My first warp on the TC2 is black and white cottolin. I’m using the top warp beam. The loom is set up with 3 modules deep and 3 modules wide.
The steps and comments follow:
Attach the warp loops to the back beam.
The warp was wound on a warping mill with 2 crosses – one at the top for threading was thread by thread, the one at the bottom was for the raddle – each group included 6 threads, 3 white and 3 black. The raddle end had the loops. The warp was chained from the threading end.
Drape the bouts over the trapeze.
No mystery here, the bouts need some tension to make the raddle process work more smoothly.
Spread the warp in the raddle.
See my other post about the raddle. I needed 18 threads per centimeter so 3 raddle groups per division. This process worked really smoothly.
Power on the loom and wind.
Power the loom on and connect to the loom controller software. I’ll try to post more in depth about this process. Basically I am connecting directly to the loom over ethernet to control it using the loom software.
- Wind on the warp for one rotation without weights.
- Add weights – I started with 1.5 pounds but shifted soon after to 3 pounds on each bout.
- Wind on shifting the threads slightly for each rotation so that they don’t stack up. Make sure that any crazy snagging is cleared as the threads reach the raddle. This cottolin was sticky and misbehaved a little. All in all not too bad.
- Shift the weights as they reach the trapeze. I was looping my S hook into the warp but learned later that tying them on with a cord makes it easier to transition them through the process.
- Tie a cord onto the bout to extend the weights. At some point the bout reaches the trapeze bar. Add a cord to allow the bout to continue towards the back beam while maintaining the weight.
- Disconnect the weights.
- Add lease sticks at the threading cross. I am using my Louet lease sticks which are too long to fit inside the loom. I will have to change them when I get ready to thread.
Lessons Learned
Learned a few things that will stick.
- Always constrain the ends of the warp so they stay tight and organized. I did not do that and ended up with some squishy ends that will probably be a problem that I have kicked down the road for another day. I printed a collar that I can put on the beam after it is installed on the loom. This may or may not be needed based on what I learned on the next warp. More on that in another post.
- Use the double larks head cord to attach the weights to the warp rather than looping the bout around the S hook.
- Tie choke ties a little tighter and more frequently – about 1 every yard or so. Mine were 8 feet apart and that contributed to the curliness.