I just compleated my first project on this loom (B4 48 10 harness) and the shead was uneven. 5 and 6 was about a half inch lower then 4 with 1 being higher then 3. All the harness chains are the same lenght and all the harness were even across the tops. I stated putting the S hooks in different link holes which worked somewhat but there must be a better more precise way to adjust them. Any ideas or tips. A fixed hight bench came with the loom. It seems high but it worked ok but my knees kept hitting the finshed cloth. I would like to make an adjustable bench sometime. I know it is a matter taste but is there a standard work hight for these looms.

Comments

Mon, 09/29/2014 - 02:17

laurafry

Walt Turpening has a formula for figuring out the ideal height for loom benches.  You should be sitting high enough that your elbows clear the breast beam, and hips should be higher than your knees.  

cheers,

Laura

Tue, 09/30/2014 - 18:19

Don G

Thanks for the Info. I never heard of Walt Turpening but he really seems to know his stuff.

Wed, 10/01/2014 - 01:05

Don G

I was thinking of making fixed lenght wire hooks instead on chains or maybe turnbuckles so they can be adjusted. Any Comments.

Wed, 10/01/2014 - 02:42

mrdubyah (not verified)

The axles for the lift mechanism at the bottom of the loom are just pins driven front to back through the lower boards on the castle.  Sometimes one end or the other of the pin will work its way out and the pin will then sit in the castle at an angle, causing an uneven shed.  Check that all the axle pins are flush with the front and back of the castle to see if this might be your problem. 

Wed, 10/01/2014 - 04:56

pammersw

Thanks to the original poster, I was about to ask a similar question!  After reading the guidelines,  I went and raised my stool about 5 or 6 inches! 

My uneven sheds were caused by the harnesses not sitting evenly on the things that lift them. Different brand, though, so the mechanisms are different. 

 

 

Thu, 10/02/2014 - 20:41

Michael White

Check to see if the hooks are all the same size. Macomber makes different size hooks. Are all the heddle clips (from heddle frame to heddle bars) clipped? Also check to see that the hooks in question are not bent.

If your bench is too tall for you, you can take a saw to it and cut it down.

 

Michael 

 

Fri, 10/03/2014 - 15:23

Don G

Thanks for the sugestions. My bench seems to be about 6 inches to high. I am in the process of making a new adjuctable bench but I now have a starting point. As for the uneven shead, I checked to see if all the parts ( hooks and chains, ect) are where they should be. After bending S hooks and moving up or down a half link or so its not to bad. It is a work in process. Don
Wed, 10/22/2014 - 14:05

Don G

I'm still having trouble with the uneven shed. I am now thinking it could be the heddels and/ or the heddel bars.. There are several types of heddels mixed together through out the loom. The bars seem to have a wave in them. I found a company in Canada that sells heddles at a very reasonable price, has anyone ever dealt with them?
Wed, 10/22/2014 - 15:33

laurafry

Not ideal to have different types of heddles but the unevenness sounds like a bigger problem? Hope you can get it sorted out. Cheers Laura
Thu, 10/23/2014 - 15:00

Michael White

Have you or someone else changed out the jacks? The jacks control the height of the frames and are made to be off set to adjust for the angle of the treadles. Pictures would help.

Thu, 10/23/2014 - 18:50

Don G

I looked at that before and just checked again and they are correct. I took a straight edge ruler across the top of the shafts both when they are down and when they are up and they are even. I ordered new heddels so they will be the same for all the shafts. They should be here in a few days. Another thought I had was that heddlel bars are bent or swayed I'll check that when I install the new heddels. I'll keep you posted on my progress. Don
Thu, 10/23/2014 - 19:38

Michael White

The heddles frames should not be even across the top at rest.

Thu, 10/23/2014 - 22:06

Don G

Ok, how should they be? I also found that the tie ups are different lenghts. I have the old system. They very as much as a 1/4 inch. Don
Fri, 10/24/2014 - 10:56

Michael White

What tie ups (?) are you talking about the rods or the hooks?

Michael

Fri, 10/24/2014 - 14:57

Don G

the rods that connects to the treadles. I am reforming them to all the same size.
Tue, 10/28/2014 - 20:09

Michael White

One thing I do is using just one hook I raise each frame using the middle treadle and then each end to see what happens. Right now I have a 32/12 mac that one side (frame) lifts higher then the other. I know it has to be the jack control rods beening a different length. I tell weavers that are upgradeing to more harness to let macomber know the length of the rods.

 

Michael 

 

Tue, 10/28/2014 - 20:12

Michael White

THis is also a problem when mixing old hooks and the new super hooks.

Tue, 11/11/2014 - 01:29

Don G

I wasted enough time on getting an even shead. There is no way that I can get an even shead on this loom. As long as the bottom is even going over the beater race the top will have to be uneven.
Wed, 11/12/2014 - 15:53

Michael White

As long as you are not having any problems getting a good shad. I want back and looked at you first posting an see that this is a 10 harness loom. Was it purchased as a 10 or was it added to? I have seen one and have been told that the conecting rods (not treadle hooks) are sometimes  the wrong length. On a 32/12 loom one side of the some of the harnesses was lifting higher then the other.  After I removed all the rods and measured then I found  short rods. The lady didn't want to purchase new rods so a paired them as a set. In the end some of the shaft did not raise as high as the others but still had a great shad.

 

Michael

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