Toika Eeva ES User manual
1
Assembly Manual
Toika Eeva ES, computer-assist loom
To open your crate, snap o the metal straps using a hacksaw or a pair of metal snips. Then using a crow-
bar or another appropriate tool, li the cover o the crate. You'll see all of your parts neatly packed.
Incidentally, many of our customers save the crate. It's birch plywood and makes great shelves, tables and
other neat stu.
Remove all the contents of the crate and get everything into your studio or the space where the loom will
be set up. You should have all of the following:
2 castle sides
1 warp beam
1 cloth beam
3 idencal pieces that measure the width of your loom: these are the back beam, breast beam and knee
beam and they are interchangeable.
1 2x6 (approx.) with holes; the ends are narrower and have slots - lower back cross piece
1 2x5 (approx.) the ends are narrower and have slots - lower front cross piece
1 2x4 (approx.) the ends are narrower and have slots—upper back cross piece
6 wedges (with Liisa, you'll have 10 wedges)
1 computer assist box
2 rails (approximately 1x4 each) for aaching control box to top of loom
Wooden sha bars – 2 for each sha
Metal sha rods - 2 for each sha
Bag of pulleys – 3 for each sha
3 long metal rods with holes in one end
Front crank
Rear warp beam crank
Pre cut texsolv e up cords – 1 for each sha
Texsolv heddles
Reed
Parts for your beater assembly
boom reed holder
beater cap
2 at sides with screw holes in the top and a vercal slot at the boom
a long 2 x 2 piece with aached pointed pivot points at both ends.
Bag of anchor pins
Bag of small parts including bolts, o-rings, etc
Bench kit
2
Assembling the shas
The parts you'll need are the sha bars, the
small metal rods, texsolv heddles, and the bag of
lile “O” rings.
Even though the sha bars are smooth sanded
at the factory, many weavers prefer to do a lile
extra sanding to help the heddles slide more
smoothly. If you are so inclined, lightly sand the
sha bars with some very ne sand paper.
Look at the metal rods and you
will note that each rod has two
indentaons on each end. Take an
O-ring, slide it on the end of the
rod and roll it down to the inner
indentaon. Turn the rod over and do the same for the other side – slide an O ring down to the inner inden-
taon.
Do this for each of the metal rods.
Now take a sha bar and insert the end of the rod into the hole at the end of the bar. Slide another O-ring
into the sha bar, leng it sit in the second indentaon. This secures the rod onto the sha bar. Now take
another sha bar and slide it onto the other end of the metal rod and secure that with an O-ring. At this point
the sha will sll be open at one end.
The next step is to take a bundle of Texsolv heddles and slide the heddle
openings onto the open ends of the two parallel sha bars. Slide them all
the way over to where the metal rod connects the two bars.
Take another metal rod and push the ends through the heddle bar holes
from the inside at the open end of the sha. Now secure the metal bar
against the heddle bar with an O-ring in the outer indentaon on top and
boom of the rod. You now have a complete sha.
Build the rest of the shas for your unit by repeang the above steps.
The loops that connect each of the heddles should be cut apart to allow the
heddles to move independently of each other. This is easiest to do at this stage
before the shas are hung.
3
5. Take the 2x4 piece and insert an end into the hole in
the upper rear of the castle. Again, the narrow side
should be parallel to the oor. Insert another wedge in-
to the end of that cross piece.
3. The end of the cross piece has a slot; put one of the wedges
through the hole in that slot. Note that the wedge has one at
side and one angular one; the at side should be next to the
loom. Later this wedge will be hammered into place, for now it
can just sit there.
4. Next take the 2 x 6 without the holes and place it into the
hole at the boom near the front of the loom. This piece
should be set in with the wide side parallel to the oor. In-
sert another wedge into the slot at the end of that piece;
the wedge should be inserted back to front, with the at
edge against the loom.
Building the Main Frame
2. Find the 2x6 with all the lile holes in in it
and insert the end into the square hole at
the boom rear of the castle side. This cross
beam should be installed so that the narrow
side is parallel to the oor.
