I am weaving on a Toika Laila loom which currently has apron strings attached the the front and back beams.  I am considering removing these and replacing them with cloth aprons.  Can anyone give me advice about the making and fitting of cloth aprons and in particular the method(s) of fixing them onto the beams themselves?  Thanks in advance.

Mike

Comments

Mon, 12/26/2011 - 16:14

Joanne Hall

Hi Mike,

If you regularly weave narrower than the full weaving width, the beam cords are a better choice, as the cloth will stretch in the middle. 

Joanne

Mon, 12/26/2011 - 18:23

TheLoominary (not verified)

Hi Mike. Should you decide to go with an apron, I'll refer you to a thread I started at "Home Built Equipment" titled "An Apron for "Harry". It gives some info about the apron as well as an on-line vendor for metal rods, and flat bar. I attached my apron using a stitched pocket with a length of flat bar, screwed to my beam. This method keeps the apron square and helps to maintain even tension. Good luck, Frank

Mon, 12/26/2011 - 19:20

Mike (not verified)

Thank you Joanne, I shall bear that in mind. But I think I shall Loominary's system a trial, so thanks Fank
Mon, 12/26/2011 - 21:39

Joanne Hall

I have had some looms with canvas aprons.  Although they were factory made for the looms, they still stretched in the middle. So, to help keep the bars from bending to the stretch, I made narrow aprons and attached shorter rods for them.  These I attached to the full width aprons so that they could be taken off if I did weave the full width.  This worked very well.  And it is much nicer to weave a narrow warp, if you do not have to hold that very long tie-on bar.  Instead, the shorter apron and the bars are much easier for tying on.  And putting on this narrower canvas was easier than completely changing out the canvas for beam cords.

Joanne

Tue, 12/27/2011 - 04:53

sally orgren

Is there any advantage or disadvantage to strings vs a cloth apron?

I can't say I have noticed stretching in the middle with my canvas apron. I also just finished a warp where I lashed the warp onto the apron rod, to allow the warp to enter the castle so I had less loom waste (I have a deep castle to host 12 shafts, but I was only using the first four). Some of my looms have aprons, some do not.

Does it matter how many places you can connect the rod to the beam? Fewer is not as advantageous as more? I know when I have a narrow warp, I only lash the width of the narrow warp, not the width of the loom, as full width causes my rebar rod to bend in the middle under tension.

I never thought about this before. Mike, why are you wanting to convert to an apron?

Sally

Wed, 12/28/2011 - 17:11

Michael White

Sally, rebar is a soft metal rod made to bend into shape when using it in concrete work. I would replace the rebar with a piece of 1/2" tubular steel. This you will not bend.

Michael

Wed, 12/28/2011 - 20:31

Sara von Tresckow

I use both beam cords and aprons on my various looms.

The arrangement that I prefer is just the beam cords. They can be replaced easily and adjustment is fairly easy when beginning a new project.

The Cranbrook has an apron on the cloth beam and cords on the warp beam. I think, that for rugs, this is ideal - the beginning of any warp behaves a bit differently from the rest - until the tieon stick reaches the cloth beam - the apron makes that difference a bit less. I've never notices stretching in the middls as it is tied across the full width.

The Laila is a small loom - you really shouldn't have any issues using simple beam cords.

Wed, 12/28/2011 - 20:33

Dawn McCarthy

I agree with Joanne regarding "give" in the middle of wider aprons, although on a narrow loom like the Laila it should not be an issue as long as the canvas is sturdy.  This topic has been useful for me as I have been procrastinating for several months about putting a canvas apron on my drawcord beam!  Think I will save myself time & energy and use texsolv with loops in the end eliminating the need for a peg.  Thanks for the inspiration, maybe I'll get that done today!

Sun, 01/15/2012 - 15:27

fantasticfelter (not verified)

I have not had this problem of middle stretch , However I got to thinking. If some one put a apron canvas on accross the grain instead of length of grain (selvages to right or left preffered , not top an bottom), this would Make a big difference. As the cross grain has more give than length of grain. Also if you were to wash and dry the canvass in hot water before you made the apron This makes it more sturdy and stable and it might remedy the stretching. High humidity areas might change the behavior of the cloth as well and may a count for different weavers results with aprons. Good med. to heavy weight canvass would help as well. I have had no problems , but I apply the afore mentioned strategies .
Wed, 02/01/2012 - 20:39

sally orgren

Thanks to the discussion generated by this thread and members of the greater Weavo community, I have obtained some tubular steel bars for my two floor looms. One set replaces the rebar, one set replaces thick wood dowels.

Michael, I have to say I am impressed by the strength of the tubular bars. It was hard to grasp, as the tubular steel seems so much lighter. Wow! 

Sally

Sat, 02/04/2012 - 00:42

Mindy Stowers (not verified)

My TOTT has an apron on the front and the back beams.  As a new weaver I really was in a quandry as what to do.  The sticks were all badly bent when I bought the loom- warped into soft "U"shapes. I saw pictures of TOTT looms with metal bars in the aprons.  I called a local machine shop.  They ordered me a 20 foot bar and cut it into five 45" pieces for my loom. 4 for the aprons and one to tape to the beater if I ever want extra weight for rugs or such.  The whole shebang was 26 bucks!  The rods are 5/16". They said I could get 7/16" for about the same price, no problem.  I got "cold rolled stainless steel"  It comes in 2 grades.  They told me to remind them to order the hardest so it will not bend with the warp. Super nice guys!  Just FYI if you have a local steel or machine shop and need like material. I am in SW Virginia.  They did not charge me shipping because I picked it up.  Turn around time was 2 days. Cool, Huh?

Sat, 02/04/2012 - 12:24

jenjscott

It's always great when you find folks willing to help out on these special projects.  Sure you're paying for it, but I bet the rod alone cost the $26 and the cutting was a courtesy.

Jen

Sat, 02/04/2012 - 13:52

Michael White

Sally,

Glad I was able to point you in the right direction.

Michael

Tue, 07/24/2012 - 01:53

Maurice

Square tubular steel has about sixty percent more rigidity than does round tubular steel. And it is cheap, about $1.00/ft for 3/4" x 3/4" here in California.

Tue, 07/24/2012 - 02:28

Maurice

What a good idea! How did you attach the more narrow aprons to the main apron? Are they grommeted like many canvas aprons? Do they have a stabilizing rod of their own?

Thanks,

Maurice

 

Tue, 03/19/2013 - 20:18

Thiago daLuz

I've even found alternatives in <a href="http://www.pacifichose.ca">hydraulic hose fittings</a>. They're not always as cheap, but usually higher quality.