I'm always looking for the right way to warp until I realized I need to find my way to warp. One idea I had was to use these big S hooks to hold bunches of warp after presleying the reed. There wasn't enough slack to slip my hand through and, really, that basically tied me to the loom until I finished! This way I could slip the rod through once I was finished and lash it to the beam.
The handmade raddle that came with my loom was not working for me. I like warping from back to front and have tried presleying the reed and hanging it from the castle but that was a little clumsy for me. I came up with a couple of things that I could make but before grabbing the tools I tried a little mock-up with things I already had.
I clamped on the Angel Wings and then drilled a hole through my reed holder (made from a piece of 2x4 and a couple of dowel pieces, you can see an example on the Angel Wings page) so that I could bolt it to the back beam through the holes already there for the raddle.
The warp went under the harnesses and front beam and up and around my pvc trapeze. Each of the two bouts were weighted with a 1/2 gallon plastic milk carton filled with water. Warping was very smooth with absolutely no snags. I had just given my dowels a quick rub with steel wool and another coat of Wood Beams and they were as smooth as silk.
One final thought came to me, I've been putting the cross right at the beginning of my warp because that's the way the warping board was set up when it was given to me! Then when I bought a warping reel and I could put it anywhere - there it was right at the beginning, even though I never have enough slack and I'm constantly aware that it could go flying back through the heddles or reed! On the next warp I'm going to try putting the cross about 18" from the end.
I'm off to the Funny Farm for some dye sampling and lots of laughter!
Very clever indeed. I also have my own way....thing is I modify it a bit each time I dress my looms! Maybe I need to get consistent.....then it might work!
ReplyDeleteLike you, I am always interested in how people warp. For me, getting that warp on is always the hardest part. This is a very interesting method.
ReplyDeleteThat's interesting. I am also trying something new on my front-to-back warping -- I did NOT cut both ends of the warp. I cut the cross end, threaded the reed, but kept the front end uncut - I will thread a dowel through the bunches of loops til I am ready to tie on at the front. We'll see if that helps at all.
ReplyDeleteThanks for this post. I am always very curious about the warping techniques of others. Great information!
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