Saturday, July 21, 2012

Live Weight Tension Photos

A couple people on a weaving group I belong to asked some questions about live weight tension.  I was unable to post photos on the group site, so am posting them here.  I was describing where to attach the heavy weight and the counterweight.
 On the above loom, my Leicester Dryad countermarche type, the back beam and warp beam do dual duty.  The warp comes off the beam from the outside, so the heavy weights are attached to the outside end of the tension cord.  This loom has 10# of weight on each side, counterbalanced with 2# and 4#.  (I probably ran out of 2# weights.)

The Glimakra Victoria table loom has the warp coming off the warp beam from the inside of the loom, so the heavier weights go on the cord toward the inside of the loom.  This loom has 13# of weight, counterbalanced with 2#.
 This is a loom with another example of the warp coming off the beam from the outside.  The heavy weights are on the outside cord.
I do not recommend using water bottles, milk jugs, or other thin plastic, since many are designed to break down after a time.  I didn't know that until a couple milk jugs that I was using deveolped slow leaks.  I stick with solid items or sand for weight now. 


10 comments:

  1. I do not understand how the weights can work efficiently if they are not completely free to the floor--does not the cross piece for the main loom supports get in the way. ie. does not the smaller counter weight/s hit the cross bar thereby preventing it from the tension release properly? Does this make sense. I don't seem to be able to avoid it in any way on my floor loom. Jeanne

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  2. Jeanne, I ran into a little bit of that problem with my Dorothy table loom (on a stand). I just shortened the rope a bit, so the heavy weight was suspended. It is ok for the counter weight to just barely touch the floor. On the Leicester, I only wrapped the cord around the beam twice. I wasn't getting the needed slippage/release with three wraps. Don't be afraid to experiment.
    Jenny

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  3. the warp on the cloth beam does not advance on its own--correct? one has to manually move it forward? I find there is resistance when I try to move the cloth forward which is so very different than when the advance is done the original way with tension released. Is this similar to your advance with live weight tension? By the way, I appreciate your response to my original question. Jeanne

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  4. Jeanne, yes, it will feel different when you wind your cloth forward, since it still has a constant tension on the warp. You will still wind it forward like you always do, except you don't have to release the tension. Just keep an eye on the heavy weights, to make sure they are suspended, but not up to the back beam. Also watch that the rope doesn't cross over itself, or the system won't work. The counterweight touching the floor will take the tension off the rope around the beam, making the heavy weight drop down a bit.
    Jenny

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  5. thank you for your suggestions--being forewarned so to speak is forearmed. I have 8# weights on each side with a cord wrap -over then a wrap and a wrap- no crossing..my counter is 1# and seems my tension is snug.....if I place the heavier weight lower than the counterweight....as I advance my tension seems wonderful however when the heavy weight gets higher the counter hits the floor but the weight does not pull back--if I take a wrap off the heavy slides....what I have been doing is to lock with loom brake to adjust the weights so heavier ones are lower again then gently unlock the brake.....my tension remains the same and I can weave a considerable amount but not continuously as when the weights are suppose to work like a springing mechanism. I will pay attention to all you have said and when this piece is off the loom(don't want to disrupt tension now) then I will try to adjust the weights again...as you mentioned play around with it...because I am getting there but something is still amiss. Thank you. Jeanne

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  6. Jeanne, I seem to recall a similar problem with the Leicester loom. The cord I was using was thicker than the one on the other loom. Maybe it created too much drag, but I took one wrap off of it, let the counterbalance weight just barely hit the floor, and now it works great. When I wind forward, it slips, but the tension always stays just right. The weights never move on that loom. It took a bit of working with it. You might want to try a bit more counter weight, to see if that makes a difference, or one less wrap with more counter weight. Just a few ideas to try.
    Jenny

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  7. Perhaps this question reveals a misunderstanding of the live weight tension method, but here goes: does this method replace the warp beam brake? If this method is used, is the brake left disengaged while weaving? Or is it just to prevent too much spinning of the warp beam when the brake is released? And if the latter is the case, is this method better than releasing the cloth beam tension before releasing the warp beam brake? Thank you!

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    Replies
    1. Sojourner, you raised a good question. Live weight tension can be used in both ways. Usually the brake is disengaged,but I f you were to use it while weaving rugs, the little bit of give while beating with the brake disengaged would prevent you from beating tight enough to get a sturdy rug. By engaging the brake and having the live weight tension on the loom also, you can get really tight tension and your warp beam won't spin when the brake is released. If you are used to releasing the cloth beam before releasing the brake, you can continue to do so, but you won't need to if you have live weight tension on the loom. I guess it is one less step to do while winding the warp forward. Either way works.
      Jenny

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    2. Hello All,
      As a reletively new floor loom weaver, I want to know if there is a problem with my warp beam if it spins a bit when I let off the brake or engage the brake. I have an old Putney Mountain loom and my husband is going to do a conversion to this live weight system. Does it mean my warp beam is damaged if it moves when I let off the brake or put the brake on?

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  8. Barb, I try to prevent my warp beam from spinning because too much warp is released sometimes and I end up having to wind some back onto the back beam. If I haven't put live weight tension on the loom, I loosen the cloth beam a little before stepping on the brake pedal. Some looms tend to spin more than others. Nothing is broken.

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