Hi,
My AVL PDL has a strange (to me) system for attaching the warp to the back beam. Instead of an apron and bar to tie on to, it has a slot in the beam and a square stick that fits into the slot. I attached my first warp by laying the threads over the beam and pressing the stick into the slot to lock the threads in place. Getting the warp spread evenly was kind of a pain but I persevered and it worked okay. The warp wound on just fine and the rest of the set up process went normally.
BUT - When I got close to the end of the weaving, I started having tons of tension problems. The ties I sued to hold the stick in place were not sufficient and the warp threads slipped out from under the stick making the tension so uneven I had to stop and adjust over half of the warp. To keep everything in place I clamped the stick into the beam in several places which worked (sort of) but was very much a kludge job!
Is this system for attaching to the warp beam normal for PDL looms? Mine is very old. If so, how do you ensure the warp stays in place? Alternately is there some type of retrofit I can do to address this?
The other concern I have is that with the warp attached directly to the back beam there is a lot more loom waste than I like. I usually wind fairly long warps so this is not a huge problem but I do not like wasting warp yarn if I do not have to.
Thanks!
Erik