I just bought a macomber 40" weaving widh  B5C  4 harness 6 treadle loom. I am a brand new weaver. Whe we set it uptoday, I noticed only 2 treadles were hooked up.. If I want to do just a plain tabby weave, how do the treadles need otbetoed up for that. There were xtra hooks in the bench for them, but only 2 on the treadles.. What treadles need to ge tthe hooks, how mnay hooks and to which lamms. This is my first attempt at tieing up a loom.. Can anyone help please! are there pictures posted any where, or directions?

thanks carole

Comments

Peg.Cherre (not verified)

On a 4 harness loom, if you want to weave tabby the most common thing is to thread your heddles in a straight draw (1-2-3-4) and then tie two of the treadles (whichever two are the most comfortable for your feet) as follows: one treadle tied to shafts 1 & 3, the other tied to shafts 2 & 4.  So each of the treadles you will use will be tied to and will pull down two shafts. 

Do you have Learning to Weave by Deborah Chandler or another basic weaving book?  That explains about tabby weaves and how to do the tie up.

I'm not exactly sure where there are photos specifically of a Macomber tie up.  Of course, the treadles aren't exactly 'tied' -- those hooks do the job of ties on most other types of loom.  So you'll have 2 hooks on each of the 2 treadles you're going to use.

If this isn't clear, ask more questions - I'll try to do better.

 

caroleg51

Peg

thanks, thats exaclty what I was needing,so I will have 2 hooks on one treadle, attaching to 2 lams( maybe #1) and 2 hooks going from treadle #4 to the other 2 lamms?

Just want to makesure I understand. Yes, I have deborah chandlers book, but it was vague on tie ups, since she wants you to do a direct tieup .

thanks so much

carole

Peg.Cherre (not verified)

You'll tie treadle 1 (or another of your choice) to harnesses 1 & 3, using 2 hooks, and treadle 4 (or another of your choice) to harnesses 2 & 4, again using 2 hooks.

caroleg51

ok,thats helps alot.. which treadles are the best to use.. I only tried using the treadles when I origianlly bought the loom,and had to look at ny feet each time..  I thought tieing them up with soaces inbetween might helo that, but I am wondering if tieing up like 1& 6, might make it too far of a stretch? I am short, with short legs

carole

mrdubyah (not verified)

You can hook up any treadles that seem comfy to you.  As peg pointed out, it is fairly common to use the first 4 treadles for direct tie-up for a twill or other pattern and then use treadles 5 and 6 for the tabby (5=1&3, 6=2&4).  That way you can weave a tabby leader for hemming, then weave your pattern without retying. 

caroleg51

ah, that makes sense.. I have made note of this and will give it a shot. Thanks somuch

carole

mrdubyah (not verified)

Most people also tie up so that, no matter where the tabby treadles are, the left one is used when throwing a pick from the left and the right one is used when throwing from the right.  This makes it easy to keep them straight. 

caroleg51

thats a great idea, thanks, I am not usre my aging barin will absorb allthis,but that tip will help! Thanks !

carole

mneligh

Depending on size -- yours, the loom's, the weaving width -- it may be easier to make the 2 centermost treadles the tabby, and work out from there.  Since I weave barefoot, I mark those two with heavy rubberbands so that I can feel that I'm on a tabby treadle.  Then it's like mrdubyah says . . .

caroleg51

my loom is a 40" weave width..Now the idea putting a rubberband on the treadles is a great idea,then  you can feel that it is the correct treadle!

thanks carole

mrdubyah (not verified)

Oooo...I like that.  I'm going downstairs to put rubber bands on my tabby treadles right away.  Thanks!

jb

I have had new Macomber 2 days. Ordered manual but it  has not arrived. How do I change the metal hooks to do ite ups? Also I have 2 holes in my break but nothing there. How does break work?  Anyone with pictures  of a B5C break? Also, has anyone added new harnesses and treadles? How hard is it to do? Can 1 person do it alone? What are the two black metal hinged on sides of loom for? Do I put a board in them for my feet? I have a 6-7 inch small dowel tied and hanging down in front of treadles. What is that for? Your ideas/info are appreciated very much. I am excited to get started but need to figure out the break problem and how to change the tie ups. Have any of you added more harnesses? Are there videos on this? Is it hard? 

As a newbie, I appreciate your help.

thanks Judi

sandra.eberhar…

You have not said what model Mac you have, and a lot of answers depend on that.  The hooks are very easy to use, and there can be problems changing them to ties.  If you are new to the loom, I suggest using it as is until you are familiar with it before looking at changes.

Erica J

Sandra,

I'm not a Macomber owner, so I'm not sure if this answers your question. The post says it is a B5C  4 harness 6 treadle loom. Is B5C the model?

sandra.eberhar…

Macomber puts friction and ratchet brakes on its looms.  I don't have the full sized Mac, so pics of mine will probably not help.  I think you can search, both this site and generally,  and get some pics of brake assemblies.

You can also search this site for discussions of some of the problems that go with converting hooks to Texsolv.