Warping the Loom - Plastic Tubing
I'm in the middle of warping up my Schacht Standard floor loom with hemp yarn for face cloths. I just finished a run of linen face cloths and this will be a second choice for a face cloth made of natural materials. I'm excited to try out the hemp. So far it has been slightly more awkward to deal with than the linen. The hemp likes to tangle a bit more so I am adjusting my winding technique to take that into account.
I am also trying out a new technique that Peggy put me on to. I am winding my back beam in sections that are each 2" wide like I always do. But this time I'm adding some plastic tubing that won't allow the yarns to wander into the sections on either side of the one I'm winding. It means I can wind much faster once I have everything aligned.
There are lots of different sizes of tubing so some measurement and/or trial and error will be needed to get a size that will go over the metal or wooden dowels and stay put. Check the hardware store and anyplace that sells aquarium equipment.
Once you've cut the tubing into the correct length it only takes seconds to get it installed on the dowels.
I had hoped to use this technique on all three of my looms. Well, no. There are a couple of problems. The warp beam on the Gilmore has almost no room between the tips of the dowels and the frame of the loom. There is not enough clearance to use the tubing. While the warp beam on the Louet loom has metal dividers that are U shaped so getting tubing that large would be create another clearance issue and probably be difficult to find.
I'm really happy with this new technique. It really does make winding faster and more efficient. Thank you, Peggy!