I am probably going to have some work done this summer in the room where I have my loom, and I wondered if anyone experienced with these looms knows: could I fold up the back beam while there is a warp on it?  I don't want to have to be constrained to hurry up and finish something, or hold off starting something, based on a contractor's schedule.  I know it would totally take the tension off, but could I recover from this properly once the work is finished?  Thanks!

Comments

sequel (not verified)

If your loom is set up with the solid beam and not the open beam extensions,  you can fold the back beam up and fasten it to the castle without losing the tension when it is reopened.  You may need to do some adjusting on the ratchet brake(s), but it should be fine... just don't get used to it that way!  Too many looms get folded up "for awhile" and it lasts years!

fotyc

I was hoping that was the case, and that I would not have to keep the loom unwarped pending the scheduling of the work...  I think I have an ordinary beam, definitely not a sectional.

fotyc

I thought I was supposed to be able to just pull the harnesses up out of their tracks and off the pin on the jacks, but I can't - the pin is slightly bent at an angle such that the harness doesn't want to easily come off it.  Have you taken off your harnesses?  Now that I don't have a project on the loom I'd like to do some cleaning on the heddle bars.

fotyc

I thought I was supposed to be able to just pull the harnesses up out of their tracks and off the pin on the jacks, but I can't - the pin is slightly bent at an angle such that the harness doesn't want to easily come off it.  Have you taken off your harnesses?  Now that I don't have a project on the loom I'd like to do some cleaning on the heddle bars.

sequel (not verified)

Yes, the shafts are supposed to lift off the pins.  Unless, like yours, the pins are bent, or all ooked up with gunk.  If you want to try gently bending the pin back I'd do it with pliers and a Jorgensen handscrew wooden clamp.  Or use a couple of blocks of wood clamped on both sides of the wood frame, so you don't break the wood where it is drilled.  I don't think I'd risk it.

You could just slide all the heddles to one side, polish the bar with 0000 steel wool, then rub with paraffin and buff (don't use beeswax or oily stuff and never WD40.)  Then slide them all back in the other direction and continue. 

OR, you can flex the bars out of their mounts, leaving the wood frame in the loom.  Just remember to hold onto the heddles so they don't end up on the floor.

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