1. Stand up the right castle side -
the one with the cog wheel mecha-
nism mounted on the inside. Lean
the side against the wall or, if you
have two people, one person can
hold it.
1
2
3
4
5
4
The other beam is the cloth beam and it will slot into the wooden upright towards the front of the loom
(there is a metal plate here as well).
Important - before you set your cloth
beam in place, slip the round end of
your crank over the axle of the beam. The ratchet part of your
crank should be above
the crank handle.
Note: the plate with the worm gear should be in the
upper posion and ghtened in place (it somemes
loosens during shipping) so that the gear and teeth are
engaged. In addion, the pawl above the gear should
be vercal and ghtened so it does not touch the
gear. You only use the pawl if the gear is disengaged.
The worm gear is also called the cogwheel.
Now examine the two beams with the gears on the end. One has a threaded end (g 1) That is your
warp beam and should go through the hole with a metal plate on the back of the frame about two and half
feet up from the oor (g 2).
Fig 1
Fig 2
5
Okay, now you really need that second person.
Take the le castle side and align the le ends of all
of the cross pieces you installed on the right castle
side with the corresponding holes on the le side.
Push them all through.
Take your last three wedges and place them in the
ends of the three cross pieces. Now you can use
your mallet to hammer in the wedges securely.
Installing back, breast and
knee beams.
For packing purposes, the blocks
that hold the back beam are installed
inside the castle sides (g 3)
Unbolt these blocks and install
them on the back of the castle sides
(g 4). There are 2 pairs of holes in
the castle side and the bolts will go
through the lower hole of each pair.
Tighten the wingnuts and be sure
that the back beam slots are on the
same level as those that hold the
breast beam.
Install the small wooden dowels
into the holes in the blocks for the
back beam and in the side frames
where each of the beams will sit.
A tap with the mallet will set
these in place.
Fig 4
Fig 3
6
Slip the back beam onto the support blocks, the breast beam
on the front of the loom and the knee beam into the slots
about two feet into the loom from the front. Because these
beams are idencal, if one of them is ght you can swap them
around to nd the best t. You can also rub the dowels with a
bar of soap to help it slide in.
Breast beam
Back beam
Knee beam
Leveling the loom
In order for the control mechanism to funcon
properly, the loom must sit level on the oor.
Check this by placing a level on the top edge of
each side frame to check the back-to-front level.
Place the level on the one of the rails that hold
the control box to check for side-to-side level.
Use shims under the corners as necessary to cor-
rect any problems.
Assembling the Overhead Beater
2 side pieces
Beater boom - has
rubber bumpers Beater cap
Top connector
7
Assembling the Overhead Beater cont’d
Aach the beater boom to the sides by
lining up the dowels on the beater boom
with the holes on the side piece. Note that
the rubber bumpers on the beater face
forward and the metal slides on the side
pieces face the back. Tap the side piece to
push onto the dowels. Fasten with a long
bolt and wingnut—the wingnut should be
on the back side.
Back side Front side
Aach the beater cap to the sides with
bolts and wingnuts, fastening near the
top of the metal slides with the
wingnuts facing the back. The cap can
be moved up and down to accommo-
date dierent height reeds.
The top connector aaches to the side pieces with
bolts and wingnuts (wingnuts can face either front
or back). We recommend using the 2nd or 3rd hole
down to start, then adjusng as needed once you
have your rst warp on. (see ‘Leveling the rst
warp’ on page 13).
8
Assembling the Overhead Beater cont’d
The beater will sit in the beater mounts, which
are on the front uprights and look like a ridged
block. Aer the shas have been hung, you can
li the beater up and drop it into the beater
mount. Experiment with which posion in the
ridges is best for your arm length and shed size.
Mounng the control box on the rails
This is best with 2 people as you will need to balance the box on
the rails while aaching it. Start by placing the 2 rails on a at
surface and hold them steady while placing the box carefully on
top. The front rail and the front of the box have the Toika logo
on them.
Remove the lid by loosening the 2 screws at each end of the box. The screws will stay axed to the lid. Li
the lid and set aside
Line up the holes in the 4 corners of the box with the holes in the rails. Screw rmly in place.
