ok, if you know me, you know i have woven many rag rugs - and i'm weaving on my new-to-me cranbrook, and have something really weird happening. The warp is spacing in groups in the middle of my rug - the sides show the warp evenly spaced out, but in this section it almost looks like another pattern! I have double checked my threading and sleying and everything's a go. if you scroll thru the pic, you'll se that the threading is ok, they are just jamming together.

Do you have any ideas what might be causing the weirdness? it is at the center of the shafts where the warp usually gets bumped one way or another due to hardware on the shafts - but i have never had a lasting problem on any other loom i've woven on. I'm into the project about 20 inches and it's still doing this - i'm clueless

plain weave, threaded 1,2,3,4. shafts 13 vs 24 12 epi

thanks very much for any insight!

mary

P.S. this is an old Bexell Cranbrook - how much of a shed should i be expecting to have? - i throw a boat shuttle but there's not that much of a shed, just enough to send the shuttle through.

 

Comments

Sun, 03/13/2011 - 21:01

Joanne Hall

Maybe this is from how you bubble the weft. Is that possible?

Joanne

Sun, 03/13/2011 - 21:02

Joanne Hall

Or do you put your fingers into the warp when bubbling the weft?

Joanne

Sun, 03/13/2011 - 21:24

Mary Rios (not verified)

Hi Joanne,

I have even tension on the warp - No bubble in the weft - no fingers - it has something to do with the way the warp threads are coming from the heddles - i think. i thought a few inches of weaving would separate them, but it hasn't - i am curious!

Sun, 03/13/2011 - 21:25

Mary Rios (not verified)

Hi Joanne,

I have even tension on the warp - No bubble in the weft - no fingers - it has something to do with the way the warp threads are coming from the heddles - i think. i thought a few inches of weaving would separate them, but it hasn't - i am curious!

Sun, 03/13/2011 - 21:35

Claudia Segal (not verified)

Mary,

Is this a CB or CM loom?  Any chance one of your lamms is getting caught on something under the loom?  Texsolv heddles crossed on the shaft?  I had this happen once and found two heddles were crossed at the top only and I had to cut both warp threads out and add a replacement warp thread.  Once I did that and fixed the heddle, it was fine.

Claudia

Sun, 03/13/2011 - 22:21

Mary Rios (not verified)

Hi Claudia,

Countermarche - i double checked all you suggested. nothing is getting caught. it's strange because the more i weave the more pronounced it becomes. I think i'll switch to 12 vs 34 and try that.

 

Sun, 03/13/2011 - 23:45

Joanne Hall

This loom is based on Swedish looms.  Swedish shuttles are more slender than most American and Canadian shuttles, so they do not need a big shed.  Even the Swedish ski shuttle is only 1/2 to 3/4 the height of others and so can be thrown in a smaller shed.  And smaller sheds give you better selvages and easier treadling.

Joanne

Mon, 03/14/2011 - 00:07

Mary Rios (not verified)

Hi Joanne,

On my Glimakras, they are counterbalanced, and the shed's so big I could drive a car thru it.

I wonder if the problem i'm having is in anyway related to the string heddles. They are new - (came with the loom) i doubt it - the more I weave, the more pronounced it becomes. i have never seen this before.

Mon, 03/14/2011 - 04:50

debmcclintock

Mary, I had an older Bexell (which I sold due to a move and miss very much) and it had a huge shed.  On Monday, I'll dig out some of the old heddles I had and measure them to measure the length of the heddles and give it to you.  I never had the problem you are describing.  I also had HUGE sheds on my Bexell Cranbrook, really large.  So I am leaning towards something going on with your heddles or shafts.  But, also check the reed, is something bent on the reed itself at those dents?  Is the reed fitting tightly in the beater channel?  Maybe bouncing abit.  My bexell beater reed cap on the beater floated over the reed (for lack of a better word), is the reed cap on the reed itself not holding the weight of the top cap.  If the reed is too big for the channel maybe it is shifting when you beat.   Your photo is very clear, the issue seems to be isolated to just a couple of thread groups, which takes me back to heddle/shaft issues.  Deb Mc

PS, it is weird to write this stuff to you since you have so much rug mileage but I wove many rugs on my Cranbrook and it was a good dependable friend and I hate to see one misbehave!  

Mon, 03/14/2011 - 12:37

Mary Rios (not verified)

I just figured out my shed issue - the beater has veritcal height adjustments - it was too high - lowered the beater - and can now drive a car through it! new looms take all the brain power i have, which isn't saying much!

Still getting the weird stripes - i know it's going to be something really small and silly -

Mon, 03/14/2011 - 19:15

Bonnie Datta (not verified)

Is it possible that those center ends had (have) slightly less tension?  That is the only thing I can think of that would give them the freedom to move out of alignment when other ends are behaving.  Sometimes this is the first sign of a kind of tracking that can occur when there are lots of twists of the weft in one area, but this doesn't appear to be the case in your photo.

Maybe if you tighten those ends down below the web everything will start to behave.

Bonnie.

 

Mon, 03/14/2011 - 21:31

Mary Rios (not verified)

Thanks Bonnie, i unwove the 23 inches - and am going to do just that. This is a new loom to me - and if it's that sensitive i'm in trouble ! I also used a different knot to tie on, and when i realized i had a couple sections that needed snugging, i undid the surgeons knot and replaced it with an ordinary knot - that got me thinking...

Mon, 03/14/2011 - 22:09

Evelyn (not verified)

what about how the heddles are on the bars?  a twist in the opposite direction to the majority might cause the warp to move over?

Sat, 03/26/2011 - 03:54

steve104c (not verified)

To me, and this is just a thought, it looks like when you started with the scrap weft to get the warp threads separated, the weft wasn't beaten down enough. When I beat down my weft, the weft ends up really tight and the warp threads separate nicely.  I,m at work right now and can't send you a close-up pic. of my rugs where you can see how tight I beat the weft. Thats why I love my Glimakra, I can beat the weft really really hard. I'm just a beginner and I'm not really qualified to give advice, so this is "just a thought" ..........Steve.