I have just spent the greater part of my spare time in the last 2 weeks warping my, new to me, Macomber B4D with a sectional warp beam only to finish today and discover that I didn't go over the back beam ( I really thought I learned my lesson on my last loom, but evidently not!).  I tried removing the 6 screw that appear to hold the beam in place but it didn't budge, is it glued in place?  Is there a way to recover from my stupidity without re-warping?  Any help will be much appreciated.

Still learning the hard way in Washington

Comments

Wed, 04/20/2011 - 13:36

Michael White

The back bar may have been glued. Two things to try, using a small hammer and a block of wook tap the upright to see if you can losen the bar, if that does not work, put a small amount of water on the joint to soften the glue. If you have a friend you could remove the sectional beam. Release the brake and drop the back beam down, undo the brake and remove the sectional beam, go over the beam (from the inside out) then put everything back together.

Have fun, remember we learn from our mistakes.

Michael

The other thing you could do is cut and tie all the warp threads (fun)

Thu, 04/21/2011 - 03:18

neweaver (not verified)

Thanks Michael, I obviously haven't learned from my mistakes!  I didn't have help to take off the warp beam and I didn't think of cutting and re-tying which I will remember if I ever do this again!  What I did do is placed a clamp on the metal brackets that connect the back beam to the castle.  I then placed 2 - 1X3s tights against the clamps so it raises the yarn as it comes off the warp beam, it is almost as high as the back beam and in my initial 10  throws I have a good shed and it is hilding well.   Another thought I had was to clamp an upright board to the same brackets then attach a long pipe clamp to them and have the yarn go over the pipe. 

Mistakes are the mother of invention!

Thanks for your suggestions, hopefully I won't need them in the future.

Sun, 04/24/2011 - 11:39

andsewon (not verified)

Love the idea you came up with. Take a pic for us. I'm sure others have done the very same thing! :o) Connie
Mon, 04/25/2011 - 01:24

sewwhatsports (not verified)

Not sure what caused it or how to fix it but I have noticed that since I upgraded to the 8 harnesses and added the ratchet bar to advance the front cloth, my back beam has been slipping and loosening the tension.  I am not beating hard, just doing towels with an 8/2 cotton, and I am finding I am constantly tightening up the warp and it is slowly advancing to the front beam with each tightening.

Any and all thoughts/suggestions on what may be causing this or how to remedy it would be appreciated.  Thanks

 

Rena

Mon, 04/25/2011 - 12:16

Michael White

What brake do you have on your yarp beam?

Michael

Mon, 04/25/2011 - 13:54

sewwhatsports (not verified)

I have a dual back beam with a friction brake.  It looks like the pictures you posted from Sarah's blog.

 

Just a thought-when I re-wound the friction brake cord yesterday I kept it all very neat and tidy, no cross overs.  Though I seem to recall that there was one on there initially.  Could that be it?  Does there need to be a crossover of the wire on the piece to prevent it slipping?

Just trying to figure it out.

Thanks Michael.

Rena

ETA-I tightened a few bolts near the brake and it seems to be holding better.  Good way for me to learn my loom better.

Mon, 04/25/2011 - 16:36

Michael White

Look at this picture. The cable needs to go in the right direction, if not it will slip. Also you can tighten the bolt going into the brake release.

Michael

Mon, 04/25/2011 - 16:45

Michael White

Rena, if you have two beams both with friction brakes. You can not use both at the same time. On a dual beam system one has to be ratchet to set the tension if you use them together.

Michael

Mon, 04/25/2011 - 19:34

andsewon (not verified)

Michael said: "On a dual beam system one has to be ratchet to set the tension if you use them together." Why is that? Can't wrap my brain around it. LOL Connie
Mon, 04/25/2011 - 22:53

Michael White

I have answered this question on Weavolution before quoteing from the Macomber manual. A friction brake will always have some slipping, a ratchet will hold and the yarn will break before the ratchet teeth will. When using two beams at the same time you set the tension on the ratchet and adjust the friction brake to the same tension as the ratchet brake.

Michael