Friday, June 14, 2024

A Few Small Repairs on the Big Loom



I ran into a snag weaving my test pieces on The Wandering Vine Coverlet last week.  I was just 6 or 7 lines from finishing the 3rd pattern repeat of the Wandering Vine pattern motif when I lost all tension.  I couldn't quite figure out what went wrong, so I went to get my husband.  He figured it out right away ...

When my husband set up the sectional warp beam on The Big Loom, he used the same kind of bolt/screw as on the regular warp beam.  Unfortunately, when I was weaving my test pieces, I managed to sheer it off -- broken in 2 places.    There are tremendous forces at work on a floor loom when weaving!

We stopped at the local hardware store this week in search of a screw / bolt made of a stronger grade metal, but they didn't have anything.  

 

So on to Plan B: Piano wire.  It's not really piano wire, but that's what they call it.  It's carbon steel and much harder than the bolt/screw we had before.  He had to use a blow torch to bend the end, and cut it -- That's how hard it is.

This should hold it.  So far so good!

1 comment:

Leigh said...

It's amazing how some non-weaving husbands can spot a loom problem at a glance. Mine is the same way. But finding good quality of metal screws and nails has become difficult. Excellent solution to the problem. Weave on!