Glimåkra stainless steel reed, 120 cm (47") wide, range of sizes

How do I choose a reed?

Glimåkra reeds are an economical choice and are lightweight, made in the traditional way with cord wrappings on a wooden spine. The flexible dents are made with thinner steel than the American reeds, which can be an advantage in sleying the reed (especially fine reeds), and for ease of repairing broken warp ends since you can easily open the dent with a fingernail. If we don't have what you need in stock, you will need to wait until our next shipment comes in (4–12 weeks).

Gowdey reeds are made here at home in the USA, only one state away from us in Rhode Island. Their sturdy epoxy-bound construction makes them a durable choice. This is an advantage if you get dent damage with the lighter-weight reeds. They can tolerate hard use and are especially recommended for rugs, weaving with no temple, or anything else heavy duty.

We use metric reeds here in the studio because of their great versatility. They are readily available in so many more sizes than reeds in inches, especially when it comes to the finer sizes used in so many of our beautiful fine textiles. Making one or two reeds do everything, by way of complicated sleying patterns, may work in some cases, but can often end up leaving permanent streaks in your cloth. A reed size just one metric increment away can make or break how your project turns out. Sett does matter!

What sett you use for a project is always your own decision. Books and publications often are very helpful in suggesting what reed to use for what project. We will usually not recommend setts to our customers, since there are so many possibilites for each yarn we sell, and we have no way of knowing what the desired finished result is for your project. Sampling is a good idea, and often the sett can be changed slightly one direction or the other even after a project is on the loom if the first results are not pleasing. Our Swedish Classics class offers a comprehensive session on how to choose a sett for multiple types and sizes of yarns and a multitude of weave structures.