9
Installing the computer assist box
Now you are ready to install the box on top of the
loom. Locate four 10mm x 40mm dowels in your
parts bag, then look at the top of the side frames
to nd the posion for the rails before liing it up.
There is a set of holes immediately behind the
beater mounts; the dowels for the front rail will t
into second hole from the end (away from the
beater).
The second dowel will go into one of the set of 3
holes furthest back on the side frame. Measure
the distance between the 2 rails with the box
aached and use that measurement to determine
which of those 3 holes to use and insert the dowel.
Each side frame will have 2 dowels, one for the
front rail and one for the back rail.
Two people can then li the rails and carry
it high over the frame sides so that the
notches in the rails slip over the frame
sides and the holes in the rails line up with
the dowels in the side frames.
When you have all four sides of the rails
lined up with the four dowels, push the
rails down onto the side frames. Your con-
trol box is now secure.
10
Building the Bench
In the bench kit you'll nd a large board with notches in the two sides, two “T” shaped bench sides, a 2x4
piece with dowels on each end, two long barrel bolt assemblies, and two slim bolts with wing nuts. You'll
also nd two heavy rods with holes drilled at one end.
First take the “T side and the 2x4 piece. Push the 2x4 piece into the holes on the side of the “T” piece. The
holes in the 2x4 piece should face downwards toward the T. Now do the same for the other T piece. Now
take the barrel bolt assembly and place the round nut into the large hole underneath the 2x4. The slot on
the nut should be parallel with the sides of the 2x4 piece. Insert the bolt through the hole on the outside of
the “T” shaped leg and ghten it with the wrench provided. Do the same procedure for the other side.
Now take the heavy rods and slide them through one set of the large holes at the top of the T shaped
legs. One rod should have its hole at the far side and the other rod should have its hole at the near
side. Now look at the seat and you will see one hole at each end. Align these holes with the holes in the
metal rods, insert the thin bolts and secure with a wing nut on the boom. Hammer the tops of the bolts to
have them indent themselves into the body of the seat. Note that you have four sets of holes in the bench
legs; this will allow you to adjust the seat to your comfort level.
Hanging the shas (text from video tutorial)
Installing the pulleys
To install the pulleys, nd the three long rods with holes in the ends, a bag of pulleys and three coer pins.
The rails have three blocks preinstalled – one on the le underside, one on the right underside, and one on
the right top. Note that for each set of blocks, the back ones are drilled all the way through and the front ones
are drilled partway through from the back.
First, count out 3 piles of 16, 24 or 32 pulleys depending on the number of shas you have. Then take one pile
and start on the le underside. Take a metal rod and slide the end without the hole through the hole in the
back block from back to front. As the rod goes through the hole, slide the pulleys on the rod between the
blocks. Note that each pulley has a rise on one side. When you slide on the pulleys make sure the rises face
the same direcon. Aer you get all the pulleys onto the rod, push the rod end into the hole in the front pul-
ley. Aer you push rod all the way thought, you'll see that the lile hole drilled into the rod will be inside of
the rear block. Slip the straight side of the coer pin through the hole and secure it. Your pulleys are now
secured for that set of blocks.
Repeat the same procedure for the other two sets of blocks.
Video Tutorial - hanging the shas and connecng the control box
Follow this link for the video: hps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZMFdoGIMEtA
11
Install and e up the shas
You will need the shas you built earlier, the precut lengths of texsolv, and the bag of anchor pins.
On a 16 sha loom, we like to install the shas from back to front. On 24 and 32 sha looms, we oen install
the back half rst and then go 12 or 16 forward. There is no general rule here, whatever you feel is most
comfortable for you.
Take one sha and loop a piece of texsolv around one end of the wooden sha bar – this will be your le
sha side. Make the loop around the bar a few inches and secure it at the end with an anchor peg.
Holding the sha inside the loom, take the other end of the texsolv and loop it OVER the le side pulley of
sha 24 (if you have a 24 sha loom). With one person holding the sha level, slide the end of the cord all
the way over to the right side.
