I woke up early to pick it up and drive 175 miles to Chico, CA. I apparently timed the entire trip perfectly because there was no traffic anywhere. Smooth sailing all the way there and back.

Once I got to the central valley, I realized that it's flowering season for many fruit and nut trees. The almond trees were unbelievably beautiful! Miles and miles of soft pink and white blossoms. I opened the window to smell them, but alas, there was no hint of fragrance in the sunny, but cold February air.

I arrived at the factory in the late morning. Everyone was busy preparing for some sort of event. Despite this, they were very sweet and let me wander around and take pictures of their looms so I would know how to put mine together. This was before I saw that their construction manual isn't like anything that I've seen before. It comes in a 3-ring binder because it contains about 200 pages of complete instructions and drawings to illustrate every part of the process.

While I was at the factory, I asked if I could see a flyshuttle in person so I would know just what it is that I'm saving my money for. The floor manager looked at me kind of strangely and said, "I can show you one, but you've got two of your own in the box with the flyshuttle mechanism." Oh, yes! What luck!

And now, just a little background... Weavers have been mystified by the fact that I want a mechanical loom when the computer-controlled looms are so convenient. I explain to them that part of my longterm vision includes spending some time with my loom in the woods, living in a yurt and weaving without access to power. (It will also allow me to honestly use the tag line, "Crafted by hand with wooden tools.") The way this mechanism works is like a music box or player piano. There are wooden bars with holes in them. Into those holes the weaver screws little pegs. The pegs push levers that control whether or not particular sets of threads get lifted for each weft shot. When it's time to change the pattern, the peg patterns need to be changed. It saves time and reduces errors if you have sets of bars already pegged for favorite patterns. With the flyshuttle beater and flyshuttles in my possession, the next thing I would want is a bunch of spare dobby bars so I can change patterns without taking a lot of time to re-peg the bars. Besides, the more bars I have, the more complicated the patterns I will be able to weave. This is one big reason that people prefer the computer controlled looms.

Back to loom pickup day... The crew had packed the boxes into my van. I was ready to leave so I went into the office to say goodbye. Pam was with another customer who was interested to know why I was so excited. I told her that I was buying my first AVL and we talked about which one I was getting. She, too, was surprised that I preferred the mechanical loom and added, "I have a box of dobby bars that I can't seem to get rid of. They're yours for the price of shipping." Wow!! Those bars are $6 a piece to buy and she's going to give me a box of them? I really am the luckist boy in the world!

That's it! For the first time since I started dreaming about weaving for a living and getting the right loom for the job, there is nothing on my wish list. NOTHING! I have everything that I need, and the dobby bars should be here long before I could even use them!

I drove home flying on a cloud. I listened to a few episodes of Syne Mitchell's WeaveCast and played some very bouncy music to match my mood. Before I knew it the boxes were in my room and I was reading the manual on how to put it all together. Good thing I originally studied to be an engineer! This is a precision machine with lots of interrelated parts, and I'll be building it myself in a space that's barely large enough to accomodate it.

It looks like I've got my work cut out for me!