I'm just curious what number of ground shafts you all normally use? I just reread some  posts and in one Sara Von T indicates 5 shafts may ne the "norm", I think she used the word staple. Which made me curious how many ground shafts other people generally use.

Comments

Sat, 06/13/2015 - 16:52

kerstinfroberg

My best damask friends like 6 and sometimes 8 shafts, using both satins and twills as the ground binding. (Myself, I don't weave damask)

In most (Swe) damask books I have seen 5 sh satin is indeed "the norm".

Sat, 06/13/2015 - 17:22

Erica J

Thanks Kerstin! I appreciate the feedback! I hope we hear back from many other folks too!

Sat, 06/13/2015 - 17:39

Erica J

I'm not sure if you will be able to zoom in enough. This I s a medieval damask cloth I studied in April. Would you agree this is a 4 shaft straight twill ground?

Sat, 06/13/2015 - 18:11

Sara von Tresckow

The number of ground shafts is determined by your choice of structure. Since the double harness loom creates a rich pattern, a simle structure is best - seldom requiring more than 8 shafts.

The ground fabric must mesh harmoniously with the chosen pattern and please the weaver/customer. 6 end false satin has a definite mini pattern - sometimes lovely, sometimes distracting. 5 end satin produces a firm, smooth fabric that "hosts" the pattern well. 8 end satin has longer floats and a softer hand, using 4 end leashes that give the patterning more detail.

Cultural influences also play a role - when I attended the TSA event at "Interwoven Globe" the curators indicated that on silk damask fabrics with patterning common to both China and Europe, the 8 end satins tended to be more often from China and the 5 end pieces more often from Europe.

A book from the German Textile Museum in Krefeld contains a mix of 5 and 8 end satins.

The photo shown displays (though the clarity is lacking) such solid tones that I doubt it is a 4 shaft straight twill, as it displays no twill lines. My guess would be the 8 end satin with 4 end leashes.

As I stated in my book - there is NO "standard" with double harness and damask - each weaver or workshop modified loom and structure to produce the fabrics that they thought worthy of producing.

Sat, 06/13/2015 - 19:26

Erica J

Yes keeping within the 2 MB limits means I can not upload the full resolution images. I appreciate your input, but in further looking at another image, I still think it is a 4 shaft twill ground, I appreciate other opinions.

Sat, 06/13/2015 - 21:27

Sara von Tresckow

Now there are twill lines showing, but rather unclear. I'm thinking you cannot do a real fabric analysis because of the age of the fragment. I'm not entirely sure it is 4 shaft - it appears to go over 2 and under 1 warp in the photo - though the logical choice would be 3/1 - there are so many loose warp ends that the first photo gave a totally false impression.

Sun, 08/16/2015 - 18:55

Weavolutionary6

I am so glad I came back to reference this thread before I tied up my next project, which I am going to experiment based on the above photo. Sara, you are right it does appear to be 2/1, so I will be using a 3/1, since I already threaded the loom with a 4 threads per pattern shaft. I put all the threads in the same pattern heddle, so 2/1 will have to wait for now.

I know many of you have likely worked with odd numbers of ground shafts. So I have another question for you. When you use an odd number of ground shafts, do you just tie up the shafts to the lifting lamms and leave no shaft sinking?

Thanks in advance,

Erica

Mon, 08/17/2015 - 01:03

Del (not verified)

4 shaft broken twill for most of the scarves: 30/2 silk warp at about 40epi.

5 shaft satin for the one-of-a-kind framed pieces, using 60/2 silk warp at about 90 epi.

Have used other ground shaft set-ups for assorted other projects.

Mon, 08/17/2015 - 04:46

Sara von Tresckow

Odd or even, every treadle lifts one and lowers one. You need to test the tieup and check that the twill lines run opposite or parallel according to your wishes. 

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