The person on the right side should take the end of the texsolv and slide it up under the boom pulley up
the side of the loom and over the top pulley and pull it unl it reaches about halfway between the right end
of the loom and the right side of the computer assist box. At that point, make a loop in the long texsolv cord
coming up from the pulleys.
12
Now insert a heddle hook (and I prefer the com-
bo hook from Harrisville Designs) through the 2
holes at the end of your texsolv loop (Fig. 1).
When you have the cord pulled through, pull it
enough so that the enre knot lines up about
halfway between the box and the end of the
loom. Now place an anchor peg into the hole of
the texsolv coming from the box just outside
the loop, then fold over that short piece of
texsolv and secure it again onto the anchor peg
making a ght loop (Fig. 3).
Grab the texsolv cord coming out of the computer as-
sist box for the sha you are hanging and pull the cord
through the holes in your texsolv loop (Fig. 2).
3
2
Note: the red-colored texsolv is the loop coming up from the shas. The white cord is the texsolv coming from the control box.
Repeat this procedure for the rest of shas on your loom. I like to take care that the connecons for each
sha line up with the other connecons so that you have a nice clean uniform line of connecons from front
to back.
Note that the anchor peg should
be ght against the looped end
coming from the sha. Do not
leave it loose as in Fig.4.
4
1
13
Leveling the shas
Aer the shas are hung, you can ne tune the leveling. Tie a strong thread to the back beam and run it
through the eye of a heddle on a single sha and then e it to the front beam. Look at the path of the thread
from back to front. The thread should sit at the boom of the heddle eye.
Adjust the texsolv cord on the sha so that the thread sits at the boom of the heddle eye. Once the rst
sha has been adjusted to the correct height, adjust the remaining shas to the same height. You do not
need to recheck each sha with the thread, just adjust each sha to match the neighboring sha. Remove
the guide thread when you are done.
Leveling the rst warp
The second step in leveling is to make sure that the threads come through the reed at the correct point. You
will do this step once you have your rst warp on the loom. Once the loom is threaded and the reed is
sleyed, look at where the warp threads come through the reed. They should be posioned so that the
threads are in the boom 1/3 of the reed.
Because this is a countermarch loom, some warps threads rise and some sink. The warp has to be 1/3 of the
way up the reed so there’s room for the sinking threads to move down. If the posion in the reed is wrong,
you need to adjust the beater up or down. The beater is adjusted at the top connecng piece using the holes
in the side pieces. Choose the hole that will hold the reed in the proper place for the warp and fasten with
screw and wingnut. Once this is set you will not need to change this seng.
Adjust beater at top connecng piece Warp should be 1/3 distance from
boom to top
14
A tour of the loom control
box
Looking at the back of the box,
you will see the on/o switch,
the connecon for the power
cord and the cord that runs to
the control pedal. The front of
the box has:
• the connecon for the USB
cord to aach to your com-
puter,
• The indicator light next to the mode buons that will light up when the control box is on.
• 2 mode buons and a reverse buon.
Modes
The Toika loom has 3 speed sengs to allow you to work at the pace that best suits you and the weaving you
are doing.
Normal is when the le mode buon is pushed in; when you press on the pedal, the control box will li the
shas indicated for the next pick. The shed stays open as long as your foot remains on the pedal and it closes
when you li your foot. Normal acon - shed stays open with foot on pedal, closes when foot is removed.
Fast is with both mode buons pushed in. In this mode the shed is always open. A rst tap will open the next
shed and hold it open. The next tap will close that shed and open the next shed. Your foot only taps, but
does not hold, the pedal.
Slow is operated with the only the right mode buon pushed in. Slow mode operates with a foot tap rather
than holding the pedal down. One tap opens the shed and leaves it open, the next tap closes the shed.
Reverse will operate in any of the 3 speed modes. It causes the loom to work backward through the picks
just woven. When you put the loom in reverse, you will see a red ‘R’ on the computer screen in Weavepoint
indicang that it is in reverse.
The important thing to remember is that it takes 1 pick before it reverses direcon. The reason for this is that
at the end of a pick, the control box sets up for the next pick in the dra and it will li those shas rst, then
move into reverse. The same is true when you release the reverse buon to move forward again—the loom
will complete the pick that was set up, then reverse direcons. I usually tug on the last we pick and when it
comes loose I know I’m back at the pick where I le o.
