Star Warps

Rey's front beam apron strings were different lengths. Some of the apron strings were knotted and some weren't. Some had broken at some point while others were still in tact. This wasn't just annoying to me because the apron rod wasn't even. It was making the warp different lengths at different areas which was making the tension different in different parts of the warp I started by taking out all the original staples holding the previous apron strings in place. While the warp beam doesn’t turn unless the friction brake is engaged, the front beam turns in one direction all the time, which made it tricky. Once I got all the existing staples out, I was able to string the waxed string from the front beam to the screws and back, pound the new staple in on top of the string, knot the string, and go back to the screw. Then I used a snitch knot to tie the strings to the apron rod. The apron strings were different lengths making the tension different in different parts of ...

Well, it's done. It's not done perfectly, but it is done. The apron strings on the warp beam have been replaced. The length of the apron strings used about 36" and now they're closer to 26". I'm hoping that won't cuase an issue lter. The back apron rod can still meet the castle in case that would be the issue. It took me a bit to realize what I had to do. I started by hammering in the staples with knots in and actually just about broke an apron string at the staple location by doing so. I tried to fix it by doubling up the waxed yarn at that staple, then I started knotting the waxed yarn after the staple was all the way in (which was honestly a lot quicker). The next step here is to replace the front apron strings, but I need to find more staples. Stan found some for a staple gun, but the ones that Macomber sent me were substantially thicker, which I think helped me use similar holes from the ones that were used originally, seemingly regular staples ...

There seem to be a few things specific to my loom that Learning to Weave doesn't cover. This is likely going to lead to another, probably more helpful post on the anatomy of my Macomber B5. More to the point, I think it might be more searchable for folks like me looking for an explanation of what tehse parts are without knowing what they're called. But here are the things I leraned this week: 1. My warp beam wasn't turning. I found a handle for it so I could try to turn it, which helped a bit, but what really helped was the Ravlery Macomber Looms group. I learned that the loom has a friction brake (I have really only known of ratchet brakes, so this was new to me!). Here's what that looks like: When the friction brake is on, it's difficult to turn the warp beam. I can press on teh brake while weaving from the front of the loom, but while warping that's difficult since I'll be at the back of the loom. This lead me to lesson nubmer 2... 2. A step block ...