FAQs ... Different Looms

How can I tell when my loom was produced?

Each AVL loom has its own serial number. The serial numbers are located on a name plate that generally was placed in the center of the upper horizontal crossmember on the Harness Pulley Support. Contact us and we'll tell you when the loom was produced and its original equipment.

Most AVL serial numbers have five integers, such as 01234. If your loom has a number other than five integers -- either longer or shorter -- then you have a collector's item; most likely built in the late 1970's or early 80's. There were also some very early looms produced without serial numbers. These would have been made in 1976-77.

What about Ahrens looms?

Before his affiliation with AVL, Jim Ahrens hand-built a small number of looms in the years between 1950-1976. These will generally display a plaque designating it as an Ahrens loom. Some Ahrens looms are very similar to AVL looms. However, most parts are not interchangeable with the corresponding AVL loom. The similar looms include: production dobby loom, countermarch production dobby loom, home loom, folding dobby loom, and a loom made with a pivoting front/rear beam.

AVL seems to have looms in a lot of countries. How many different countries have weavers who use AVL products?

We, of course, have no idea as to where used AVLs may have traveled, but as of January 2007, AVL had sold looms in over eighty countries worldwide.

What do all the letters mean? A-Series? PDL? FDL? SDL? IDL? etc.?

AVL Looms loves letters. Here's a short list:

A-Series: Our current model. The "A" stands for the A in AVL, Jim Ahrens. A-Series looms come in 8, 16, 24, and 40 harness models and have replaced the old Production Dobby Looms and Technical Dobby Looms.

AVL40: Full frame loom of the PDL/TDL style, 40 harness dobby looms. Built from 2000 to 2003. Available over the years in widths ranging from 30" to 72".

PDL: Production Dobby Looms: 16 harness dobby looms. Built from 1977 to 2003. Available over the years in widths ranging from 30" to 72".

TDL: Technical Dobby Looms: 24 harness dobby looms. Built from 1987 to 2003. Originally, we added "technical" features to the TDL which differentiated them from the other looms, but over the years, all of the "technical" aspects migrated to the Production Dobby Loom, so that when they went out of production, the only difference was the number of harnesses. Available over the years in widths ranging from 30" to 72".

FDL: Folding Dobby Loom: 16 harness dobby loom. In production from 1982 to the present. Be aware, however, that in the 80's, we call them Production Dobby Looms too, differentiated from what we than called FULL-FRAME Production Dobby Looms. FDLs have been built in 24", 30", 36", 40", and 48" widths, although the vast majority are 40".

SDL: Studio Dobby Loom: 1997 to present. Available in 16 and 24 harnesses. SDLs only come with a Compu-Dobby II and have been built in 20" and 30" widths.

IDL: Industrial Dobby Loom. 1992 to present. Our automated looms. 24 harness only. Available in 24", 40", and 60" weaving widths.

UDL: Ultimate Dobby Loom, another name for the AVL40 discussed above.

WDL: Workshop Dobby Loom (a.k.a. The California Traveler). 2001 to present. Available in 8, 16, or 24 harnesses.

BML: Basic Modular Loom. 1980 to present. Starts in four harness, six treadle mode and can be expanded to become whatever the current dobby loom is or was. For example, a BML with four shafts purchased in 1982 could, conceivably, still be upgraded to a sixteen shaft Production Dobby loom without the necessity to drill a single hole.

AA: Automatic Cloth Advance. Winds bobbins automatically, intended for higher volume production.

ABW: Automatic Bobbin Winder.

EBW: Electric Bobbin Winder. Manually controlled, electric bobbin winder.

WW: Warping Wheel, an AVL-exclusive warping accessory.

TLC: What we try to give every customer.

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