So I'm just now getting around to putting my loom together, which includes the bench and warping board.

I've had an awful time with the warping board - which came with no instructions.  Just a picture showing the hardware.  OK, so its not rocket science - but they don't discuss how to install the pegs at all. I'm GUESSING that the pegs need to be driven into the holes drilled for them using a rubber mallet (and padding so you don't bang up the end of the peg) to tap them in - because there is no other hardware included, and they sure won't go in by hand.  At least not by MY hand.

However in the process of doing this, I eventually twigged to the fact that the pegs are not smooth in places and don't appear to be finished (or the finish is very thin and perhaps the pegs weren't well sanded first). I have all but 5 pegs pounded in there, and I don't think I'm getting them back out.

Am I wrong, or should those pegs be silky-smooth?  And finished?  Its a Glimakra Sophia. I know the warping boards I used at the weaving studio where I was going before sure seemed to be very very smooth ...

So I'm thinking I will have to sand and finish the pegs to smooth them out, and I will have to do it as-is, with the pegs already mounted - has anybody ever had to do something like this?

Comments

Mon, 09/08/2014 - 19:22

MaryMartha

Of course, it is possible you got a bad one. But I'd guess not.  I have a Glimakra sofia I've used for years.  It arrived a bit rougher than I'd expected, not silky-smooth, but the pegs have smoothed out somewhat in use.  I have never had yarn snag on the pegs. I did not sand.

In particular, you want the pegs to be tight in the holes to hold up to tension from the warp.  Use a twisting motion to get them out again.  They do loosen up a little over time.  If you take to sanding the ends, you may lose the ability to hold good tension.

I don't bother with a rubber mallet.  I use a medium-weight hammer and hit the slightly rounted head of the peg square on.  The slightly tapered end goes in the hole.

 

 

 

Tue, 09/09/2014 - 03:43

ZenSojourner

Well they're all in backwards, then, LOL!  And I am NOT taking them back out so they will have to stay that way!

I spoke to someone today at Glimakra and they said it is normal - and that I may need to sand some spots a bit smoother, but then again, I may not.  Apparently its supposed to have some "tooth" - little teensy tooths - to help keep the yarn in place. 

I guess the ones at the weaving studio are just so old and well-used that they've smoothed out over years of having varying yarns dragged across them.