I have a babywolf loom and wanted to expand my weaving for the maximum width.  It seems that I can do a set of 20 using 632 heddles (27.7", I might have to take a few warp yarns off to get 7")  .  I have 400 heddles and have previously purchased 200 more.  I havent used any but ones I made out of string.  What is the maximum amount of heddles I can use on my loom without crowding the bars.  It is also noisy being metal and all.  Thanks for the help.

Comments

sandra.eberhar…

Your question is confusing.  The number of heddles doesn't control the weaving width; the width of the loom does.  Not sure why you are worried about "crowding" the heddles, and I'm not sure what you mean by a "set of 20".  20 inches wide?  20 ends/inch?  A baby wolf will weave to 26".  How many heddles you need depends on how many shafts you have and how many ends you have in the warp.  Generally, one starts with the width one wants to weave and the ends/inch that the warp will be sett at.  26" x 24 epi = 624 ends.  If diveded equally on 4 shafts, you need 156 heddles/ shaft.  24 epi is what I sett 8/2 cotton for towels.  Finer yarns will need to be sett more closely together, and will require more heddles to acheive a 26" width.; thicker yarns will require fewer warps and heddles.  I hope this helps: it's hard to tell exactly what  your question is.

craftyvs

I am sorry for the confusion.  The question is how many heddles can you put on a baby wolf that is 27" wide.  It comes with 400 and I have 200 more.  My calculations say I need over 600.  The schacht baby wolf web site does not say the maximum amount of heddles can be added to the loom.  The woolery only has heddles in 200 pack.  With the 600 I have plus 200 more, that would give me 200 on each shaft.  The question I guess would be what is the maximum amount of heddles that can be on each shaft of a baby wolf?  Also, i have a 27" reed and was told I can weave 27". Is that not true? Forgot to say I am doing a twill, figured 22-20 epi is best.

sandra.eberhar…

If you use the weaving width of the loom (26") at 22 epi, you have 572 ends. Divided over 4 shafts gives you 134 heddles/shaft.  A 26" loom will take this easily.  If you were weaving 80/2 silk and wanted to weave the entire width, you may have a problem; you would need more shafts than 4.  How many heddles you can fit on the loom is a question that very rarely comes up because by the time one has enough weaving experience to want to work with threads this fine, you already know what issues you will face and how to solve them.  To see what width you can actuall weave, measure the cloth beam.  Weaving the entire width of a loom is often quite fiddly.  

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