Another Loom
Look what came home with me today. This is Wally - 
a Walling loom, 
named for weaver and author Marie Walling and made by her husband, Bill, before he sold the rights to Russ Groff in the late 1960's. 
I think mine was made by Walling, since Groff renamed them "Oregon Trail Loom" when he purchased the rights.
Wally's a 4-harness, 6-treadle, 36" jack loom with a sectional beam (that I don't - yet - know how to use.) The wood is in great shape and there's a minimal amount of rust on the harnesses. (gone now, thanks to a little elbow grease.) And she's built like a tank; very strong and solid - which is especially great for rug weaving. 
Can't wait to warp her up and she how she does.
Dick's been busy in the woodshop this weekend. 
This is amboyna burl that he turned 
and finished with a light coat of wax. 
Doesn't he do nice work?
5 comments:
LMAO - I googled "walling loom" to see what it looked like and your post came up first. Sad that it is so big because there is one on Craig's List.
I just "inherited" a Walling floor loom and can't find much about them except for a newsletter saying the rights were purchased in 1973. Do you know where I can find earlier info on these looms?
Thanks!
I will assume this blog is still active. I am the nephew of Bill Walling (my father's older brother). As a kid I would spend time with Bill and Marie in North Hollywood. Bill built these looms in a, essentially, single car garage at their home. My father was a commercial artist and designed the logo. Bill was a self-taught woodworker but was a true craftsman. I am glad to see his work is still out there and being used.
Amazing to me to see the comment from C Walling and others. I am selling my mother's original Walling (I think 46-4-6)loom. She bought it from Marie and Bill in North Hollywood when I was a kid. It sat in our house for decades, and followed my widowed father to his home. It is still unused, and needs a good home with someone that will enjoy it as much as my mom did. Forgive the spam; It's hard to find much about them. Jon 818.694.1153 North Hills, CA
Susan Walling, Marie and Bill's daughter, was one of my closest friends from 1959 until about 1967. Our lives were going in very different directions and we drifted apart. I was in the Walling home on Moorpark Street many times, and Bill was always in the garage building looms. It has been torn down and replaced by an apartment building sometime during the past 20 years. I was also in and out of Marie Walling's weaving studio on the street (Bakeman?) one block east of Tujunga and Moorpark Avenues in North Hollywood, about three and 1/2 blocks from their home. This building is also gone. Susan Walling died in 2008, according to a friend of Marie who I found on a website devoted to a group of women weavers active in Los Angeles in the 1950's and '60's. Marie, about 96 years old as of 2012, was in a nursing home in Medford, Oregon. I don't know if she is still living or not. She was a pioneer fibre artist of that era and I'm wondering if any of the pieces she produced on commission are still around and being displayed. I'm sorry I don't remember the name of this website or the group featured on it.
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