Hi, 

I'm a new weaver and I just bought this loom on Craigslist:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/46497330@N06/sets/72157632160925795/#

It appears to be complete.  Does anyone have any ideas on how to tie up the treadles?  It's a 4 shaft loom with 4 treadles, do I tie 1 shaft to 1 treadle?  Any ideas on how to thread the cords?

Thanks in advance!

Elizabeth

Comments

Tue, 12/04/2012 - 21:55

Claudia Segal (not verified)

Hi Elizabeth,

Congrats on the loom.  It looks lovely.  It appears from your pictures to be a counterbalance loom.  You need to tie from the shafts to the lamms and from the lamms to the treadles.

I suggest you Google counterbalance loom tie-up.  Also check out the tutorials on the Glimakra site.  

Good luck and try posting in the Weaving forum.  You may get more action there.  

Tue, 12/04/2012 - 22:02

elizaboo (not verified)

Thanks.  I wasn't sure what sort of loom it is.  Now that I know what to look for that should help!

Wed, 12/05/2012 - 00:59

Claudia Segal (not verified)

I strongly suggest Texsolv tie-ups for your lamms.  You might give Joanne Hall a call at Glimakra.  Also, Laila Lundell's Big Book of Weaving.  I bought it used from Amazon and ended up with a former library copy for much les than the new price.

Claudia

Wed, 12/05/2012 - 01:47

SallyE (not verified)

No, the Bernat looms are jack looms.  They use pulleys at the top to hang the shafts, like the HD looms do. 

The lams (picture 3) seem to be a different kind of wood than the treddles and the rest of the loom.  Are you sure they go with this loom?  In any case, lams and treddles should be perpendicular to each other, not parallel, so they are in the wrong place in picture 3.

The first picture, I think, is of jacks that are hung from the side of the folding frame when in floor loom mode.   Since this is only a partial picture of them - that might not be right.

Since you have 4 shafts and 4 treddles, all you need is a direct tie-up.  That is shaft 1 to treddle 1, etc.

Why don't you start by untangling everything and then maybe take some better pictures, especially of the area right under the shafts.  That will help us help you.

 

Wed, 12/05/2012 - 18:38

elizaboo (not verified)

Hi Sally, 

I tried to reply to your emails yesterday, but kept getting message returned notices.

Here are some more pics:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/46497330@N06/sets/72157632175279135/#

The things that may be lams look more like the same wood in these pics.  There are 2 dark marks on the loom in the 5th picture that maybe from the hooks on the lams.  I cut through the cords tying the lams to the treadles.

To direct tie up(hope that's the right term) I would:

Run a short length of rope through the left side hole on the shaft.  Then a long one through the right side hole. Connect left rope to right rope. Run long rope through the metal levers and then tie to a treadle.

Maybe the lams were merely, on this loom, to help keep the cords from getting all tangled up?

Anyway, thanks for your input, both of you.  Let me know what you think after these pics.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Wed, 12/05/2012 - 20:30

elizaboo (not verified)

Here are a few more pic:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/46497330@N06/8248264946/in/photostream

http://www.flickr.com/photos/46497330@N06/8247197439/in/photostream

And here is a pic with the lams from a brochure I found on line.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Wed, 12/05/2012 - 21:12

SallyE (not verified)

Those pictures help a lot.  So here is what I think the tie-up is:

(1) Two chords go up from each shaft and over the pulley directly above them.  

(2) These chords both go to the right and then down over the corresponding pulley at the far right of the castle and then down to the lams.

(3) The lams hang from the folding frame at the left side, using the metal wire hangers you show in one of the pictures.  The chords from the first shaft attach to lam one, etc.  With these chords attached the lams, the lams should be parallel to the floor or raised just slightly. They might actually be designed to hit the underside of the folding frame when the loom is at rest - is there any indication of bumpers?   That would keep the shafts in the right position even when the treddles weren't tied up.   But you will have to experiment with this.

Note that you can adjust the height of the warp by the length of these chords.   Since this is a jack loom, the warp should be adjusted to sit on the bottom of the reed.

4) Finally, each treddle has a chord that goes from the appropriate hole at the end of the treddle and up to the corresponding hole in the center of the lam.   These chords should go straight up.   The length of the chords is such that the treddle is in the up position.   That way, when you step on the treddle, the lam goes down, pulling the shaft up.   A jack shed!

Note also that with this set up and a few extra holes in the lams and treddles, and two more treddles, it would be very easy to make this a 6 treddle loom!   All you would need is to run multiple chords from a given treddle up to multiple lams, thus raising multiple sheds.

With a little cleaning, you will have a very nice little loom!

 

Wed, 12/05/2012 - 21:17

elizaboo (not verified)

Thanks!  I was beginning to think I should have saved my money!  What sort of maintenance does a loom require?  Do you oil it (and where)? I used an upholstery attacnment and the vacuum cleaner on the heddles - you wouldn't believe the dust!

Thanks again!

 

Wed, 12/05/2012 - 21:17

elizaboo (not verified)

Thanks!  I was beginning to think I should have saved my money!  What sort of maintenance does a loom require?  Do you oil it (and where)? I used an upholstery attacnment and the vacuum cleaner on the heddles - you wouldn't believe the dust!

Thanks again!

 

Wed, 12/05/2012 - 22:17

SallyE (not verified)

I use furniture lemon oil from the grocery store to keep the wood from drying out.  Other than that, you need to keep the screws and fasteners tight.  If the chords are rotten, replace those.  If it came with a rusty reed, you can de-rust it.  You have pulleys, so a little sewing machine oil will keep them from squeaking. 

Ya, I would believe the dust!  : ' )