Japan November 2013…...

[Giles]

The first workshop we visited consisted of husband and wife and about 5 or 6 very large Toyoda looms, these were larger than anything that I have seen before, but they still weave a 30" width.  Their massive  overengineering is what makes them able to cope with heavy ounce denim.  Whilst we were there our Ultra Heavy Raw (AKA 21/123) was being woven…..

[Giles]

And we were lucky enough to see a new run started, this only happens once every 13 or so days per machine….

Sacrificial lengths of warp are used to start the process, each of these is hand knotted to the real warp and then teased through the loom before the weaving actually starts...

[Snowy]

That's a really great insight. I'd never thought about how a new run would be started. Always seem looms in flight. That is far more fiddly/detailed to setup than I would have thought, but makes sense.

Some really great photos there too. Love the one of Tom looking/smiling at the loom whilst all others are using phones/cameras :).

[twin]

Giles that blue denim dust must be bad for the workers lungs. do they wear masks on the job?

[JCar2666]

Amazing photo's G.  Please keep them coming

[Chris]

@twin:

Giles that blue denim dust must be bad for the workers lungs. do they wear masks on the job?

I was thinking the same thing.  In the days when North Carolina had a textile industry, workers in the mills often came down with "white lung"- basically a catchall term for pulmonary disease caused or exacerbated by inhaling cotton fibers.  All of that can't be good for the workers.

[Peter]

diseases or not, these photos are incredible!

[trail and arrow]

@twin:

Giles that blue denim dust must be bad for the workers lungs. do they wear masks on the job?

thought about that too, important question!
perhaps they didn't ware masks that day because of the visitors?

[Giles]

We were offered earplugs, but not masks…...

[JCar2666]

Do you have an updated ETA on the UHR's after this recent trip to the factory G?

[Giles]

I still have not decided when to release them….Spring/Summer though....

[Giles]

Ihoha, Tom, Sarina

[Giles]

After we had been to the "heavy ounce" mill we went to the "middle ounce" mill….

Here is the owner (and sole worker) marvelling at the weight of the UHR's

[Giles]

[adam_r]

@Giles:

After we had been to the "heavy ounce" mill we went to the "middle ounce" mill….

Here is the owner (and sole worker) marvelling at the weight of the UHR's

Never mind the weight, look at the size of them!

[Giles]

They were IIRC waist 34, so not that big…..

[Giles]

I will post more pics of the "Middle Ounce" weaving factory later, but in the mean time, here are a few taken at lunch.

We had lunch in an amazing place overlooking the Seto Ohashi Bridge which stretches 9.4 kilometers from Sakaide in Kagawa to Kojima in Okayama. It is made up of several different types of bridges, including suspension, truss, and cable-stayed. Its two separate levels serve as an expressway for cars (upper level), and tracks for a railway (lower level).

And the lunch was as pretty as the view….

[Giles]

Bobbin being filled with weft…

http://gifmaker.me/PlayFrameAnimation.php?folder=2013111809ADSZVmwBF5Wh7MWve8WQ8R

[Giles]

More from "middle ounce" weaver….

Weaving beams

Beams and denim

[Giles]