I was so pleased with the sectional warp added to the BIG loom last summer, that I decided to buy another set for the little loom way back in January 2025 [I think I'd gotten a bonus at work at the time]. The sectional warp worked so well to mitigate tension problems on the big 8-shaft loom that I thought it was worth it to set up the smaller 4-shaft loom, too. I am thinking the little loom may be the better one for coverlet panels -- Make the joy last, put on a longer warp and do 3 or 4 panels instead of just 2 wider panels.
Mary Meigs Atwater told new weavers they would save a lot of grief in tension issues if they used a sectional warp. She's right! I am a believer now!
I ordered the LeClerc rails from The Woolery, again. Although they are built and shipped from the LeClerc factory in Canada. Shorter rails for my shorter loom. Since Bruce at Kessenich Looms is pretty much retired, I couldn't get the official sectional warp beam built for these looms.
My husband figured out how to set it up again, similar to how he did it on the big loom. I won't need the angel wings if I use the little tension box as I'm winding on section-by-section. Although, some shorter warps would still be wound on the old way, front-to-back.
I am grateful that his woodworking skills are sufficient enough to help build weaving tools for me. His grandfather and other family members in France worked in woolen weaving mills back in the day, so he gets some satisfaction out of it, too.
DIY / Home-made Ratchet and Pawl
The main obstacle this time was where to get a suitable ratchet and pawl. Last time, there was a guy on etsy who sold them, made of wood. He seems to no longer be in business. You can't really find them anywhere (Someone told me to go down to the local hardware store -- Ha! They don't have 'em!) -- which is so odd, because it's such a practical and elemental thing for machines. Metal ones are super expensive. In the end, he drafted one (AI was useless for this purpose -- You should see some of the dumb designs it came up with!) and cut it out himself. I'm glad he did it because I would much rather weave than do wood working!
My husband may do a guest post about how he built this sectional warp, for any of you out there who may be interested in doing the same. He had to add some extra wood to the legs to attach the sectional warp. It is removable if I need to fold it up and store it for a while.
1 time around = 1/2 yard. Although, I may not need to worry about that so much, as I think I will be using a guide string to tell me when I've wound on enough yarn for any given section ... More on that later. Now I'll have to figure out how to use my creel to wind on like normal sectional warp users do!
Who-hooh! I've waited a long time for this! Thank you, Sweetie!
There's still some warp left from the Mountain Cucumber Coverlet Project. I may weave that off as towels -- It's such a pleasing pattern, and I have not put away the 300+ treadle beads for that project yet, either! I've been busy with the "big" loom since that project finished a few years ago.
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