Hello there!

This is my first forum post! I joined Weavolution a while ago, but haven't used it much. I have been weaving for about 7 months.

I have a 45'' Nilus Leclerc counter balance floor loom, four harnesses. It was passed onto me, looking for a new and loving home, which has been an amazing gift! I love to weave. The loom seems to be tuned fine up until the last few warps I have put on. I haven't been able to get a good shed and as careful as I am with threading, there always seems to be some slack ends, and some tight ends, making throwing the shuttle difficult without manipulating the ends somewhat with my hands.

I thought that this problem might be because the harnesses were resting too low, so I did another turn on the top roller to raise the height. This has helped get a bigger shed, but I am finding that the harnesses are off kilter, and when I treadle, they raise crookedly, again giving an unbalanced warp.

Does anyone know how I can re-string the harnesses so that they are in line? Do you think that my problem with uneven tension in the warp is from the crooked harnesses, or do you think it is a tension issue when beaming, or perhaps something else entirely?

Any help would be greatly appreciated. I have been really struggling with the last few warps and am itching to get another one on, but I am fearful that it will be too difficult to weave once I go through the set up. Yesterday I had to cut my warp off because it just wasn't possible to weave on it with any amount of ease.

 

Thanks for reading!

Katie-May

Comments

Sat, 07/11/2015 - 12:00

Joanne Hall

The book that has always come with each new Leclerc loom, is on their website.  You can download it.  That would be a good place to start.

Joanne

Sat, 07/11/2015 - 12:30

sequel (not verified)

The pulley ropes - are they in place or have they slipped off the ends of the rollers?  Are you missing any parts on the rollers?  Have any of the original ropes or tie-ups been replaced (incorrectly)?  Do you have a shed regulator that's acting up?  LeClerc counterbalanced looms usually have fixed length ropes for the rollers, the ties to the lamms and the treadles.

Can you post a picture?

Uneven warp tension is not often caused by the harnesses being crooked. 

Sat, 07/11/2015 - 15:25

katiemayflower

I have a copy of the book and I will take a closer look and troubleshoot.

Sat, 07/11/2015 - 15:29

katiemayflower

Sequel,

It looks to me like the pulleys/ropes are the originals, but since this loom is 30 years old and previously owned, I can't be certain. It is my first loom, so I don't have a lot to compare with! I don't have a shed regulator, so I don't think that is the problem.

I have taken a few photos and hopefully they will show the issue- you can see that the harnesses are not in line, and this is me treadling tabby.

I knew that the loom was a little bit warped, but upon taking the photo I see that the top roller is really bowed! Do you think that could be adding to the issue?

Sat, 07/11/2015 - 18:56

Joanne Hall

The top dowel is holding your tie-up cords.  Even if it is bowed a lot, it probably does not make much difference in the length of the cord on it.  So, don't be concerned about that.

Your loom is a very old one.  You might want to replace the cords with Texsolv cord.  Also, the ends of the two dowels had plastic pulleys in the 70s and 80s, so your loom may be older than that.  You can get the pulleys from Leclerc if you want to update these.  However, the metal hooks are probably working just fine. 

Take note:  Where the two dowels sit when you are not making a shed is of no consequence.  The only thing you need to evaluate is the shed.  If you can easily throw the shuttle, just start weaving.  If the shed is not good enough to weave without stopping, then you can investigate the tie-up further.

And in that case, you need to look at the treadle cords.  It may be the treadle cords which are causing the problem.  If they don't look good, replace them with Texsolv cord.  I always found the tie-up cords too short.  Theere should be two cords on each treadle and they should all be the same length.  They should open the shed large enough when the treadle touches the bottom of the loom.

Joanne

 

Sat, 07/11/2015 - 23:27

sequel (not verified)

It looks like the cords from the shafts to the lower rollers are kinda short.  I suggest you contact LeClerc and find out how much space should be between the roller and the harness frames.  It seems to me that there should be about 1/2 a heddle length between the upper roller and the lower roller, and 1/2 a heddle length between the lower roller and the heddle frames.  If they don't hang level, you can shift the position of the ropes while holding the shafts in the correct position.  (This is easier with a helper.)

Sat, 07/11/2015 - 23:55

Joanne Hall

Those photos were made with the shed open, so that is why it looks like the cord is short.

Joanne

Sun, 07/12/2015 - 19:13

katiemayflower

Thank you both so much for the help. I have taken the harnesses off, made sure that all the ropes and pulleys are of equal length (which they are) and put everything on as symetrically as I could.

I think a major part of my issue was actually in tensioning as I beamed the warp. I was taught the front to back method, and have just switched over to the back to front. Yesterday was my second time warping that way, and it just makes much more sense to me, and I think a better result with tension!

I just finished tieing up to the apron rod, and so far, a great shed!

I appreciate your knowledge and time!