Thursday, December 27, 2012

To Pack, or Not to Pack

A while ago I talked some about warp packing and why it is generally A Good Thing.  

There are, however, some exceptions.

Yesterday I beamed the last of the samples for A Good Yarn:  Rayon.  Rather than wind a whole bunch of spools in order to beam the warp sectionally, I wound an 'ordinary' warp on the warping board (11 meters) and beamed it onto the AVL's sectional beam.




First I took all the tie cords for the sections to be filled and taped them out of the way on the axle of the beam.  Then I attached two tie cords (yellow) to hold a steel rod.  Although I tried very hard to make the strings exactly the same length, they are slightly different.  I found that this tiny difference in length really didn't make any difference so the rod remains slightly out of true.  :/


Then the loops of the warp were put onto the steel rod.  Notice that the cords are not at the ends of the rod but right next to the warp.  The tension of the warp and the tie cords are equal and no bending will result.


The warp is then routed under the tension box rail (not all AVL's have this - my loom is very old and came with it.  I find it useful for beaming with a warping valet) and up over the rod attached to the ceiling.  The warp is 12.5 inches wide and I use one half-full bottle of water for a weight.  (About half a gallon.)


The lease sticks are positioned between the tension box rail and the valet rod in the ceiling.  The reed is between the rail and the beam and helps to keep the warp filling the appropriate sections.


The sectional rakes keep the threads in their place.  The warp is beamed with sufficient tension that no warp packing is required.  If the rakes were  not there, the lower warp threads could roll to the side and the upper layers cut down into the lower layers.


The cross is transferred to the other side of the reed, the reed removed and the lease sticks hung just behind the heddles with the warp now ready for threading.

Currently reading Doctored Evidence by Donna Leon



7 comments:

Kerstin på Spinnhuset said...

Do you leave gaps in the rough-sleying to accomodate for the sectional rakes? If not: does it take fiddling to hinder yarns from hanging up on the rakes? (Or is the rayon slippery enough not to do that anyway?)
- once I tried this "the ususal way" (rough-sleyed reed in beater) and had problems.
(My tension box rail comes off if lifted...)

Cathie Beckman said...

Yes, I have a question in this area too. Not really well versed in Sectional beaming, but you don't need the rest of the beaming cords at all? Just the yellow ones to old the rod?

Laura Fry said...

Hej, Kerstin - my loom is so old the rail is firmly attached to the loom so no problem with it lifting up. No, I don't bother leaving gaps for the rakes. With sufficient tension and a slippery yarn, they just get nudged to one side or the other - I don't bother too much which. I just watch to make sure they don't get hung up on the top of the metal hoop.

It's much simpler to just insert a rod through the loops rather than try to tie the warp to the individual tie up cords. So I just put them out of the way and use the rod instead. :)

cheers,
Laura

Lesanne said...

Hi Laura, I love your blog, but out of sheer ignorance of the technology, I don't know how to 'subscribe' to it.
However, I have a question about this post: How did the reed appear between pics 2 & 3? I can't see how you threaded it! I'm a weaving newbie, and the proud owner of a vintage Louet Hollandia with a beautiful sectional beam, but all of the 'sections' are propping up a wall at the moment. I have been told I could use with a 'regular' warp, but couldn't figure it out. Your blog has been a life-saver once again.
Wish you taught locally!
Yours,
Lesley Lesleypun@comcast.net

Laura Fry said...

I rough sley the reed and use it instead of a raddle. I probably have a blog post with photos but I'm not at home right now with my big computer. Try the warping label - that might turn up some detailed info. ;)

Unknown said...

Thank you for this description, it just helped us get past not having enough cones to try sectional warping. But a question md maybe it is just the newbie in me, but how do you move the lease sticks to remove the reed? I was also making the assumption you are warping front to back, but wasn't totall sure based on he photo perspectives.

Laura Fry said...

The cross gets transferred to the other side of the reed bu flipping up the stick nearest the reed and inserting a third lease stick on the other side. I think I have a blog post on this, but will try to remember to take photos when I dress the loom again tomorrow...if I can get some help.

Cheers
Laura