Hi all,

I'm borrowing a friend's loom to weave some placemats (my own loom is tied up with a 37-yard warp in 60/2 silk that will take a few months to weave off).  The trouble is that she does not have a sectional beam, so I need to beam onto a plain beam.  No problem, except that I don't own a warping board!  I have an AVL warping wheel, which requires cutting the warp at both ends.  So instead of end loops, I'll have a knot of threads.  (I'll still be able to make a thread by thread cross and a raddle cross).)

Can I still beam on back to front?  I really prefer B2F warping and am hoping that I don't have to resort to F2B.

Tien

Comments

Broderie (not verified)

I only warp B2F, but I don't know what difference it would make not having a loop; you could just lash on, right?

Claudia Segal (not verified)

Tien You could buy a couple of pegs and Gorilla glue them to flat boards and wind a warp. Or, you can use clamps and wind the warp onto the clamp ends. Lashing on also works and is a good suggestion. Claudia

debmcclintock

You can wind warp chains on the WW, keep the chains at 2-3 inches, warp back to front, use a raddle to keep your threads at reasonable width, warp the warp chains around the front breast beam and wind on slowly. Every couple of revolutions come around to the front and tug your warp chains to keep tension even.

Joanne Hall

Hi Tien,

Just wind small bundles of not more than 2 inches, 3 at the most.  Wide bundles would cause tension problems when weaving the last few inches.  Tie the ends of the bundles with an overhand knot and pull the knot tightly.  Tie each bundle the same to maintain the same warp length. Then you can divide that bundle in half to make a loop to put on the warp beam tie-on bar.  Then just warp in the usual back to front way. 

Joanne

Karren K. Brito

Tien, I'm a B2F warper myself-- I love the even tension I get this way.  Knots, seem to me, would create minor differences that would then have to work themselves though the whole warp.  I wonder if you can grip them more evenly between 2 sticks and then roll the sticks over--- as is done with a backstrap loom to roll up the warp or cloth--then lash on.    Just a thought.   

Sara von Tresckow

Joanne's suggestion with the overhand knots is no different than lashing on that way at the breast beam after cutting off part of the warp. The lashing puts the knots at varying positions while the warp is even for beaming. It should work very nicely. If minor variations occur, they wiell be smoothed out by the lease sticks so what is beamed is even - leaving perhaps a few straggly looking thread bunches to tie on at the front.

sally orgren

Use *slippery* cord to lash your knotted warp bouts to a rod, which has been affixed to the loom. Use a single cord, 3-4 times the width of your warp, not shoe stings or individual cords for each bout.

Hang a (filled) plastic water bottle (I use 32 oz.) to each bout, off the front of the loom, half-way to the floor. I make little "nooses" for the water bottles around their necks, and use clip-type clothes pins for a quick clip to, or release from, the warp bouts when the water weights need to be repositioned.

With the water weights providing consistent tension at the front of the loom, (below the breast beam), I find it is easier to lay the bouts in the raddle and they stay put, no matter where your raddle is positioned— front of the castle or back.

Now you can return to the back of the loom and easily move the knots toward the castle or away by adjusting the slippery lashing cord, so all the knots are in roughly the same place, parallel to the rod. You know the tension is consistent along all the bouts and it will "hold" your adjustment. 

Return to the front, lower all the water bottles to near the floor, confirm the knots have not moved, and begin beaming. I much prefer using water bottles for consistent tension than relying on tugging each bout between rotations when beaming. The only time I "snap" the warp bouts at the front of the loom is when repositioning the water weights, with the purpose to align the warps for smooth travel between leash sticks. I never need to "comb" a warp. As others pointed out, if there is any differential between bouts at the front of the loom when done beaming, it can be trimmed off.

This is sort of a poor woman's adaptation of Kati Meek's system, designed for a small space. Using the water weights helps me feel secure in knowing I have a tightly beamed and consistently tensioned warp. (True confessions, I am not very good at the "pat the bunny" method of figuring out if my tension is consistent or not!)

Sally

P.S. A final thought, I think by lashing the bouts to a rod (instead of slipping your warp bout knots over the rod) you may reduce your loom waste, if that is important, and depending on the loom being used.

Lashing the knots allows my warp ends to get that much closer to the castle. Otherwise, my rod stops about 12-14" from the castle of my floor loom. Yes, I have been known to do crazy things at the back of my loom to get those last 2-5 inches out of a warp ; - )

tien (not verified)

Thanks for all the advice!  I appreciate it, it is making me much less nervous about using my warping wheel for B2F warping.

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