Hello!

I've been weaving for about 6-7 months now, and have read quite a bit on this site, but never posted.  Let me say how nice it is that this site exists and everyone shares their knowledge, I hope I can return the favor!

I'm weaving some towels right now with 8/2 unmercerized cotton (Brassard) set at 20 epi, but every time I have dealt with this cotton, the warp threads tend to "stick" to each other during warping so that some ends are looser than others and that leads to tension issues later from uneven winding.  I deal with it by keeping the sticks in behind the heddles and/or weighting the loosest threads, but ultimately I'd like to fix whatever I'm doing wrong in the beginning.  I don't have any issues with mercerized/perle cotton, since I think the smoother threads don't allow that to happen.  I'm warping B2F if that makes a difference.  Any suggestions would be appreciated!

Douglas

Comments

Tue, 03/22/2016 - 18:38

Sara von Tresckow

Unmercerized cotton  is "fuzzier" than mercerized and does get to sticking to a neighbor when winding.

First, be sure that your raddle comes BEFORE the lease sticks when you wind. The raddle then separates the threads into groups of 20 or so before reaching the lease sticks. This will prevent a lot of those annoying places where the threads bond together.

Second, when winding, pay carefyul attention to the lease sticks. Stop and separate any threads caught together before they stick hard enough to cause tension problems later.

And don't weight loose threads, pull them up to the fell line - that solves the problem for the rest of the warp.

Tue, 03/22/2016 - 18:55

MPLSWeaver

Thanks Sara!  Obviously I will have to try the first tips on the next warp.  I had actually been using the raddle behind the lease sticks on the back beam, but to use it in front of that, does that mean that the raddle has to go on top of the castle or maybe on the front beam (I'm using a table loom)?

For the weighting tip, I'm guessing what happens is that you get a loop of warp thread sticking out where you pulled the loose-ness back to the fell and it gets held in by the next few picks?

Thank you so much, I really appreciate the time and advice from those much more experienced than me!

Tue, 03/22/2016 - 20:34

laurafry

Wind two ends at once (finger between them so they don't twist around each other).  I warp back to front with Brassard's 2/8 cotton all the time and rarely have issues.  But I also weight the warp during the beaming, which helps keep them co-operative and under contol.  (A thread under tension is a thread under control.)

I have a video clip on You Tube showing how I beam warps more than 3 meters long using a warping valet.  11 meter long 2/8 cotton warp for placemats in under 10 minutes.  No muss, no fuss.  :)  

It *can* be done...

 

Tue, 03/22/2016 - 23:08

sandra.eberhar…

I have done four towel warps in a row on a small jack floor loom with 540 ends of Brassard 8/2 and they have been very smooth.  I do not use lease sticks when I warp.  I do use a large roller over the loom (called a trapeze or valet) and I use a gallon jug about 3/4 full of water (about 8 pounds) to weight the warp.  When I wind a warp, I tie off raddle groups (my raddle has 1/2 inch sections, so the raddle groups are 1/2 the epi, or sort of close).  I have found if I am carefull with the raddle groups, and maintain high tension, everything is smooth.  Like Laura's, these go on fast (mine have been 10 yards each).  How much weight are you using?

Tue, 03/22/2016 - 23:46

laurafry

I just beamed a 2/8 tea towel warp with Brassard's cotton - had no issues with it.  The warp was about 24" in width so I broke it into two chains, used one weight per chain (about half a gallon of water for weight).

I do use lease sticks.  Some photos from today's beaming on my blog:

http://laurasloom.blogspot.com

Wed, 03/23/2016 - 01:04

MPLSWeaver

Laura,

Thanks for posting that video, it made it very clear.   I don't have a setup like that, but I can think of a few ways I might fashion one.  Those towels look like they're going to be beautiful!

 

BWSD,

I don't use weight when warping, I either get someone to hold it or, since I'm tall enough, apply tension with one hand and wind with the other.  It's worked on virtually every warp except the 8/2 unmer. cotton.  However, I can see where the constant tension would help a lot.

 

I thought about it, and I remember I put on a test warp in October with the same cotton and had fewer issues, which makes me wonder if it's a static problem.  Winter is very dry here so I wonder if that creates the issues.  Most of the time, it's when I take it off the warping board and put it on to the loom.  I try to avoid "combing" the warp in any way, but maybe I have to rethink that.

Wed, 03/23/2016 - 02:36

Sara von Tresckow

I learned years ago that the raddle is much more effective coming BEFORE the lease sticks.

Anne Field published "Learn to Weave" shortly before she died and uses the raddle on the breast beam of jack and table looms - using a Baby Wolf as her example.

I tried this with students in workshops last Fall and it made beaming (with the two thread cross) much easier.

Wed, 03/23/2016 - 15:03

MPLSWeaver

Sara, thanks for the tip! You know, everything I've read so far says to put the raddle after the sticks.  This is exactly the kind of help I was hoping for.  I will definitely be using this method on the next warp (I'm on the last towel now) but I can already imagine why that would help.

 I also looked up that book and it turns out my library has 6 copies, so I will be checking it out!

 Thanks again!