I have been weaving on this old counterbalance loom for a few years, and up to now have not had much trouble weaving one harness against three.  Usually I have used no. 10 crochet cotton and woven honeycomb tied up with one treadle per per harness, and woven 1, 2, 1, 2, 1, 2, (then the tabbies), 3, 4, 3, 4, 3, 4 (then the next tabbies), etc.  Adjust the cords from treadles to lams, crank up the tension and weave away.  If a shed is iffy, slap a hand over the tops of the upper harnesses, give them a bit of a squeeze, and move along.  

Now I am doing my first project with 16/2 linen yarn, 36 inches wide, threaded for huck lace stripes alternating with plain weave stripes, and those workarounds are not working.  The jack loom tie up for the project is 2-3, 1-3, 2-4,  and 1-3-4, so I tied up 1-4, 2-4, 1-3 and 2.  Treadling is 2, 1, 2, 1, 2, 3, 4, 3, 4, 3, and so on.

I can view the warp threads traveling in a straight line from back beam through heddles & reed and over front beam.  At present the threads travel just a little above the center of the reed.  

Problem 1 - The shed on treadle 4 is short and droopy.  The one good feature about that shed, it rests on the shuttle race, so the shuttle does not scoot under the bottom threads.  It does, however, want to fly over the top of the threads and out of that shed entirely.  I have been using my weaving sword to raise the upper threads -- a cumbersome fix.  I did try raising the reed to perfectly center the threads, but when you do that the short shed just gets shorter.  

Problem 2 - The sheds formed by treadles 1, 2 and 3 rest nearly an inch above the shuttle race and the shuttle falls through the bottom threads.  My temporary fix is to insert my weaving sword in the shed, lay it on the threads and throw the shuttle on the sword.  Pull out the sword, beat, change sheds, insert sword, throw shuttle, repeat.  Slows a woman down.

I have only woven a few inches so far, and am well within my sample allowance for tis project.  So I have room to try any suggestions you may have.  Thanks in advance for your help!

Karen

Comments

Mon, 06/02/2014 - 15:21

Joanne Hall

Hi Karen,

If you were weaving with one shaft down and three up for all your sheds, the solution is easy, just raise all the shafts about an inch.  That tightens all the threads on the shafts which rise and then the sheds are perfect.  However, you only have one shed which is three shafts up and one down and the other sheds are 2/2.  So, try raising the shafts a small amount, maybe 1/2 inch.  It should not affect the 2/2 sheds enough to create a problem, but will improve the 3/1 shed.

Joanne

Tue, 06/03/2014 - 04:19

Karen6

Thanks for your help, Joanne.  It's much better now.  I shortened the upper cords and kept tweaking them until the old girl suddenly just settled down and started to work.

Karen

Tue, 06/03/2014 - 14:28

spring k (not verified)

i am so intrigued with the possiblity of weaving unbalanced weave structures on a counter-balance. it is hard for me to follow the how-to of this post....any place you know of to watch a video or see pictures of how to do, say huck on a counter-balance?

Wed, 06/04/2014 - 00:59

Joanne Hall

Just remember, until the undustrial revolution and the jack looms designed since then, most all fabrics were woven on counterbalance looms.  If you have seen historical fabrics in museums, it is always an eye opener that such exquisite fabrics were woven on very simple looms.  And they were tied up counterbalance.  I don't remember which book it was in, but in one of the Leclerc Master Weaver books, there is a photo of a 16 shaft fabric being woven with a counterbalance tie-up. 

Joanne

Wed, 06/04/2014 - 05:23

Karen6

Scandinavians wove using counterbalance looms and linen yarn.  I was really anxious about using linen.  Linen is different from cotton and wool - and it has a reputation that you have to treat it so-o-o carefully.  In the process of getting through warping, threading & tying on 555 linen warp threads, then having the sheds impossible, I was just buffaloed.  Thank goodness for Joanne and her good advice.  Tweaking the counterbalance cords, and then being able to actually throw my shuttle and weave, is such a relief and so satisfying.  In the end, a counterbalance is just a loom, and linen is just a yarn.  It's working!  Thanks again Joanne!

Karen