Leigh's Fiber Journal: First Warp on the Table Loom

Thursday, August 03, 2023

First Warp on the Table Loom

The Rasmussen table loom is assembled and ready to go!

Try as I might, I could not find a manual for this loom. But while it would have been nice, I figured a table loom is a loom, right? I've never worked on one before, but was guessing I could figure it out.

For my first warp, I decided to weave a sampler. For one thing, I don't want to be overly confident climbing back into the weaving saddle again. For another, I need to learn this loom. I figured a smaller piece for practice would likely mean fewer frustrations if I run into problems.

To refresh my skills (and memory), I dusted off my copy of Learning To Weave by Deborah Chandler. Ironically, this is the book I was working my way through when I first started this blog!

I don't have a raddle for this loom, so my first warp will have to be front to back. This is how I learned, but I had a lot of trouble with tension, so I later started warping back to front. That helped a lot! (You can learn the details in my post, B2F vs F2B: Why I Switched.)

Instructions for the sampler recommended two contrasting colors. I chose blue and white.

8/2 cotton

Then I had to figure out where to put my warping board to measure the warp. Over-the-door hooks on the closet door worked really well.

The sampler will be a small one, and I
need two yards, 60 ends of each color.

The first step after measuring the warp is sleying the reed. For that, the book said to secure the beater bar in its upright position. Well, that stumped me because there's no latch to secure the beater in any position. Then I took a closer look at the simple dowel setup for the beater.

Beater bar set on one of the two dowels lets it move back and forth easily.

I had no idea why the loom had two dowels for the beater; maybe to shift it's position back to allow a little more weaving room(?) Then it dawned on me to try this . . .

Eureka! Placing the legs of the beater between the two dowels holds the beater upright so the reed can be sleyed!

Sleying the reed

I wondered how it would feel to be doing this after so many years. Would it be awkward and slow? I was happy that this wasn't the case. It all seemed so natural and went quickly.

Threading the heddles. I started by resting my arms on the back beam,
but quickly discovered it's more comfortable to work under the beam.

One nice thing about a table loom is that it's very compact. It's easy to turn the loom to thread the heddles from the back.

Things came back to me as I worked. Things like remembering to secure the loose warp at all times, but especially when I walk away from the loom. That was a lesson taught to me by Catzee!

Every 12 threads in the heddles are tied with an overhand knot.
The loose warp waiting to be threaded is tied with a slip knot.

Better to be safe than sorry.

Potential for disaster seemingly fast asleep.

I found my threading hook to be too long for the short space I was working in, and so switched to my brass combo sleying/threading tool. Threading went more quickly after that.

Of the methods for tying the warp to the back apron rod, I chose overhand knots.

Tying the warp to the back apron rod.

Next came winding on the warp. I confess I was nervous about this. From the video, How To Put a Warp on Your Table Loom, Pt. 1, I learned that one advantage to a table loom is that it's easy to tension the warp by pulling it with one hand, while winding it on with the other. No weights or extra person necessary. But could I hold the tension evenly? That's the question.

To double check, I read the "Tension during beaming" section in Deborah Chandler's book. She says

"The question of how to get even tension has a simple answer: don't apply any."

Wait, what????? I confess I never actually read her book from front to finish. I mostly used it as a reference resource after I took my weaving classes. I wasn't sure if no tension made sense, but I figured what the heck, this is a learning sampler, after all. What have I got to lose?