I have an 8 shaft/10 treadle 45" Harrisville jack loom that I bought used last year. It is in excellent condition with all working parts. I have finally put my first warp on it and everything looked okay until I went to check my sheds and tie-ups. I have the warp in tension, it looks good, but when I press a treadle, I get really no shed at all, or a very bad one. And my warp gets loose in places.
At rest, the top of the shafts are about 8.5" below the bottom of the castle (which I think is the Harrisville recommended distance). But, I think this is the problem - they are too low.
With the beater bar against the loom, and resting in the bar slot that makes it sit at its lowest position, the eyes of the heddles are about 3" below the bottom of the reed. So the warp travels from the front, over the shuttle race, through the reed and then down to the heddles and then back up to the back beam.
I also have a 22" Harrisville which I have used successfully and the measurement from heddle eye to bottom of reed is about 1.5". So same path, down to the heddle then back up to the back beam, but not as much distance. I didn't know if this distance should be greater with the bigger loom.
So my questions are:
Where should the heddles/shafts sit with respect to the reed or something else on the loom besides the bottom of the castle? I don't want to start adjusting shafts up if this isn' the problem.
Is there something else that could be causing my problem that I'm just not seeing?
I appreciate all your help. Thanks!