The Bottom Spring Kit and Do You Need It?

The bottom spring kit is not included with every loom because there are people who simply will not want a spring at the bottom of their loom.  There are others who will want it sometimes (and when they don't want to use it, it won't get in the way as long as there is no spring in it).  And there are those who will want to use it all the time.

What does it do?  It has the same function on the bottom of the loom as on the top of the loom.  It allows you to put a warp coil on the bottom of the loom to separate the warp threads.  But once you've woven that first row of either beads or tapestry the coil on the bottom of the loom no longer has a function.

So why would you want it?  The most common reason for wanting that coil on the bottom is:  you are weaving a fairly wide bead piece using the shedding device (three or four or more inches, depending on your tolerance!) and you don't want to deal with trying to keep those warp threads neatly divided on the bottom while installing the shedding device.  Can you do this without the bottom coil?  Yes, you absolutely can.  Would I recommend the bottoms spring kit for those who are attempting wide pieces?  I probably would.

For tapestry weavers weaving in fine setts, this bottom spring kit might make the process easier.  I personally never use the bottom spring when weaving tapestry and only use it when weaving a wider bead piece.

Can you rotate the weaving to advance it with the spring on the bottom?  You will have to loosen the tension on the loom and actually remove the spring in order to do this.  Once the spring is removed, you will have no problem rotating your weaving.

Do extra coils come with the bottom spring kit?  No, you have to order those coils in addition.  Carefully consider what coils you will actually be using.  You don't need to buy all the coils to match the ones that come with the loom because chances are you will not be using all of them.

Warp Coils Made Simple

Before you set up your Mirrix Loom, you will need to install a warp coil either just on the top or, if you are using the bottom spring kit, the identical coil on the bottom as well.

The larger looms come with four warp coils (the smaller two looms come with just one 14 dent coil).

So how do you tell those coils apart?  Simple:  The shortest coil is the 8 dent coil.  The next coil is the 12 dent coil, the third longest coil is the 14 dent coil and the longest coil is the 18 dent coil.

So how do you know what coil to use.  Again, this is easy to determine.  We do include a chart of recommended coil size as it relates to beads.  For tapestry, you need to determine how many warps you want to have per inch.  Choose a corresponding coil.

Back to bead weaving:  Put one linear inch of the beads you will be using on a needle.  Count how many beads there on in that inch.  Give or take a dent or so, that will be the recommended coil for you to use.  For example, there are 18 size 11/0 Delicas in a linear inch, hence you would use the 18 dent coil for Delicas.  You could, however, get away with using the 16 dent coil.

There are 14 11/0 seed beads in a linear inch (okay, so I didn't make up the numbers and have no idea why there are not 11 11/0 seed beads in a linear inch).  You would use the 14 dent coil to weave those beads.

You can buy coils in the following sizes:  8, 10, 12, 14, 16, 18, 20 and22.  Those higher numbers are for 15/0 seed beads and those of you who like to weave really fine tapestry.

Before you order all the coils, keep in mind that one coil can be used for several different setts.  For example, the 8 dent coil can be warped at every other dent to become a 4 dent coil.  10 becomes 5.  12 becomes 4, 6 or 12.  14 divides into 7 (my favorite dent for tapestry) and 18 divides into 9 or 6.  I believe that the coils we include with the shedding device looms cover most of what you will need for bead weaving or tapestry.