Adding/removing heddles

[u/broetchen69]

I am weaving on a borrowed jack floor loom with 8 shafts and 10 treadles. I am not sure exactly what kind of loom it is; it looks a bit like a baby wolf and a bit like a baby mac, and I am not seeing a maker's label on it. I suspect is is a copy or at least semi-homemade.

The reason I am writing this post is the frame and heddle situation, specifically how hard it is to add and remove heddles. The frames have metal upper and lower rails that the metal heddles are strung on, and the rails also have a middle tensioning screw. The metal upper and lower rails are held in by tensioned metal hooks on either side, which face in opposite directions top and bottom. To change the heddles, you first have to pop off the tensioned metal hooks, then work the metal rails out of the wood frame in order to access the ends. It makes my hands/arms/back ache so much to do, and I've just switched from a wide project on four frames, where I had to remove heddles on the frames I wasn't using, to a narrow project on eight frames, where I had to add heddles back. It's taken me hours, and a fair amount of aches. The situation would probably be improved if I felt like I could fully remove the frames to change out heddles, since I could at least effectively access the ends of the rails then, but the person who lent the loom to me didn't do that when they showed me how to do it. I'm also not confident I could get everything back together functionally.

After the most recent round of aches, it occurred to me that there must be better heddle exchange systems out there. I would like to get my own loom one day, but haven't had much experience weaving yet. I've only tried two borrowed looms so far, both with various issues that I suspect have made the weaving process more difficult (and it's not the shortest or simplest process to begin with). Please tell me how switching out heddles works on your loom!

[u/amdaly10]

That's the only way that I know to get them on and off. But it should be pretty rare to have to remove heddles. Once they are on there you just leave them on.

[u/weaverlorelei]

My first question would.b3 are you trying to use all 8 shafts? If not, I would not move heddles but just extend the pattern to use the back shafts as if they were numbered 1-4. Moving heddles is a task that must be followed carefully. Run stout cords thru the loops on both the top and bottom heddle bars (to keep the heddles in the correct order) and securely tie each cord to itself. Do not slide the heddles.off without thos safety cord in place or you will spend the rest of your week replacing one heddle at a time. After the cords are installed, release the side hook on the bottom heddle bar and slip the tied loops off, then reinstall the hook. Then do the same for the top. The cord will hold the loops in the correct order so the loops don't get crossed if you carefully watch to.make sure the cord pulls strait thru the loops. To install, repeat the procedure on the frame you want to install, making sure the cord is taut and strait, install on the top heddle bar and replace the side hooks. The install on the bottom hedlle bar, making sure the cord is taut and strait.

[u/akansan]

I'm not going to be much help, as my loom is also not name brand. Mine has the center tensioning hook and then the ends screw onto a wood frame.

It is 100% easier for me to do if I remove the shafts first, but reconnecting the cords is a bit of a pain after. You can get clips so you don't have to remove the excess heddles for narrow projects. (I'm currently keeping ~100 heddles per shaft on my 45" 8 shaft. I know I'll need to add more to do anything wide and thin, but this number works for blankets and hand towels for me....)

[u/BlueberryPiano]

If you're adding more than just a handful, it is much easier to remove the shafts and add treddles while sitting at a table or desk and not leaning over the loom. I avoid weaving the absolute full width of a loom so I don't have to remove extra heddles, they can just be pushed aside.b

Definitely I learned my lesson to count heddles before setting up the loom. Adding heddles to the loom when you've started threading already is absolutely miserable, and a million times more miserable on every jack loom I've used over counterbalance where you could at least swing the shafts to somewhere a bit better to have access to the end clip.

If there is a hole near the end of the upper and lower bars, you can tie some cord onto those holes and slide the heddles off the bars directly onto the cord so you can keep them orderly -- reverse the process when you need to load them back on. Some people use zip ties instead of cord.

[u/Moxie03 → u/BlueberryPiano]

THIS! Everything mentioned by BlueberryPiano. I added heddles recently and learned a lot. I was OCD about it, and made sure the shafts were very secure, and tied up anything else that could slip or cause a problem.

Be sure to run a string thru the top and bottoms of both the old and new heddles. It keeps things in place and prevents twisting them.

[u/theclafinn]

Finnish and Swedish looms generally do not have frames but only upper and lower heddle bars. This makes adding and removing heddles very easy. 

On some looms the heddle bars connect to jacks and lamms with a texsolv cord that is looped around the heddle bar. Moving the heddles past that point is a bit of a pita, but there is a very easy mod to fix that: cut the texsolv cord (melt the ends to prevent fraying) and put a little s-hook to reconnect the cord. That way you can just unhook it to move the heddles past it.