15
Start ‘er Up!
This is the excing point where we get to see the electronics in acon! You are working with 2 electronic
devices - the loom control box and your computer—and the order in which things are started up (and
closed down) is very important. Equally important is the need for a surge protector to plug both loom con-
trol box and computer into. Failing to use a surge protector will void the warranty.
Order of Operaons
The ES series requires a precise order for powering the loom and computer on. If the sequence is
not followed, the loom may not go into the loom control mode.
1. Turn on control unit in the back—there should be an orange/yellow light in front by the mode buons
and you may hear a so click. If shas jump it is because a mode buon was pressed before the unit
was turned on. Press mode buon(s) in front. The light will turn green.
2. Turn on computer.
3. Connect control unit to computer with USB cord.
4. Start computer and open Weavepoint. When you are ready to weave, click on Loom Control under the
Weave menu.
The Loom Test
The loom test is a diagnosc test that lets us know if the loom control box is working correctly. Use it to
check the loom when rst assembled or when there is a problem liing, releasing or selecng shas. To run
the loom test, the computer should be disconnected, the control box turned on and the normal mode se-
lected. Press the pedal, either with your hand or foot - all shas should rise. Connue slowly pressing the
pedal and the control box will take the shas through a specic series of lis. Aer the wake up li (all
shas), the loom will li all the even shas alternang with all the odd shas—just as if you’re treadling
plain weave. Then the box will li the shas individually, starng at the back and working forward. For 24–
and 32-sha looms this sequence starts at sha 16 and the last sha simultaneously, so you have parallel
singles ’walking’ forward. The last part of the sequence is liing shas in pairs, again working from back to
front. The enre sequence will then start over. Successful compleon of the test means that the loom and
control box are working correctly.
16
Let’s weave!
Now that the loom is up and running, connect the
computer to the control box, then open the
Weavepoint program. Open the dra you want to
weave and under the “Weave” menu select “Loom
Control” (g. 1).
This brings up the selecon box in g. 2. The Li-
plan buon should be checked. The boxes for Start
and End Pick allow you to set the length of your
repeats. If every pick is wrien out in your dra,
the starng pick will be 1 and the end pick will be
the last pick in your dra. However, somemes
you will have a treadling secon that repeats and
you can use these buons to set the point at
which it repeats back to the beginning.
Once these sengs are as you like, click OK.
This brings up the screen you will see while weav-
ing (g. 3).
Cloth
view
Drawdown
Treadling plan
Arrow indicates shas in
next pick to be lied
Number next to arrow
indicates pick number
Current pick—lists pick number and shows color
of we for that pick (which in this case is white)
Fig. 3
Fig. 2
Fig. 1
17
Troubleshoong - help, the loom won’t weave!
Checking for # of shas
Be sure to check the buon for the number of
shas on your loom—regardless of how many
shas are being used for this parcular dra.
If this is wrong, it will prevent the loom from
weaving.
Checking the Comports - ES system
This is the communicaons channel for the comput-
er and control box to talk to each other. For ES
looms (2016 and later), the USB connecon usually
nds the comport without help. To troubleshoot
this, open the Weave menu and select “Weave Op-
ons”(Fig. 1).
This will bring up the screen in Fig. 2. Click the “Find
Comports” buons and it will show you what com-
ports are available. Adjust the number in the box
below to match one of the available com ports.
Checking the Comports - EW system (looms older than 2016)
1. Shut down computer and loom.
2. Connect the serial cable to the computer and the loom box.
3. Turn on the loom and the computer.
4. See if the computer downloads the driver for the serial cable from online. It will show up somewhere in the lower tray if it
is downloading. Wait for the download to complete and then click on it to install.
5. Reboot the computer.
6. Now go into search, (lower le box) and type in “Device Manager”. Once Device Manager comes up, scroll down to “Ports
and LPTI”; Click on that and your serial to USB cable should show up with a comport number. Remember that number and
go out of control panel and back to your desktop.
