After after these years of wrapping rods, but not doing much to really dress 'em up, I'm ready to do some decorative wrapping using a Renzetti wonder weaver or a Doc Ski jig. Any thoughts on ease of use, the pros' & cons using each, wonder weaver Vs wonder weaver II, Doc Ski's Vs Renzetti's. I've seen the Doc Ski jig in action as the local rod shop has provided them. As the winters are pretty long here (there's still 3 ft of snow in my yard), I'd like to start with the research now and be ready to start working on my first one next fall. Any thoughts/opinions, and the occasional fact or two, would be appreciated. I like the horror story's too, as I'm sure 'll have my share of 'em.

R.P. Vernacchio

Hello R.P.

I have both wonder weavers and one like Doc's.

In my opion they all work but if you are going to do anything complicated, or all the way around the blank the WW is the better choice.

If you are just putting a name on the blank the Doc's will work fine with less setup time.

Hopefully Jim & or Doc will chime in on this one and be able to explain it better.

A lot is preference.

Happy Weaving.

Bob,

New Bern, NC.

The Renzetti model allows you to weave a complete 360 degrees around the rod.


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I use the doc ski 100 thread loom, i've read great things about the wonder weaver and will probably get one when i start to do patterns that are over 100 threads. If it's your first time at weaving you might want to start off with a cheaper loom like doc's, instead of buying the more expensive wonder weaver, then if you get a liking for it you can upgrade. If you do decide to buy one of doc's looms, i'd reccommend you buy the 100 thread one, if you buy the 80 or 50 thread looms, you'll only obviously be able to weave up to those amounts.

If you intend to work on more than one axis ( ie: fish on one side and initials on the other) or do weaves that wrap the rod you will need the Wonder Weaver in one form or the other. The two wheel version will be just fine for everything but metallic threads. If you want to do a lot of weaves using metallic threads you will do well to get the three wheel version as it controls the long tails on the left side of your weave. Send me an E-Mail and I will try to answer any questions you have.

Jim

Pay attention to what Jim says- I have both jigs and use both. Which one I use depends on the weave thread count and my mood. Agree too get the 100 thread Doc Ski jig if you only get one.

You can always use less thread

But when you want more -- then what ??

Bill - willierods.com

You can always use less thread

But when you want more -- then what ??

being cheap does not mean Quality

Bill - willierods.com

The Wonderweaver will do it all, large or small, so if you buy only one, that one will be the one to get, IMO.

I have several size sets of Doc Ski's jigs and a 3 wheel Wonder Weaver and use them all depending on the pattern used and placement location.

That said, I recommend buying a 2 or 3 wheel Wonder and then making the jig sets your self in what ever thread count you'll work with most. A Wonder Weaver "style" loom can be made yourself as well but for the time and materials spent in the making of a "quality" tool you won't be ahead by much by making your own version.

The 2 wheel W.W. can be set up to take up a shorter overall area than any large thread count set of jigs.

Jigs,(large count) although taking up more space to set up, have a wider space between threads making them easier to work with. That's why I will use a smaller count jig set sometimes in place of my W.W. unless I'm using metallic threads.

You can't easily complete a 360 degree weave without a W.W. but you can do weaves on 2 axis with 2 sets of jigs.

The only "horror stories" I have is trying a multi-laye weave with TAPE and no jigs or loom! Some can do that but NOT me.

Raymond Adams
Eventually, all things merge, and a river runs through it..

I really appreciate everyone's insightful comments. I really had no idea what I wanted to accomplish beyond weaving one-dimensional initials. I would like to do some patterns such as fish, flags, etc. Jim (and others), I may take you up on asking questions via email. Since I posted this initially, I discovered there are quite a few worthy youtube videos on the subject. I will pay a visit to C&M while I'm in the area over the next few weeks, and pick up the Doc Ski 100 count jig as a starting point.

Thanks everyone.