Hello all - as I am just starting on my first ever time using a floor loom ( Louet David III) I am noticing how much noisier it is than the Jane table loom I am used to. I’m sure some of the noise of the treadling etc is unavoidable, but I would love to hear any ideas on how to keep the noise to a minimum…both for my own sake and for the sake of my neighbours, as I live in a semi- detached house and the dividing wall definitely is not sound proof!. I can hear my neighbour when he is playing the flute very quietly, so I can only assume that any noise my floor loom makes will be audible through the wall to him. Thanks.

My David III was noisy until I got a rug under it. You might try that

Thanks Deb. That sounds like a good plan alright. I also have put small pieces of felt under the ends of the treadles where they touch the floor that seems to have improved the situation somewhat.

This is also in response to your other post about how to position your feet when treadling. I’m sure everyone positions their feet a bit differently. When I’m treadling, the weight of my leg is on my heel and my heel is resting on the wooden slat at the front of the treadles. To press down a treadle, I’m using the balls of my feet and my toes. Kind of like pressing on the gas pedal in a car. When I release a treadle, I lift the balls of my feet and toes. My heal stays planted on the wooden slat. I am releasing the pressure on the treadle so it doesn’t slam upward. This seems to help quite a bit with the noise. If you look at Jane’s season 8 at the loom videos, they show her feet treadling while she’s weaving.

Thanks very much Deb and Kathleen. That is very useful information. It is interesting that you need such little pressure to depressing the treadles on your loom Kathleen. So far I have found that the level of pressure needed on the Louet David III, especially when a treadle is tied up to multiple harnesses, means that I can’t really do it if my heel is resting on the cross bar. The height of my sitting position relative to the treadles is a factor, but the height of the breast beam limits how high up I can sit I think. Anyway, I need to remind myself that I shouldn’t expect to sit at a treadle loom for the first time and expect it all to be as effortless and trouble free as it would be if I had been weaving for decades! Now I am off to take a look at Season 8 as recommended to see how Jane does it! Thanks again.