I’ve been up and weaving for a week and have made a few tweaks to my setup, of course as I am a fiddler. A little background – I’ve decided to connect directly to my loom so far to eliminate any kind of network or wifi traffic issues. Because of that, I need to turn the wifi OFF on my laptop since it is possible that the 2 connections – loom and wifi could be in conflict. The laptop controls the loom and sits just fine on the side shelf “wing” but I got tired looking to the right for the shuttle color as the draft progresses. I put iPad mounts on each of my Louet looms in the past – I run the Megado from an iPad and use an iPad for entertainment or draft info on my Delta. So handy. After a week it was time to iPad-ize my TC2.
A relatively new function called sidecar lets me mirror my mac screen to my iPad. You can also use the iPad as another monitor with this feature. To make it work when my laptop is not connected to wifi I connect the iPad and Macbook Pro with a USB C cable. This handles the blink-free communication and keeps the iPad charged. I used the same mounts on my TC2 that I have used in the past – Dockem Koala Table Wall Mount. It is a minimal frame that mounts to the TC2 with Command Strips. Here is a link and a view sans iPad.
It’s minimal and I know from several years of using it, it works. It comes in white but I think it goes away when the iPad is in use. The whites might not match, etc.
Here’s a look at the iPad in action. I use my iPad Pencil to run the Thread Control software and monitor settings and upcoming weft colors. It works great and I am so happy to maintain a neutral posture while weaving. A fun aside, the magnetic side of the iPad used to hold and charge the pencil also sticks to the loom. The pencil can also hold itself up with its magnetic features. So far I am loving it.
You may need to do an update to your mac or iPad to make it work but it was really easy. Connect the iPad in the Settings Display area of the mac.
2 other “upgrades” I’ve made show in the photo above – magnetic reminder letters and battery operated LED lights. I was caught several times throwing the next shuttle after restarting the loom when it, for the most part, re-lifts the last pick. So “CHECK THE SHED” right in front of me has definitely saved me some un-weaving.
The LED lights are battery operated since I don’t have regular power above the loom. I’ve used battery lights on my other looms and found low cost stick on LED tape. I used 2 rows and plug them into a battery with multiple charge ports. It sits in a magnetic container on the side of the loom that was designed for use on marker boards. You can see the 2 rows of lights and letters waiting to be used in the photo below.
Lastly, I decided to name my loom Tee Cee. It is short for TC2 but also what my Grandma called me when I was small. She’s gone now but it is kind of nice to include her in my weaving life now. I think of her every time I crank up my new baby and that feels right.
Also keeping track of beam tension – as you can see, it varies.