7. Now open Weavepoint, go to weave, then opons and you'll see a dialog box on the le marked com port (Fig. 2). Change
the number in that box to match the one you saw in control panel.
8. Click okay at the boom of the page. You now should be good to go.
Figure 1
Figure 2
18
Problem Possible Cause
Sha will not rise The cord of the sha is too loose or disconnected - check the e ups for loose spots or
slipage
Sha will not go down The sha rests on another sha - check rollers and cords
Sha rises with a sha next to it The cords from the shas are crossed or the pegs have fastened to the next sha
No shas go down
Burned out fuse - call WEBS for replacement
Cable between control box and computer is disconnected
Computer is not in the soware’s weaving mode—check sengs in ‘loom control’
The shed doesn’t change The cable between control box and computer is disconnected or the computer is not in the
soware’s weaving mode
The shed doesn’t open completely
The peg aaching the sha cord to the control box is too close to the control box
The warp is too ght
Cords oen slip from the rollers The peg is too close to the roller
The sha only rises from the other
end
The cord from the neighboring sha has jumped over the roller, or the short cord from the
box has not been threaded through the long cord - check cord connecons
Check that warp lies in the boom of the heddle eyes
The control box squeaks The metal slide bars inside the box need to be lubricated. See instrucons under Mainte-
nance notes on page 19
The loom squeaks Rub some soap on the rods that hold the rollers
Troubleshoong
As with all electronic devices, cords can come loose and interfere with operaons. If you are having problems
with the control unit working, the rst thing to check is that all power cords are securely and snugly seated. The next
step is to check the comports (see page 17) and the order of operaons (see page 15).
If these troubleshoong ps do not help, please contact us at 1-800-367-9327.
19
Maintenance of the control unit
1. Cleaning the outside
Turn o power to the unit and to the computer. Wipe down the outside of the box with a so cloth.
2. Cleaning the inside
Turn o the power from the control unit and the computer. Remove the control unit’s electric cable
from the wall socket and the connecng cable between the computer and control unit before starng. Re-
move the cover of the control unit by liing it upwards. Use a vacuum cleaner (a mini vacuum designed for
appliances) to gently remove the dust inside the unit.
3. Lubricang the slide bars
The metal slide bars inside the box need to be lubricated
every 6 months (more oen with heavy use). Make sure
power cord and computer cable are disconnected, then
cover the electronic card in the box with a piece of card-
stock or light cardboard to protect it. Wipe the metal
slide bars clean with a dry cloth, then use a coon swab
to spread a light amount of sewing machine or spinning
wheel oil on the bars. Do not put oil on the square bear-
ings on the bars. Be very careful so that the oil doesn’t
spread elsewhere.
4. Periodically check the wingnuts and wedges to make sure they haven’t wiggled loose, espe-
cially aer projects that take heavy beang. Tighten as needed.
20
Two Year Limited Warranty
Your new Toika computer-assist loom is warranteed, to the original consumer purchaser, by WEBS America’s
Yarn Store, to be free of defects in material and workmanship. WEBS’ obligaon under this Warranty shall be
limited to the repair or replacement of any part or parts which may prove defecve within 2 years following
the date of original new purchase and which WEBS’ examinaon shall disclose to our sasfacon to be thus
defecve. This warranty is valid only for the original buyer of the loom. The warranty is not valid for second
or subsequent owners.
For the rst 60 days aer the original sale, the warranty also covers shipping if it is necessary to return the
loom box to us for repairs. If it is necessary to send the loom box back to Webs, we will supply packing in-
strucons. Costs of packing are not covered by the warranty. Aer the rst 60 days, the purchaser is respon-
sible for shipping costs.
This Warranty covers normal consumer use and does not cover damage which occurs in shipment or damage
which results from alteraon, accident, misuse, abuse or neglect. The warranty is voided if the following con-
dions are not met:
User must connect the loom to power through a high-quality surge protector;
User may not perform any work inside the box without specic authorizaon and instrucons from WEBS
or Toika;
User must lubricate the unit as described in user notes;
User must install the loom so that it is level.
The following parts are not covered by the Warranty : Texsolv cords, texsolv pegs, fuses .
No other warranes expressed or implied are valid.
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